At the Berkeley Playhouse\u2019s opening night showing of \u201cLegally Blonde: The Musical,\u201d there was pink as far as the eye could see: audience members adorned in outfits in shades of pastel and hot pink, bright pink stage projections and pink set designs with pops of white.<\/p>\n
The scene was quintessentially Elle Woods, both in terms of her signature color and her positive attitude. Throughout the musical\u2019s 2\u00bd-hour run time, audience members excitedly cheered in response to the powerful vocal performances of the cast, stomped their feet in time with the show\u2019s high-energy dance numbers and boisterously laughed at countless witty one-liners.<\/p>\n
The audience\u2019s enthusiasm manifested as soon as the lights dimmed and Elle\u2019s Delta Nu sorority sisters popped up in various corners of the theater, taking turns writing messages in a congratulations card for Elle (Ayani Dorsey). As the story goes, Elle and her sorority sisters believe that Elle\u2019s long-time boyfriend, Warner (Milo Boland), is planning to propose to her later that night at a romantic dinner. However, the musical, just like the film that preceded it, follows the fallout of Warner suddenly breaking up our heroine. The reason behind this sudden breakup is, of course, that fashion student Elle \u201cisn\u2019t serious enough\u201d to align with Warner\u2019s future as a Harvard Law student and big-shot lawyer. To prove him wrong, Elle applies and is admitted to Harvard Law School.<\/p>\n
Directed by No\u2019eau Kahalekulu, this rendition of \u201cLegally Blonde: The Musical\u201d is campy and heartfelt, combining lighthearted fun with captivating character depictions. Dorsey and Boland\u2019s performances are especially memorable as Elle and Warner. The two extended on the comedic tone established in the opening number \u201cOmigod You Guys,\u201d in their performance of \u201cSerious.\u201d Particularly memorable was Boland\u2019s strategic breach of the fourth wall; he rarely looked at Dorsey and instead catered to the audience with his extravagant dancing and grandiose proclamations of his intellect, perfectly encapsulating Warner\u2019s vanity. Meanwhile, Elle alternates between trying \u2014 and failing \u2014 to get Warner\u2019s attention by presenting herself as a supportive partner and pantomiming comical frustration to the audience.<\/p>\n
In the following musical number \u201cWhat You Want,\u201d Dorsey mesmerized the audience with her portrayal of Elle\u2019s devotion to Warner, as viewers watched Elle go through the highs and lows of an unrealistic, yet charming, depiction of the law school admissions process. Dorsey is most impressive in scenes where portrayal of Elle departs from the bubbly, larger-than-life figure we all know. The actress effectively reveals the vulnerable, deeply relatable aspects of Elle\u2019s characterization, including her desire to maintain her authenticity while being accepted by others.<\/p>\n
The titular track \u201cLegally Blonde\u201d is by far Dorsey\u2019s greatest performance of the night. As Elle reckons with her place at Harvard Law School and its career implications, her character arc, and Dorsey\u2019s own performance, reaches its transformative peak.<\/p>\n
The vast majority of the musical, however, doesn\u2019t pack a punch because of its awe-inspiring dramatic elements, but because of its sass and attitude. \u201cLegally Blonde: The Musical\u201d is deeply distinguished from its source materials \u2014 the \u201cLegally Blonde\u201d film and novel \u2014 by way of its amusing and raunchy comedic stylings. The show may be extravagant, but it is never too absurd. Even in the songs that are notably out-of-pocket, such as \u201cIreland,\u201d \u201cThere! Right There!\u201d and \u201cBend and Snap,\u201d the cast manages to depict potentially sensitive subject matter \u2014 including commentary on homosexuality \u2014 in a comical manner, while still being considerate and welcoming toward the audience.<\/p>\n
In these particular numbers, Elizabeth Curtis stands out as Paulette, the middle-aged hairdresser who Elle befriends while at Harvard. Paulette, like Elle, struggles to find a guy who will love her as she is. Curtis\u2019 booming vocals emphasize the humor embedded in \u201cIreland\u201d while conveying Paulette\u2019s sincerity. This serves to make Paulette less of a caricature and more of a multifaceted individual.<\/p>\n
Thus, with an 80-20 mix of comedy and introspection, Kahalekulu\u2019s rendition of \u201cLegally Blonde: The Musical\u201d is a perfect start to the Berkeley Playhouse\u2019s MainStage season. For die-hard \u201cLegally Blonde\u201d fans and musical theater enthusiasts alike, it\u2019s hard not to enjoy yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the Berkeley Playhouse\u2019s opening night showing of \u201cLegally Blonde: The Musical,\u201d there was pink as far as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465726,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[180052,183390,32184,183387,108876,183384,49811,108874,111926,183383,183385,143,145,144,183392,183386,183388,183391,53746,183389],"class_list":["post-465725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-ayani-dorsey","tag-bend-and-snap","tag-berkeley-playhouse","tag-elizabeth-curtis","tag-elle-woods","tag-harvard-law","tag-ireland","tag-legally-blonde","tag-legally-blonde-the-musical","tag-milo-boland","tag-noeau-kahalekulu","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-omigod-you-guys","tag-paulette","tag-serious","tag-there-right-there","tag-warner","tag-what-you-want"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}