Legally Blonde: A Review in Many Parts

So I saw Legally Blonde today. Here are my Thoughts (and be warned, they are numerous and strong):

First of all, the pit was amazing. High fives all around, y'all. A couple times I wished they had kept the instrumentation from the original, but I understand that you can't carry a bassoon around the country for two measures of one song. I forgive you.

Vocally, overall the cast was fairly strong. Elle, Brooke, Emmett, and Vivian were outstandingly good, while Callahan, the Greek Chorus, and Paulette were acceptable, and Warner was just plain bad. Interestingly, many of the male characters skewed much more toward the baritone/bass side than the tenor side, despite the demanding tessitura of the show. Also, a significant portion of the lyrics were altered from what I'm used to hearing. Most of the time, it wasn't a big deal, but I felt like "Ireland" really suffered from the rewrite.

The choreography was......uneven. "Whipped Into Shape" was fabulous, as was the very natural choreography of songs like "Legally Blonde", "Take It Like A Man", "Harvard Variations", and "Chip on My Shoulder". Songs like "Omigodyouguys" (and the various reprises), "Bend and Snap", and especially "Legally Blonde (Reprise)" gave me a very distinct high school vibe. Not to say that the choreography was PERFORMED poorly, because it wasn't. It just wasn't on a par with some of the other choreography I've seen and even done myself.

The sets were very minimal, and that took me some time to get used to. The set pieces were high quality, but there were only two backdrops used at all, and one was an abstract. I'm not sure I like the overall effect, but with the very fast scene changes it was obviously done intentionally and I can certainly respect that.

Now, my Big Problem with this musical, and one I hadn't anticipated: it's incredibly hypocritical. The entire premise of the show (and movie!) is looking beyond someone's stereotype and seeing that they can have talents and abilities you wouldn't expect. Elle is blonde, big boobed, and beautiful, so obviously she's dumb. Emmett is poor and has bad taste in clothes, so he's obviously not a good lawyer. Vivian is pale and standoffish, so she must be a preppy clique queen. All these get subverted and you realize that they are actually whole people with dreams and aspirations. Yay!

But what about the judge, who was nothing but a black stereotype, or Enid, the butchest bull dyke to ever have punched someone in a bar? Dewey, who was the worst portrayal of trailer trash I've ever seen (and wasn't even well acted at that). Every gay male character portrayed on stage was the exact same kind of flamboyant, feminine, fairy queen. Not all gays are camp, Legally Blonde! It really bothers me how this show can say one stereotype is okay, and the other is not.

Okay, there are my Thoughts. You are Welcome. I will stop capitalizing Nouns any Time now.