Fluffy as candyfloss and putting the camp into campus, the UK tour of Legally Blonde – the Musical is working its magic on SW19 at New Wimbledon Theatre this week.
For anyone unfamiliar with the plot, Malibu homecoming queen Elle Woods is dumped by her ambitious boyfriend when he goes up to Harvard Law School, and sets out to win him back by getting into Harvard herself. Most people write her off as an airhead but Elle is not a quitter, and proves there is more to her than a shallow princess of pink.
Lucie Jones (the UK’s 2017 Eurovision entry) is a riot as the sassy, never-say-die heroine. But she is upstaged by Rita Simons, who has shaken off the dust of her ten year stint as Roxy Mitchell in EastEnders, and reveals a big, compelling singing voice as Elle’s confidante Paulette. Bill Ward, lately of Corrie and Emmerdale, also turns out to be a pretty hot singer and dancer, playing sharky law lecturer Professor Callaghan with bags of pizazz.
Amid top notch singing and dancing, the jaw-dropping skipping routines with Helen Petrovna’s fitness goddess Brooke Wyndham stood out. The courtroom number “Is he gay – or European?” brought the house down, as the pool boy Nikos is caught out lying in the murder trial.
Days ago Reese Witherspoon dropped a hint on Twitter that Legally Blonde 3 could be in the offing. Why not? With audiences still loyal and enthusiastic there is no reason this ageing Hollywood mega-franchise with its perky, positive message shouldn’t roll on.
Legally Blonde – The Musical
New Wimbledon Theatre
20th-23rd June
About The Author
Jenny Booth
Jenny was a news journalist for The Times. An ex-teacher, mum, gardener and art lover, there’s nothing she doesn’t know about the local culture scene…