Unfortunately, the harsh and pretentious early reviews of this musical couldn't see the genius underneath the pink and blonde energy of this spectacular show. Like the leading lady Elle Woods, the musical hides clever jokes and real depth behind catchy tunes and flashy dance numbers. Don't judge a blonde by her cover!
4 Reviews
must watch musical!!!
hanniel_estareja13 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
this musical is amazing! the story line was good i mean it's about people making the stereotype about how blondes are stupid and are only a pretty face (just like professor Callahan giving Elle the internship just because) and Elle woods proving them wrong in a different way. by different i mean less preferable and hardly done or seen (ex. Elle not giving up Brooke's alibi because she gave Brooke her word, making a statement that Carlos is gay w/o proper evidence and only because of the bend and snap) but through that Emmett didn't believe in the stereotype and went w/ Elle because he trusts her. thus ending w/ professor and the other students to think that although Elle is blonde and hot she is more than that.
Legally Blonde: The Musical
a_baron11 January 2014
This is a high energy musical with a genuine feel good factor to it. The songs supplied by the husband and wife team of Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin are excellent; the choreography is spectacular; and the dialogue leaves nothing to be desired.
Laura Bell Bundy plays the not-so-dumb blonde Elle to perfection; the odious Professor Callahan is another character who stands out, just in case you'd forgotten why so many people hate lawyers. After being left high and dry, Elle comes good, and we'd like to think, lives happily ever after having learned the hard way that Warner, the man of her dreams, was not worthy of her, even if she could somehow win him back.
If any criticism can be made of this musical it is that some of the songs are more excellent than others.
Laura Bell Bundy plays the not-so-dumb blonde Elle to perfection; the odious Professor Callahan is another character who stands out, just in case you'd forgotten why so many people hate lawyers. After being left high and dry, Elle comes good, and we'd like to think, lives happily ever after having learned the hard way that Warner, the man of her dreams, was not worthy of her, even if she could somehow win him back.
If any criticism can be made of this musical it is that some of the songs are more excellent than others.
The score makes the show
lorilippitz1 February 2022
Can we talk about the music? The score is incredibly complex for a Broadway musical, changing keys with more frequency than Prokofiev on speed, and rhythmically complex in a way that drives the energetic songs hard. In addition, the words are married to the tunes with the neat cleverness of a Gilbert and Sullivan Opera. For example, in "There, Right There!" (a tongue in cheek question about a trial witness set to a polka-rhythm), one of the student lawyers observes:
"You see, they bring their boys up different
In those charming foreign ports;
They play peculiar sports
In shiney shirts and tiny shorts."
Maybe the show didn't succeed as it should have because the songs aren't neat little individual tunes like most Broadway musicals. In a very original fashion, the songs carry along the plot from scene to scene, undergoing complex musical variations along the way. For example, the song "What You Want" takes Elle from her jilted depression in her sorority room through preparing for the LSATs all the way to admission to Harvard Law, including three scene changes.
The score alone wouldn't make it a great show if it weren't also endearing, and it is. Laura Bell Bundy was brilliant in the original cast, but the score is strong enough to make a great female lead out of anyone who's got the chops to energetically sing and dance in almost every scene. (Side note: I think the best version I saw featured an African American in the role of Emmett Forest, the hard working kid who worked his way up from the bottom to become a lawyer and teaches Elle the meaning of privilege.) Like other great shows, LBTM comes across fresh in the hands of each new director, anchored by its empowering plot and inspired score.
Maybe the show didn't succeed as it should have because the songs aren't neat little individual tunes like most Broadway musicals. In a very original fashion, the songs carry along the plot from scene to scene, undergoing complex musical variations along the way. For example, the song "What You Want" takes Elle from her jilted depression in her sorority room through preparing for the LSATs all the way to admission to Harvard Law, including three scene changes.
The score alone wouldn't make it a great show if it weren't also endearing, and it is. Laura Bell Bundy was brilliant in the original cast, but the score is strong enough to make a great female lead out of anyone who's got the chops to energetically sing and dance in almost every scene. (Side note: I think the best version I saw featured an African American in the role of Emmett Forest, the hard working kid who worked his way up from the bottom to become a lawyer and teaches Elle the meaning of privilege.) Like other great shows, LBTM comes across fresh in the hands of each new director, anchored by its empowering plot and inspired score.
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