Legally Blonde: The Musical – Review – Village Theatre – Shows I've Seen

@showsiveseen "Legally #Blonde: The #Musical" by Village Theatre starring @Betsy Stewart as #ElleWoods. Strong choreography. Quite possibly *the* show to see this season. Don't forget to wear your #pink! #theatre #showsiveseen #legallyBlonde ♬ So Much Better (Live) – Sheridan Smith & The "Legally Blonde the Musical" Original London Cast' Company

Elevator Thoughts (aka Tweet): Legally Blonde: The Musical by Village Theatre starring Betsy Stewart as Elle Woods. Strong choreography. Quite possibly *the* show to see this season. Don’t forget to wear your pink!

Recommendation:
See it, especially if you enjoyed the movie.

My Synopsis (No Spoilers): A ditsy SoCal UCLA sorority blonde follows her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School for love.

Synopsis from the Licensor or Theatre Company: Don’t judge a blonde by her cover! Elle Woods appears to have it all. But her life is turned upside down when her boyfriend dumps her so he can attend Harvard Law. Determined to get him back, Elle ingeniously charms her way into the prestigious law school, and soon she discovers — and proves to the world — the power of being legally blonde. Based on the beloved movie, Legally Blonde The Musical takes you from the sorority house to the halls of justice in fabulously fun, blonde-tastic style. With an infectious score, dazzling dances, and a hilarious script, this ebullient musical is so much fun, it should be illegal!

Type: Musical

World Premiere: No

Several or Few Scenes: Several

Several or Few Settings/Locations: Several

Static (Stationary) or Dynamic Set: Dynamic

Prior Exposure/Knowledge Required: No, but you’ll probably enjoy this more if you saw the movie.

Defined Plot/Storyline: Yes

Live Band/Orchestra: Yes

Union Actors: 13

Total Actors: 20

Perceived Pace of the Show: Medium speed

Was there an intermission? Yes

Length (Including Any Intermission): 2.5 hours

Was This the First Time I Attended a Production of this Show? No, this is far from my first time seeing the show. As one of my top three favorite musicals, I’ve had the opportunity to experience it at least seven times, across various community, professional, and touring productions. The quality has varied greatly—some performances were outstanding, while others were terrible. Having seen many underwhelming versions, I’ve realized that staging a decent production of this musical is quite challenging. Only professional companies like Village Theatre are equipped to do it justice.

Would I See It Again 3 Years from Now? Absolutely

Mainstream Appeal: Medium to high

Other Rave(s) Not Mentioned Above

Choreography: Katy Tabb (choreographer) and Richard Peacock (dance captain) crafted a vibrant and dynamic choreography repertoire. It was particularly strong in “Legally Blonde Remix (especially with the Irish Stepdance), “What you Want” (especially with the impressive splits and heart pom poms), “Bend and Snap,” and the physically challenging “Whipped into Shape.”
Kyle: Speaking of Richard Peacock, although he didn’t visually present as Irish, I loved his flamboyant (and slightly gay) interpretation of Kyle, the sexy “walking porn” UPS man.
Scenic Design: I previously saw two national touring productions of this show that overly relied on video as a crutch to depict scenery. It was refreshing to finally attend a professional production that utilized more physical sets. Lex Liang (scenic designer) designed sets for Villiage Theatre reminiscent of the original Broadway production.
“Take it Like a Man” Song: This scene was cute and well-executed especially when they added last-minute clothing/style accessories to Emmett (played by Coleman Cummings) at the end.
Casting: The cast was a strong collection of mostly local professional actors like Mark Emerson (Professor Callahan), Cy Paolantonio (Brooke Wyndham), and Danny Kam (Ensemble). Cassie Kohl was perfect for the lesbionic Enid Hoopes. Ironically, Cassie’s Instagram username is “thunderdyke!” Additionally, Betsy Stewart (who isn’t local) well-portrayed the ditsy energy and look of the original Reece Witherspoon from the movie.

Rant(s)

Microphones and Sound: The lead singers needed better sound balancing on their microphones. A messenger bag mishap also cut out one major character’s microphone during half of their duet Additionally, the vocals in the first act were a little shaky, but the second act showed significant improvement. With a few more performances to stabilize, the vocal and sound issues should resolve.

Other Musing(s) and Observation(s)

Script and Lyric Changes: There were a couple deviations from the original script and lyrics. I wonder if it was just Seattle being overly woke and politically correct. For example, they replaced “ethnic movement” with “Gen-Z enthusiasm” in the line “You can’t just barge in here with singing and dancing and ethnic movement.” Why did they change the royal classmate’s name from Sundeep Agrawal Padamadan? Why did Enid no longer lead a protest march against culturally insensitive cartoons? Why was Paulette’s baby no longer named “Shamus?” Why did they change the lyrics in “Positive” to something like “hit her with a stick of wood?”

Theatre Company: Village Theatre

Venue Physical Address:

Village Theatre’s Francis J. Gaudette Theatre: 303 Front Street North, Issaquah, WA 98027
Everett Performing Arts Center: 2710 Wetmore Avenue, Everett, WA 98201

Price Range: $44-123

Ticket Affordability Options: See the theatre’s official page about discounts and pay-what-you-can performances

Dates:

Issaquah: November 12 to December 22, 2024
Everett: January 4 to 26, 2024

Seating: Assigned Seating

Parking:

Issaquah: Free street parking and certain free parking lots. Lot parking availability is very difficult to find though. I’ve basically given up on that. I usually end up parking on Rainier Boulevard North. As a last resort, you can always find parking at the library but it’s a little far. Remember, there’s a bottom floor parking lot under the library’s main parking lot that mostly only locals know about.
Everett: Free street parking and some paid parking lots/garages.

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Pictures: See production pictures below by Auston James.

Cast and Production Team: See pictures below.