Elle Woods is a gorgeous, popular, blonde, sorority president from Malibu. Her boyfriend Warner Huntington III wants to be a “Senator by the time (he’s) 30.” As Warner prepares to move from California to Harvard Law he decides he needs a more serious girlfriend, “less of a Marilyn, more of a Jackie.” He dumps Elle and jets off to Harvard, but Elle isn’t one to give up so easily. She decides to get serious, nail the LSAT, and follow Warner to Harvard Law to get her boyfriend back. Instead, she finds herself.
Clik here to view.
Jordan Bondurant as Warner Huntington III, Lauren Zakrin as Elle Woods and the company in Legally Blonde, produced by Music Circus at the Wells Fargo Pavilion June 14-19. Photo by Charr Crail.
If the plot sounds familiar, you aren’t hallucinating…you’ve seen this movie before in the form of the 2001 Reese Witherspoon movie Legally Blonde. In fact, the plot of Legally Blonde The Musical is almost identical, just add about an hour of infectious pop music and some big dance numbers and you have Legally Blonde The Musical (LBTM).
Clik here to view.
Lauren Zakrin as Elle Woods and Delta Nu sisters in Legally Blonde, produced by Music Circus at the Wells Fargo Pavilion June 14-19. Photo by Charr Crail.
One advantage for the writers of LBTM is that the film handled the character development, the disadvantage is that they took advantage…of..that…advantage and didn’t bother to inject much depth into the characters in the show. Several of the emotionally charged and powerful moments in the film are rushed through on the stage and unless you are well versed on the characters from the film, you may not get the “feels” you hope for from a Broadway musical. Having said that, this is the single best production of Legally Blonde The Musical that I have ever seen.
Runaway Stage Productions presented LBTM this past March and did an incredible job for a community theatre, California Musical Theatre is a professional theatre using Equity (union) actors and it shows! The cast is stellar from top to bottom, from Lauren Zakrin’s relatable and vocally perfect performance as Elle Woods, to James Michael Lambert’s quirky and understated portrayal of Emmitt Forrest, to Ryah Nixon’s hilarious and heartfelt Paulette Bonafonte this is as strong of a cast as you will ever see in this show.
Clik here to view.
Lauren Zakrin as Elle Woods and Chico as Bruiser in Legally Blonde, produced by Music Circus at the Wells Fargo Pavilion June 14-19. Photo by Charr Crail.
Another fun fact in the casting is Chico who play’s Elle’s “Gemini Vegetarian” chihuahua Bruiser Woods. Trained by William Berloni, Chico actually played Bruiser on Broadway, and his acting chops are very noticeable. He doesn’t just run on and off of the stage, he is a full blown character in the show. Bravo Chico!
Speaking of stages, one of the things that makes Sacramento’s Music Circus such an interesting and original place to see theatre is it’s staging. The Wells Fargo Pavilion is not a standard proscenium theater, their shows are presented in the round. Meaning that the audience is seated in 360 degrees around the stage. There is zero margin for error, and the characters are up close and personal. I am proud to report that while this is my first show at Music Circus, California Musical Theatre proved themselves with this production and I cannot wait to see what they do with Hello Dolly! Oh yeah, that is coming up on June 28th so get your tickets for LBTM NOW, before it’s Oh My…Gone.
Tickets and info at SacramentoMusicCircus.com.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
