“Because of the emphasis on self-expression in this musical, I was interested in exploring an important component of self-expression in today`s society: social media. How would this story be told in today`s world of Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram? How do SMS replace the old telephone method of delivering messages and gossip? How can social media destructively alienate and exclude someone perceived as different? And on the other hand, how can we, as a community, use social media to empower each other and create a world where individualism is celebrated? Elle Woods: When I see my name in black and white, it`s like having sex with you all night. No waiting, it feels so much better, hello a lot of prayer, it`s Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! Much better! The musical itself is also dragged into the present, where resumes no longer need to be pink and fragrant, but can be sent electronically, TikTok dances and Instagram selfies are part of everyday life, and where the name dropping of Movie-era Hollywood actresses Tori Spelling and Cameron Diaz is no longer considered current and cool enough to use. Instead, they are traded for Kourtney Kardashian and Timothée Chamalet, the former of whom disagrees with Elle, who is trying to convince Warner that Bel Air is not a trashy place to live. Also, other classic lines of the film are controversially reworded for me, while others are almost exactly the same. What for? I don`t know, but it was often useless because it`s not that the original script was inappropriate or offensive. Legally Blonde the Musical is brilliant, bubbly and a perfect escape from the sobriety and drama of the real world when you are thrown into a pink and exaggerated wonderland of the law that any serious lawyer runs away from with disgust, dream that it was so easy to pin a suspect or even get a foot in the door of the legal sector. As long as you`re ready for it to be stronger, pinker, and more queer than the two Legally Blonde movies put together endlessly (i.e., I feel comfortable using legal jargon in everyday life!), be prepared for one of the funniest and happiest musicals of recent times. And as I said, the gayest and most cheesy of all time. While I can`t say much about previous productions of the show, this production at Regent`s Park Open Air Theatre is certainly the most daring and diverse. Not only is Elle Woods not blonde by nature, but she is neither white nor thin! Courtney Bowman, who describes herself as an Afro-European and made her breakthrough in musical theatre as Anne Boleyn in Six, takes on the coveted role of sister sister, who has become a “serious” lawyer, with a much fresher and even more confident attitude (if you could become more confident than Reese Witherspoon). In addition, other celebrities and originally white characters have now allowed a more diverse array of actors to slip into their Prada shoes from last season. And that means not only ethnic diversity, but also across the LGBTQ+ spectrum with a confidante of Elle`s confidante, Margot, and convinced feminist classmate Enid, who is played by non-binary actors Isaac Hesketh and Alžbeta Matyšáková respectively.
Meanwhile, Elle`s love interest, Emmett (now called Forrest to get away from her name), Warner`s new girlfriend Vivian, her beautician friend Paulette, and her two other friends Serena and Pilar (a new addition to the musical to form a “Greek chorus”) are all played by a number of non-white actors. Production of Legally Blonde: The Musical by Texas State University began on November 15, 2016. My office took us to see him on the Friday of the opening week. I was just as excited as everyone else: Texas state theater and dance programs are ranked nationally. Students work with Broadway luminaries and produce professional performances such as Hairspray, Chicago, Evita and Rent. Caitlyn Hopkins, the director of the musical theater program, has a credit list ranging from Star Trek to The Nanny alone at the end of television, not to mention her career on stage. It was a musical that none of us wanted to miss. It is directed by Lucy Moss, co-writer and co-director of the pop musical Six. The creative team is completed by playwright Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong, music director Katharine Woolley, costume designer Jean Chan, sound designer Tony Gayle, lighting designer Phillip Gladwell, set designer Laura Hopkins, choreographer Ellen Kane, assistant choreographers Ainsley Hall Ricketts and Alexzandra Sarmiento, music director Cat Beveridge, assistant directors Priya Patel Appleby and Amber Sinclair-Case, Assistant Music Director Chris Poon and dialect trainer Majella Hurley. Barbara Houseman serves as voice and text, as well as associate director of the season, while Ingrid Mackinnon is a season associate for intimacy support. Casting is done by casting director Natalie Gallacher CDG for Pippa Ailion Casting and casting assistant Shanaà Chisholm.
© The beloved Harvard blonde takes the stage by storm! The performers delightfully revel in the fact that the musical they star in is so dazzling and ironic, but so impactful and joyful, while retaining the themes of loyalty to themselves and reversing the first impression that the film was spinning in its fluffy pink heart. Courtney Bowman as She commands the scene and lights it up as a version of Elle that`s certainly not what you think when you hear the words “Malibu Barbie,” taking the character of MiZZ Woods (who`s just as iconic as Anne Boleyn, let`s face it) to a whole new level of “zero fucking given” and “don`t try me” attitude. Nadine Higgin also elevates Jennifer Coolidge`s (and probably any other version) of Paulette from sweet, stupid and grumpy to cheeky, safe and fearless (except when it comes to her ex-partner Dewey and UPS guy Kyle), which is only amplified further after Bend and Snap. The moment when the only black man on stage (the African prince) is so brazenly exoticized and moments like this set the tone, and rather unpleasant. Maybe Legally Blonde`s mission is not to be smart about race. But there is a certain expectation for this purpose, when in the program the note of the director with “EMPOWERMENT! That`s the word that came to mind when I was constantly reading the script for Legally Blonde. Certainly, Cassie Abate, our director in question, has more in mind for women in terms of empowerment, which is important and certainly the best part of Legally Blonde. It`s fun and exciting to see women perform well in academic, professional and social settings. It`s done in a culturally relevant way in the Texas state version and creates hilarious stage moments, especially any scene In which Paulette plays, who learns to stand up to her ex to get her dog back, or to resume her sexuality with the “fold and snap”.
In addition to the already mentioned Bend and Snap, the opening pop-rock number Omigod You Guys, the personal essay of Elle What You Want, the positively optimistic positive of the Greek chorus, Brooke Whipped into Shape`s training anthem, the lyrical gaydar song There! Right there! and the theme song Legally Blonde are other highlights that make the audience laugh or feel overwhelmed by the amount of peppiness and pink circulating on stage. They are outrageously exaggerated, comical and extravagant, who, like Her herself, do not care how the actors turn their hair. It`s probably not a musical for those whose eyes and ears are enhanced by the presence of a dozen shades of one color at a time and the “avant-garde” fashion, the choreographies of cheerleaders and pop music videos galore (apart from the cultural fusion of Irish and Scottish dance) and the almost caricatural drama so often used to portray the stereotypical girls of the American sorority, are offended. But obviously, no one who doesn`t expect this kind of camp overload would surely dare to see it, just as no one would certainly dare to wear a paisley? To that end, Legally Blonde is perhaps the whitest musical ever written. This comes at a time when we are talking more than ever about race, when we are more aware of white privilege than ever before when we published books like Stuff White People Like. And instead of breaking with that tradition instead of participating in the broader cultural movement of globalism, diversity, and equality, Legally Blonde celebrates the white traditions of musical theater: white privilege, the things whites love, wealth, power, little dogs, and great distracting musical acts with frozen smiles and high kicks.