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Review: Legally Blonde, Bristol Hippodrome – ‘Brimming with charm, energy and deliriously good fun’
Legally Blonde is an adaptation of the 2001 film starring Reese Witherspoon, which followed Elle Woods, a plucky sorority sister who applies to and gets into Harvard Law School, after she is dumped by her boyfriend Warner in favour of a more serious partner.
The role shot Witherspoon into superstardom, and although followed by a less successful sequel (Legally Blonde: Red, White and Blonde), it has retained huge cultural cachet. Much like Mean Girls, the sharpness and originality of the concept mean that its weaker sequel has mostly disappeared from pop culture memory. Both have since been adapted into musicals, although Legally Blonde was made back in 2007, only four years after the sequel and long before a musical adaptation felt like an inevitability for any comedy with nostalgia value.
Re-watching the film ahead of the show, I was intrigued to see how would translate to a musical; it’s given real power by the charm and vulnerability of Witherspoon, but still manages substance in its ostensibly light premise. It still feels revolutionary that Elle adapts but doesn’t feel the need to diminish herself in her new environment; it also felt very apt to be seeing the show the night before Amazon Prime’s TV prequel series Elle, comes out, which follows the titular character as she navigates junior high.
Amber Davies in Legally Blonde
This production stars Amber Davies as Elle, and it’s an avalanche of colour (largely pink) and energy from the get-go – with the dazzling opening number Omigod You Guys. Athletic and sparky, the ensemble hype up the audience – many of whom are also wearing pink – for their star’s big entrance.
Davies has a gorgeous voice, as does Warner (Jamie Chatterton.) However, he promptly dumps her and Elle determines to prove her suitability for him by also getting into Harvard. The admissions scene video essay is reworked into the in-person song and dance number What You Want which is great fun. Happily, Davies is also an excellent dancer (she was a joint runner-up on Strictly last year) and Leah Hill’s choreography gives her and the ensemble plenty of opportunity to shine.
The songs come thick and fast, and do start to blend together a little, despite the cast’s vocal skills. We also follow the movie’s scenes almost beat-for-beat, iconic lines intact, although some of the references are updated; it’s a testament to Davies’s charisma and comic timing that these lines still feel relatively fresh.
(l-r): Rosanna Harris, Hannah Lowther, Amber Davies and Remi Ferdinand
Karen Mavundukure steals her scenes as Paulette, the beautician role originally played by Jennifer Coolidge. It’s an impossible one to mimic, and the musical’s version is wisely much louder and actively chaotic, as she cheers on Elle and dreams of falling in love with an Irishman. Her rendition of Ireland (Reprise), get the biggest cheers of the first act, and you can see why Mavundukure played Effie in Dreamgirls on the West End.
The Professor Callahan role (Adam Cooper) has also been made more unambiguously amoral from the get-go, and as Elle wavers at Harvard, she is supported by Emmett (George Crawford) who has a lovely soulful voice.
In the second act, we meet Brooke (Jocasta Almgill), who has been accused of murdering her husband and is being represented by a contemptuous Callahan, with the assistance of his students. It’s an inventive highlight of Richmond’s cleverly textured set design, with a semi-transparent TV screen hanging in front of Brooke and the ensemble (Whipped Into Shape) to give the impression of it being one of her workout tapes. They manage to skip and dance with serious vigour while maintaining incredible breath support, and it’s both high energy and entertaining.
(l-r): James Lim, Annabelle Terry, Jamie Chatterton and Adam Cooper
Looking at the cast, director Nikolai Foster has cast several of the same actors that also appeared in his production of A Chorus Line in 2024 – notably both Almgill and Cooper, as well as ensemble members Louis Wood and Bradley Delarosabel, whose skill and charisma is used differently but no less effectively here.
As the show progresses, I doubt there was a single person in the audience who didn’t know the direction the plot was going in, but there is still plenty of enthusiasm throughout. Bend and Snap is excellent, in which Paulette finally gets the courage to speak to her UPS crush (a magnetic Ty-Reece Stewart, who gets his own accompanying music when he appears).
It was so much fun watching Mavundukure and the ensemble I wished it had gone on for longer, with more of a dance break. At the trial, things become even camper and surreal with There! Right There! in which the characters debate whether Brooke’s pool boy and alleged lover is gay or European. We all knew the resolution, but the audience were so unequivocally on Elle’s side that everyone was having a deliriously good time regardless.
Amber Davies and ensemble
There is so much going on that elements like the friendship between Elle and Vivienne feel a little extraneous, and the sorority sisters acting as a Greek chorus for Elle slightly diminishes her feeling of being in a new world at Harvard that they can’t understand. Emmett was more developed here than in the film version, but still felt a little superficial because of time restrictions.
Special mention should also go to the (two!) dogs and the team responsible for them – the audience absolutely melted when they appeared and it was an impressive commitment to have them both appear multiple times.
Although the songs are not always memorable, Legally Blonde is delivered so impressively, and with so much charm and energy, to paper over any cracks. Ultimately, it’s a show that is at its best when it fully leans into the ludicrousness.
Legally Blonde is at Bristol Hippodrome from June 30-July 4 at 7.30pm, with additional 2.30pm matinee shows on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday (no shows Sunday or Monday).
All photos: Matt Crockett
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