LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL by Laurence O’Keefe, Nell Benjamin and Heather Hach, directed by Jerry Mitchell (Mirvish). At the Princess of Wales (300 King West). To August 8. $28-$124. 416-872-1212. See listing. Rating: NNNN
Like, omigod, you guys! Who knew I was going to like this musical based on the 2001 Reese Witherspoon comedy? But as anyone who’s seen that cute but slight film knows, you can’t judge a book by its cover – or a Broadway musical by its source material.
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The show follows the movie quite faithfully. Perky fashionista and UCLA sorority queen Elle Woods (Becky Gulsvig, looking and even sounding like Witherspoon) is dumped by her boyfriend, Warner (Jeff McLean), for not being wife material (read serious enough). So soon she stops partying, hits the books and gets into Warner’s Harvard Law School class to win him back, even though he’s since become engaged to preppy prig Vivienne (Megan Lewis).
Of course, the bubbly blond soon learns to respect herself, thanks to the lessons of a hunky teaching assistant (D.B. Bonds), a crusty professor (Michael Rupert) and a salt-of-the-earth manicurist (Natalie Joy Johnson).
In adapting the screenplay, writer Heather Hach has wisely dropped a character or two and brought in Elle’s sorority sisters as a sort of singing Greek chorus to help move along the action. And kudos to her for referencing Gloria Steinem in a scene where Elle’s dressed up as a bunny. Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin’s poppy songs are interspersed with the occasional clever novelty song like a lawyer’s ode to being a shark or a spurned woman’s ballad about her bad luck with Irish men.
Director Jerry Mitchell is also the show’s choreographer, and it shows in several smile-inducing sequences, including an infomercial come to life and a courtroom number that questions whether a key witness is “gay or European.”
Light and fluffy? Sure. But omigod, you guys, school’s out. Relax and have a good time.
glenns@nowtoronto.com
