‘Legally Blonde’ is an iconic, feel-good musical based on the classic 2001 film starring Reese Witherspoon. It follows the story of Elle Woods as she chases love and a law career whilst on a journey of self-discovery and friendship. It is a mammoth production which Stage Avenue has adapted in a fun and camp way that is perfect for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!
Kathryn Johnstone brings the iconic character of Elle Woods to life with her sweet voice and perfect bright-eyed smile. Kathryn definitely left the audience giggling with her comedic timing in a more quirky approach to Elle. Despite being cleverly done and perhaps as a conscious choice for the Fringe (which doesn’t tend to take itself too seriously), it felt a little too much for me and I missed a lot of the emotional depth and strength to Elle in her performance. However as a whole Kathryn takes on this extremely challenging role with ease, and strongly supports the company behind her.
The “Delta-Nu’s” were a highlight of the performance, with Serena (Jennifer Scott), Margot (Sophie McLean), Pilar (Colette Crampsey) and Kate (Mari Brien) perfectly portraying the fun-loving, giggly sorority girls who not only provide the spunk and energy, but are at heart true friends to Elle. The Delta Nu’s were a joy to watch on stage, with tight harmonies and high energy right from the opening number to the finale.
Steve Grant provided the strongest performance of the company by far with his portrayal of Emmett. Steve’s smooth vocals alongside superb acting really solidified the character of Emmett, leaving the audience rooting for his character as we watched his relationship blossom with Elle. This is something Steve and Kathryn handled well despite the removal of “Take it Like a Man”, which is a pivotal moment in the development of Elle and Emmett’s relationship. These two actors successfully built the blossoming relationship in other moments of the show, particularly “Chip on My Shoulder” and in scenes between the two characters.
Jennifer Healy shines as Paulette, she is a great actress who really encapsulated the fun spunkiness of Paulette, but also managed to show her vulnerability in moments like “Ireland”, which really complimented Jennifer’s beautiful voice.
The rest of the company must also be noted for their performances, particularly Kirsten MacDonald who perfectly captured the sharpness of Vivienne paired with an amazing set of lungs, she was a consistent stand-out in the cast. Iain Usher provides a strong Callahan, with his direct acting choices and smooth vocals. Robyn Crawford displays great acting as Brooke, tackling ‘Whipped into Shape’ with great strength in her acting and movement. Robyn has a strong alto voice which I do feel would have benefitted from adapting the end section of the song to suit this. Other ensemble and minor roles are filled by Daniel Inglis-McDonald (Warner), Jenn Scott (Enid), Wynter Elliot (Aaron), Andrew Brien (Kyle), Jenny Murphy, Rachel McDermott, Christine Mackenzie, Sally Logan and Rebecca Irving.
Craig Inglis-McDonald’s direction does well to bring this massive musical to such a small production without losing the integrity or wow-factor of the story. I really enjoyed the use of the boxes (of course painted pink!) as set and thought these were cleverly utilised to adapt this musical to the studio at Niddry Street. I also commend the bravery of taking such a well known large-scale musical to the fringe, but I am sure Craig will be feeling that the risk paid off with the success of this production.
Fiona McGregor’s choreography does well to adapt the huge dance numbers we usually see in Legally Blonde to the Fringe, and I felt that this was very convincing and a highlight considering the space and small cast Fiona had to work with. The choreography was smooth and effective and I appreciated that staging was always considered as this production is performed in almost a full round, and I’m confident that no matter where you were sitting in the audience you would see a smiling energetic performer in front of you.
Josh Currie took on the Musical Direction for this production, and I really must compliment him on the time clearly spent on those harmonies. A benefit of having such a small production is we really got to hear those performers on their individual parts, and the work put in really came through in that aspect. For me the biggest disappointment was the lack of a live band. I completely understand the reasons why this can’t happen, particularly with the fringe, but I found the low-quality backing tracks to be a real loss on the performance quality. Sound issues meant there were moments such as the iconic ‘So Much Better’ where you could barely hear Elle sing until the money note at the end. There were a few occasions where actors fell off tempo with the track also, but teething issues such as these are to be expected. In general, I really commend Josh for the effort put into the Musical Direction, but a band or even just good quality tracks would really lift the performance to properly support the actors.
Stage Avenue’s production of ‘Legally Blonde’ is a fun-loving, feel-good musical that will leave you feeling positive, empowered and full of energy!
‘Legally Blonde’ is running at the Space at Niddry St from the 5th to 13th of August and limited tickets are available here:
Theatre Scotland 
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