The Kings Theatre, Southsea – until Saturday 22nd February 2025
Reviewed by Sally Lumley
4****
Legally Blonde the Musical has been brought to the stage at the Kings Theatre by local group The Portsmouth Players. The musical, based on the 2001 Reese Witherspoon movie, tells the story of Elle Woods (Beth Evans), a Fashion Merchandising graduate who gets into Harvard Law School to prove to ex-boyfriend Warner (Archie Mckeown) that she can be “serious”. With a positive attitude, and a perfect pink wardrobe, Elle strives to discover what it is she really wants, and to prove to everyone what she is really capable of.
This is a show full of strong female characters, and Portsmouth Players have drawn on a super-talented cast of local performers. Beth Evans as Elle had the audience rooting for her all the way through, and Georgina-Rose West was outstanding as Elle’s best friend Paulette, with wonderful vocals. Special mention also for Madison Cathrow who led an incredible skipping scene just after the interval in her role as exercise guru/murder suspect Brooke Wyndham.
This show made the most of every opportunity to make the audience laugh and there were some brilliantly silly scene stealing moments. Paulette’s dog Rufus (Stanley Searl) was full of attitude, and Kyle the UPS guy (Nick Williams) was hilarious as Paulette’s love interest, absolutely milking every moment he had on the stage. However, the ultimate scene stealer was of course the adorable Scooby as Elle’s dog Bruiser!
Legally Blonde is an inspirational, uplifting show about staying true to yourself and following your dreams. It’s full of poppy, catchy songs accompanied by a fabulous live band and delivered with buckets of fun and energy. Legally Blonde is a feel-good night out, full of heart – ‘omigod you guys!’