Prior to hearing that Musket was putting on the show, I had no idea Legally Blonde was a musical. I knew the story from the 2001 movie starring Reese Witherspoon—which I have really enjoyed in the past. During the show, it was fun to compare the plot and scenes with ones in the movie. I was curious which one came first, so I did a quick search and found out that the movie was produced first. This mak es the screenwriter’s and director’s artistic choices in the musical even more interesting. Fun fact, Legally Blonde was originally a book by Amanda Brown. The title is a play on the words “legally blind” and “legally bound”—because, you know, Elle is blinded by her binding love for Warner—Ha.
For the most part, the musical followed the plot of the movie. There were, however, some noteworthy differences. A lot of the scenes were squished or condensed together in the interest of time—such as when Elle and Paulette conversed in the salon and when Vivian invited Elle to the ‘costume’ party.
There were other elements that were unique to the musical as well. Such as Paulette’s fascination with dating an Irish man, which I thought was kind of random. So was the song “There! Right There!” which was about determining if Enrique (the pool boy cross examined in court) was gay or European. Additionally, there was another scene where Elle took the people in the court to a bathroom to present her evidence against Chutney, which was bizarre, outrageous, and almost satirical. Because of these reasons, I thought the musical was much more dramatic and over-the-top than the movie.
I also noticed that Emmett had a much larger role. The storyline focused more on him and Elle falling in love, rather than Elle fighting to get Warner back. There was an entire scene dedicated to Elle taking Emmett shopping and giving him a makeover. In my opinion, it was a weird scene to add, considering that the “makeover” has become a cliche in rom-coms.
Anyway, my most anticipated moment was the bend-and-snap scene. And I wasn’t disappointed. It was infused with humor and amazing choreography. Once Paulette learned how to do the bend-and-snap, a group of boys suddenly appeared and responded to her movement. Their synchronicity with Paulette was delightful to watch. When the scene finally ended, it concluded with a bang: Paulette broke Kyle’s (the UPS guy’s) nose. Kyle fell dramatically and the audience roared with laughter.
Another scene I also really enjoyed was Brooke’s exercise routine/jump-rope choreography. The sequence was so creative. I was blown away by the actors’ athleticism; they basically danced and jump-roped at the same time. I have never seen anything like it.
And of course, I must comment on how much I appreciated having real dogs starring in the show. Reggie the campus corgi appeared, and the audience exploded in cheers and applause which was really funny. Bruiser Woods, the Chihuahua, was also adorable. I awwwed every time he appeared on stage. I was so impressed by how well both dogs behaved. If I was a dog (which is a weird thing to think about), I would have freaked out at the bright lights and loud noises.
You can checkout behind the scenes videos on Musket’s Facebook page, under “videos.”
I saw this show, too! I was blown away by the talent, and thought they did a great job. I agree with you about the inclusion of the makeover scene is a bit odd in the musical as a whole, but MUSKET’s performance was great. Great review, too!