THE KINGS THEATRE, PORTSMOUTH - 3rd JUNE 2023

Date – 3rd June 2023
Director – Paul Clements
Musical Director – Andrew Woodford
Choreographer – Helen Wallis
Venue – King’s Theatre, Southsea
Type of production – Musical

Legally Blonde premiered on Broadway in 2007 and was based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the 2001 film, of the same name. It tells the story of Elle Woods who is dumped by her boyfriend because he thinks she isn’t intelligent enough. Determined to prove him wrong and win him back, she enrols at Harvard Law School where she excels, and eventually realises that she doesn’t want him after all.

A bare stage was all that was needed, along with some stairs and furniture brought on when required, plus the very atmospheric (and pink) lighting by Ian and Chris Pratt [and operated by Oliver Whitehouse]. Scene changes, mostly carried out by the cast, were so slick they could have been choreographed. Costumes (Bethany Baker) looked great too, and entirely appropriate for all the scenes – pink featuring strongly again of course!

Lucy Mengham had Elle Woods off to a T. Exactly the right mixture of naivety and gutsy determination. She has amazing confidence and stage presence and a lovely singing voice. She was well matched by Ben Irish, another fine singer, as Warner Huntington III, her opportunist boyfriend. All confidence and cocky swagger, but shallow as a puddle. Jack Edwards shone as Emmet Forrest, the shy teaching assistant who helps Elle and ends up falling for her. He made the rather wimpy character totally believable. Tabby Smith-Allen gave a strong performance as Elle’s sparky stylist friend Paulette, while Archie Crockett struck just the right balance with Professor Callahan so that we believed he was helping Elle, until his cruel side was revealed.

The rest of the cast gave great support, with singing to a very high standard. They filled the stage with movement and colour, executing Helen Wallis’s choreography with precision and style, with some lovely tableaux at the end of the big numbers. The orchestra under MD Andrew Woodford produced a great sound, and although they tended to overwhelm the singers at times, the sound quality (Chris Marsh) was otherwise very good. 

It's a wonder that this show happened at all. Losing your venue with two weeks to go must have caused no end of headaches for the creative team, but a lot of hard work and determination ensured that it went ahead regardless. Director Paul Clements in particular pulled out all the stops, not only securing the venue at short notice but also last-minute replacements for the MD and sound people and doing everything needed to make the show ready on time – not least encouraging the best performances from the young cast. 

What a wonderful opportunity it was for everyone to be able to perform on the stage of the King’s Theatre - you all looked so confident and at home as you pulled off a stunning and utterly professional production. Your total engagement and obvious enjoyment in what you were doing poured over the footlights into the packed audience, who returned it with whoops and cheers at the end. What a show and what an amazing cast!

Mark Donalds
NODA SE District 10 Representative