Review: LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL at Essential Health Plaza At The Lights

 

This fun and energy filled show tells the story of Elle Woods, a sorority girl who gets into Harvard Law School to try and win back the man of her dreams. The show is based on the novel by Amanda Brown and also the 2001 hit movie starring Reese Witherspoon. The show is non-stop fun and packed with dancing.

As a follow-up to last summers hit show, Rock of Ages, director Adam Pankow tells me he chose this show because "It's great summertime entertainment. It is High energy and dynamic, but the show has heart and a well-articulated moral center. I knew it would be a show appealing to our community talent and audience bases".

As expected Pankow and his team assembled another all-star cast to bring this show to life. Starting with Katie Spokely as Elle Woods. Katie has such a powerful and amazing voice. I have been a fan since I saw her in Mamma Mia in 2019. Katie owns the stage in every scene. Some of her standout vocal performances were on "Serious", "What You Want", "Positive", "So Much Better", "Take It Like A Man" and "Legally Blonde".

Zachary Lutz as Warner is another one that I have been a fan of for a while now. I first saw him in 2018 in MSUM's production of Tommy and of course his recent AMAZING performance in A Few Good Men. Zachary has such talent, and just keeps getting better. He was wonderful as Warner and I loved his scenes with Katie and also with Samara (Vivienne). I really loved his vocal performance on "Serious".

Braden Miller as Emmett is another I have been watching on stage for over 5 years. He never ceases to impress with his talent. I loved his scenes with Katie and his vocals on "Chip on My Shoulder" were one of my favorite songs. He also did a great job on "Take It Like a Man" and "Legally Blonde".

Samara McDermid as Vivienne was another great casting choice. She played the stuffy and uptight character perfectly. Her vocals on "Legally Blonde Remix" got some of the loudest applause of the second Act.

Megan Hovinen as Paulette was so good and a crowd favorite for sure. I still talk about her performance as Jo in Little Women about 2 years ago. She plays the character to perfection and has some memorable scenes. Her vocals on "Ireland" and "Ireland (reprise)" were so powerful. That note she hits at the end gave me chills.

This whole cast is absolutely amazing. So many wonderful performances.

I have to point out some more standout performances. Steve Borgen was wonderful as Professor Callahan on "Blood In The Water". Kristina Erickson, Whitney McClain, Madison Gette as Margot, Serena and Pilar provided some amazing vocals on "What You Want", "Positive" and "Bend and Snap". Macy Scharmer as Brooke on "Whipped Into Shape" was a great kick-off to Act II. Kenyon Koch was so much fun as Grandmaster Chad in "What You Want" and as Carlos in "Gay or European" along with Harrison Timm as Nikos.

A few more great characters. Lexx Francis as Enid and Chris Taylor as Kyle were both audience favorites. Tanya Weets as Pforzheimer and the Judge.

Like I said, so much talent on that stage. Every single person involved did such an amazing job and should be extremely proud.

Congrats again to Adam Pankow and his team. A huge shout out to choreographer Patrick Kasper, Maisi Pedersen (Music Director), Bryan Duncan (Lighting Designer), Curtis Phillips (Scenic Designer), Mitchel Reith (Sound Designer), Margaret Ness-Ludwig (Costume & Hair), Katy Niemeyer (Costume & Hair), Matthias Ehlers (Associate Sound Designer), Matthew Gilbertson (Technical Director), Aimee Klien (Rehearsal Accompanist), Steve Kostecke (Stage Operations Manager) and Indigo Leiseth (Production Stage Manager).

Photo Credit: Robby Njos

 

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