'Legally Blonde' Has Ambitions

It takes a large capacity for tact to create the cotton candy-powder puff-bubble gum masterpiece that is “Legally Blonde: The Musical.” The writers—Laurence C. O’Keefe ’91 and Nell D. Benjamin ’93, who have worked together several times since the Hasty Pudding’s 145th production—return to the Yard to satirize its residents with just the right amount of sting and wit while avoiding an easy resort to caricature. Granted, they’ve got an audience with an insatiable sweet-tooth that coos at the sight of massive amounts of pink and sparkles, but “Legally Blonde,” which will run at the Boston Opera House until Nov. 9, is more than bearable. It’s ridiculously entertaining.

On Saturday, Becky Gulsvig—credits include “Hairspray,” “Peter Pan,” “Grease,” and TV’s “All My Children”—brought the house down with her believable, bubbly blondeness and uncanny similarity to the original Elle, Reese Witherspoon. Filling those knee-high patent pink leather tie-up boots is no doubt a demanding job. Arduous fans of the 2001 film will find her very obvious efforts to replicate every last one of Witherspoon’s somewhat inimitable facial expressions (largely dependent on the famous chiseled chin and popped rosy cheeks) charming and quite startlingly successful.

And while Gulsvig brings nothing new to the table physically, she sings and dances and pouts and struts and costume-changes with inhumane speed, all of which combine to create an enjoyable overall experience. What was missing, however, was Witherspoon’s smooth transition from sneakily smart Malibu queen to career woman: Gulsvig never did strike one as deceptively clever to begin with.

The objects of her affection are also unfortunately less than dreamy. D.B. Bonds as Emmett (the teaching associate Elle meets in her law class) is sweet but lacks Luke Wilson’s bookish sex appeal. Ken Land as Professor Callahan, on the other hand, is the epitome of that ruggedly handsome older professor and possesses an old-school “easy listening” voice, especially in “Blood in the Water,” a call to Harvard Law School students to roll up their sleeves and realize “you’re nothing until the thrill of the kill becomes your only law.”

Supporting cast members contributed greatly to the performance. Natalie Joy Johnson was perfect as the ridiculous and bootylicious stylist Paulette, who becomes Elle’s confidante. Ven Daniel was the true star of the show as the UPS guy who, with one fabulous runway walk and come-hither glare, melts Paulette and succumbs to her messy Bend-and-Snap. Daniel stole more than his scripted center-stage moments as he pranced about with kicks to his head in ensemble dances and then sauntered away like a macho diva.

Another standout was Sarah Marie Jenkins as the leader of Elle’s Delta Nu sorority girls, who morphed into a chorus of Greek goddesses that functioned as the voices in Elle’s head when they weren’t upholding the bonds of sisterhood with cartwheels and barely-there minis.

But, other musicals—”Mamma Mia,” for example—have something that Legally Blonde does not: classic songs that will forgive the lack of substance. You don’t have to love ABBA to sway in your seat, sing along with the Baby Boomers, and say “Thank You for the Music.” “Legally Blonde,” while not likely to start a phenomenon like “Mamma Mia’s” global ABBA fever, does have it’s own sort of cultural influence: “Is He Gay or European?” is the highlight of the show and has certainly already become an ubiquitous pop-culture reference. (And for the record, Carlos the pool boy is both gay and European.)

Of the two innovations the musical conjured, only one adds to overall pleasure. Elle, out to prove that a nice pink dress is all one needs to conquer the world, decides to make over a somewhat bland Emmett. She turns him from dowdy, studious academic to dapper, corporate god. “The outside is new / but now it reflects what’s already in you / Couldn’t change that if I wanted to / and I do not,” she sings, reflecting on the overall idea that Elle wouldn’t be Elle without her pink ensembles and her dog Bruiser and that you can achieve anything without sacrificing yourself in the process. But Paulette’s ode to Ireland is so random that it’s a wonder it got past the first draft—though it does create a plausible foundation for a later, no-less random attempt at Riverdance.

“Legally Blonde” lets a girl have it all. She can wear blue like it’s pink and can have not just the perfect tan and manicure, but also a Harvard degree. The descending flags with the Veritas shield in the last number, along with an almost too-lovely Johnston Gate, was the perfect finale to a musical that strove to be everything wonderfully all at once. An ode to the magnificence of girlishness, “Legally Blonde” may not be Godiva, but for the sweet-toothed, it’s at least a bag of Skittles.