Theatre students light up the stage with Legally Blonde
BY OLIVIA LITTLE
Legally Blonde started off with a highly energetic song and dance, “Ohmigod You Guys,” and the energy continued throughout every scene, right up until the curtains fell.
Derived from the movie Legally Blonde, starring Reece Witherspoon, the show follows positive, determined, pink-wearing sorority girl, Elle Woods (Kelsey Lacombe) through her journey to win her ex-boyfriend back.
In the second scene, Woods’ boyfriend, Warner Huntington III (Jonathan Gysbers) breaks up with her because she’s not “serious” enough for him and the political career he wants.
Woods is determined to prove to Warner that she can be serious, determined enough to follow him to Harvard Law School.
Elle Woods played by Kelsey Lacombe, was both charming and lovable. She had the whole audience empathizing with her when Warner breaks her heart and rooting her on in the courtroom, near the end.
Her experience comes packed full of challenges, from being kicked out of class, to being tricked by Warner’s new girlfriend, Vivienne Kensington (Blaire Lorrison) to show up in a Playboy bunny costume at a classy get together.
Although the show was comical and light, it also held a lot of deeper meanings, and underlining messages about discovering who you are and never underestimating yourself. Woods finds her independence and discovers what she’s truly capable of, with the help of law grad student and attorney, Emmett Forrest (Tyler Check).
Elle Woods was played by Kelsey Lacombe. Photo courtesy of John Jones Photography.
The musical followed closely to the movie, but was much better. The catchy songs and energetic dance numbers gave the storyline an extra dose of personality that the film was lacking.
Ainsley Roy who played Elle Wood’s manicurist, as well as confidant, Paulette Buonufonte was a character that stood out.
Roy provided plenty of comic relief to every scene. Specifically, her solo of “Ireland” where her character describes her struggle of looking for a good Irish man, a man who can “dance without moving his arms.” Roy’s passionate solo resulted in eruptions of laughter all across the theatre.
One scene in particular that stands out was when fitness instructor, Brooke Wyndham (Kate Madden) who is convicted of killing her husband, along with the other dancers did “Whipped into Shape,” a dance number with jump ropes. They made the moves look easy as they swung their jump ropes around.
Some parts to the show seemed to drag on a little bit, with actors left to improvise. One part in particular was when Woods was with Emmett Forrest (Tyler Check) and she went off-stage to change from her Playboy bunny costume to another outfit. This took longer than expected and Check was left stalling out on the stage.
Overall, the show was highly entertaining and gave the audience a good laugh.
Legally Blonde runs from Dec. 3 to Dec. 10 at Milton Centre for the Arts due to the fire at Trafalgar Campus’ Macdonald-Heaslip Hall on Oct. 16. Shows will be resuming back at the Macdonald-Heaslip Hall for the rest of the season. Tickets are available at the Sheridan box office or online at https://tickets.sheridancollege.ca.
