‘Legally Blonde the Musical’, is Looking

For Love in All the Right Places

By Pat Lindsey

    Legally Blonde the Musical is a delicious pink sweet treat that is being served to Muny audiences this week. At first glance, it might appear to be about a dumb blonde, but theater-goers will soon learn that there is much more to Elle Woods than a Barbie body and pink fashion accessories. To fully enjoy it, just sit back in your seat and watch Elle Woods evolve into an intelligent and respected woman without ever losing her pure honesty and adorableness.

When we first meet Elle (Kyla Stone), she has just graduated from UCLA with a degree in fashion merchandising. She and her Delta Nu sorority sisters are searching for the perfect pink dress for her to wear to dinner when her boyfriend, Warner, proposes to her. Elle’s goals, at this time, are to be married to Warner (Dan Tracy) and live in Malibu.
Dinner doesn’t go according to Elle’s plan, however. Instead of proposing to her, Warner tells    Elle that he is breaking up with her. He has big plans to be a lawyer and a senator and those plans do not include her. He needs a more serious type of woman, like Vivienne Kensington (Olivia Kaufmann).
Elle doesn’t take rejection very easily, so she makes a plan to go after Warner and enroll in Harvard Law School. With a lot of coaching from her sorority sisters, Elle is accepted at Harvard. Her fellow law students, however, do not readily accept her and she becomes the brunt of many jokes. Warner is shocked to see her there and can’t believe she was able to get in. Her response to him is, “What? Like it’s hard?”
Elle questions her decision to become a lawyer until one day when she helps her hairdresser, Paulette (Patti Murin), win a legal battle. She removes Paulette’s bulldog, Rufus, from the clutches of an ex-boyfriend based on common law and realizes she has a legal mind after all. Elle’s honesty and good intuition later help her win a murder case for workout guru, Brooke Wyndam (Hayley Podschun).
Kyla Stone is perfect as Elle Woods. She’s beautiful, smart, and energetic and can sing like an angel. Warner Huntington III (Tracy) might not recognize these qualities in her, but Emmett Forrest (Fergie L. Phillipe) does. Emmett is a law clerk for Professor Callahan (Sean Allan Krill), and he becomes Elle’s tutor through law school. Both Krill and Phillipe advance the story through song with strong, clear voices. When Callahan (Krill) sings, “Blood in the Water,” he becomes a believable lawyer.
Paulette (Murin) and her UPS boyfriend, Kyle (Shea Coffman) add comic relief with the “bend and snap” and a big Irish clogging number.
The songs in this show were written by husband-and-wife duo Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin. Their melodies and lyrics are forgettable, but the score is as lively as sorority sisters jumping rope and tailor-made for “Legally Blonde.” Throughout the show, the sorority sisters follow Elle as a “Greek” chorus and accentuate girl power every chance they get.
Kudos to Costume Designer Leon Dobkowski and Scenic Designer Tim Mackabee for a job well done. Clothes are very important to this show and especially to the main character. Just the right amount of pinkness was achieved. The same is true of the sets that contrasted with a serious Harvard backdrop, but the swimming pool and cabanas were my favorite.
      Legally Blonde the Musical  is gift to Muny audiences and hands-down the most fun show of the 2022 season. “It gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.” (Elle Woods) The happiness is being shared on The Muny stage in Forest Park nightly at 8:15 p.m. through Aug. 1.*
For tickets, go to muny.org, call 314-534-1111 or visit the box office in Forest Park.

*Sunday., July 31 is Pink Out Night at The Muny to raise breast cancer awareness. It is being sponsored by BMO Harris Bank and Siteman Cancer Center. Be sure to wear your pink!

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