[NEohioPAL] Berko review: LEGALLY BLONDE, THE MUSICAL @ Palace Theatre

[Roy Berko]

Cutesy LEGALLY BLONDE, THE MUSICAL  entertains once again at Palace

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News Times--Olmsted-Fairview 
Times

COOLCLEVELAND.com

Some shows are just meant to be entertaining…no great message, no deep thoughts, 
nothing but fluff.  LEGALLY BLONDE, THE MUSICAL, is such a script.

The musical, like the movie on which it is based, centers on Elle Woods, a 
blonde, seemingly ditsy California wealthy sorority girl whose fashion sense far 
exceeds her common sense.  When Warner, her boyfriend, dumps her for someone who 
is 'serious,” Elle goes into action, and gets admitted to Harvard Law School 
(that's where Warner is enrolled).  Her eventual success, both in the classroom 
and the court room, are foregone conclusions.  The lightweight plot takes us on 
her journey from bimbo to valedictorian.

The show has a Cleveland connection in that Gina Vernaci, the Vice President of 
Theatricals for Playhouse Square, was involved in the evolution of the original 
production.  In addition, a group of ten local women partnered together to 
invest in LEGALLY BLONDE, THE MUSICAL.  They attended the Broadway opening of 
the show.

The touring production is nicely paced.  The choreography is good.   The sets 
and costumes are adequate.   

The cast, which is mainly main up of young professional actors with touring 
company and college theatre credits, is not up to the level of the company that 
came through two years ago, but they are adequate.  As Alex, my fifteen year old 
grandson, a member of the “kid reviewer corps” that I take to shows to get a 
teen/tween view of shows that advertise that they are “kid friendly” said, “The 
voices were good, the acting was okay, the plot was slight.”  He went on to say 
the show was cute, and agreed that the standard Cleveland standing ovation at 
the end of the show, was “a bit much” considering the quality of the production.

The real star of the show, at least based on the amount of applause it received, 
was Bruiser, the Chihuahua.  Unfortunately, the live bulldog which also usually 
appears in the show was substituted for with a stuffed animal.  That kind of 
indicates the quality level of the production.

The sound people need a serious scolding.  The balance between the orchestra and 
the voices was way off, making hearing the words of the songs almost 
impossible.  Also, several times the guys in the booth forgot to turn the mics 
on and the actors were left looking like they were moving their mouths with no 
sound coming out, which was followed by a blast of voice.   Not good!

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  If you like light-hearted musicals with excellent music and 
some nice singing and dancing, you'll be pleased with this touring production of 
  'LEGALLY BLONDE, THE MUSICAL.' 

Tickets for 'LEGALLY BLONDE, THE MUSICAL, which runs through October 23, can be 
ordered by calling 216-241-6000 or going to www.playhousesquare.org.
 
Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 
2010, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at 
http://royberko.info
His reviews can also be found on www.coolcleveland.com and NeOHIOpal (to 
subscribe visit http://mailman.listserve.com/listmanager/listinfo/neohiopal.)