Review - Legally Blonde

The Pantages is pink.

Well, not entirely. It’s decorated with pink banners and posters, and only through September 6th. And after seeing Wicked at the Pantages seven times, I thought for sure it’d feel somewhat strange to be there for Legally Blonde instead. Surpringly, it wasn’t. That might actually be because I’ve always considered the Apollo Victoria in London my true Wicked home, but that’s another blog within itself.

So Friday night I went to see the Legally Blonde tour, with my two sisters and a friend. My friend is very much into musicals, my sisters not so much (though this was one they wanted to see, as opposed to being dragged along). Our seats were near the back of the mezzanine, giving us a nice overall view, but we were just too far back to see facial expressions.

Had I not known that the tour sets were scaled down from Broadway, I probably would have been perfectly happy with them. However, having seen the MTV airing, I couldn’t help but miss the giant sorority house in the opening, and nit-pick the other changes. When I asked my sisters what they thought of the sets (simply curious about their opinions as non-theater-goers, and completely forgetting that they helped to build sets at our college last year), they said the jail was amazing, but weren’t very impressed by the rest.

I found Becky Gulsvig very believable as Elle, in a way that I was never quite convinced with Laura Bell Bundy (perhaps because Becky looks so much more like Reese Witherspoon). But I had a love-hate relationship with her voice: It’s very high pitched, and at times almost nasally. Sometimes it fit the character well, yet other times was borderline annoying. I would love to see the show again, with a much closer seat, to get a better grip on the nuances of her portrayal.

I didn’t leave the theater with strong feelings one way or the other regarding D.B. Bonds or Megan Lewis, who play Emmett and Vivienne, respectively. I have no complaints on either of their performances, but they didn’t stand out either. On one hand, I feel sitting closer (and thus seeing facial expressions) could have made a big difference. But I don’t want to blame it entirely on our seats, as I was sitting in the back row of the mezzanine the one and only time I saw Caissie Levy as Elphaba, who subsequently became one of my favorites.

While I thought Natalie Joy Johnson was an excellent Enid in the original Broadway cast, I was less than satisfied with her Paulette. I found her portrayal closer to Paulette in the movie, which I understand that some may prefer, but I missed Orfeh. Natalie was timid and awkward, as opposed to Orfeh’s loud and spunky, which I feel helps make the character more engaging. “Ireland” is one of my favorites on the cast recording, but Friday night I was left under-whelmed.

The surprising standout was Jeff McLean as Warner. I’ve never especially enjoyed “Serious,” but with him singing I was disappointed when the song ended! Absolutely amazing. Not only does he have a gorgeous voice, but the subtle riffs he was including made it even better. At intermission my sisters asked me if “Warner” had anymore songs, because they wanted to hear him again! And when we met him afterward at stage door, it went something like this:

Me: “You’ve got a really good voice.”
Sister #1: “Like, an amazing voice.”
Sister #2: “Like, you were one of the best ones in the show.”
Jeff: *something along the lines of a very flattered thank you*

All in all it was an enjoyable night at the theater. It may not be a groundbreaking show, but it’s fun, with some catchy songs to boot.

And now I’m off to return to that “rich romantic planet,” more commonly known as Malibu. Three years of school there, and I’ve yet to find riches or romance. Wish my luck for my final semester!