I love this show and have seen it 3 times now. But what a shame the current cast under perform in almost every way. The previous Elle woods, Susan McFadden just sparkled in the role and had an amazing voice. Why the producers think Carly stenson is now up to the job is beyond me. Her voice is really weak and her chemistry with Lee mead very poor. Talking of Lee mead, he really can't act, put minimal effort into his performance and I felt like he'd rather be somewhere else the entire time he was on stage. Bring back the amazing Alex gaumond to show Lee how it should be done. A fab show has been ruined by a second rate cast. Such a shame. - Susanne
17 Sep 11
Feb 2011. we saw a friday evening performance with an (un known cast) sheridan et all have left. Good seats, but very small and packed in, uncomfortable to sit in .
The show, well "ok" NOT great, everything had to be sung, which became tedious in the end, the cast had NO interaction at all, so not very personable. As for the SOUND - DREADFULL, everything was one dull mush drone: the sound op must have been asleep! No dialogue was clear, and all the music and voices just belended into nothing but mush: Truly dreadful, and as a result we have only given Two starts: what is the point of a LIVE show, if you cant hear the cast or music. - savoy feb 2011
13 Feb 11
Thoroughly enjoyable even if I cannot remember any of the songs - T WILSON
10 Feb 11
- vikash
13 Sep 10
fun-sexy. you have to be reallly boring if you dont leave the theatre happy :) - bj
12 Mar 10
I first saw Legally Blonde in New York and the transfer offers an opportunity to see why musical comedy has a natural home on Broadway. Firstly the Savoy's stage is too narrow which makes the sets look cheap but the biggest difference is the performances. On Broadway everyone, down to the swings, performs as if their lives depend on it; in the West End there can sometimes be a major drop off from the leads to the ensemble and this is certainly the case here. There are good supporting performances from Jill Halfpenny and Alex Gaumond and Aoife Mulholland looks stunning. Of course the whole show revolves around Elle Woods and I am not sure that Sheridan Smith is the best casting. She spends a lot of time metaphorically winking at the audience which suggests that she knows it's all a bit rubbish and she doesn't sing as well as when she was in Little Shop of Horrors. At the risk of being ungallant she also looks a bit too old to play a Valley Girl. However her sheer exuberance and energy wins you over and you can't help rooting for Elle. The same goes for the show itself - on second viewing it's clear that Legally Blonde has very little substance but it's impossible to resist the relentless Red Bull rush (blatant product best placement alert) and it's to surrender to mindless, undemanding fun. - David Baxter
04 Mar 10
Well, after seeing Sister Act, Priscilla and Legally Blond over the course of 3 days. I now announce Priscilla as the feel good musical of the moment.
Legally Blond, in my opinion is the reverse of Sister Act, which I think has a great score with a poor book. Legally Blond has a funny and entertaining book and a very weak score.
The performances on the whole were very good and Sheridan is really a treat to watch, I was captivated by her performance.
While not a great show, it is still entertaining. However if you want to come out of the theatre smiling from ear to ear and with a spring in your step...I suggest Priscilla. - Nesby
22 Feb 10
Witless, pointless, terrible - my boyfriend Raymond took me for. Pre-valentine's treat since I loved the movie. But this was nothing like it! Go to priscilla instead. - Sonia
08 Feb 10
I took my girlfriend and we both thought it was a really bad play. She loved it on the movie and said it was nowhere near as good. - Raymond
08 Feb 10
Poor, went with such high expectations after seeing 4 stars from whatsonstage. A real disappointment, and an expensive one at that! - Mary Brogan
08 Feb 10
Don't bother - Penny
08 Feb 10
This is such fun. Yes, it's predictable, yes it's all a bit sub-Hairspray, but for a fluffy, mindless, well produced night out, this delivers. The set looks very cheap, but all is well when the superbly drilled cast are giving their all. The only weak link in a fine company is Duncan James, all smarm and no charm, but Sheridan Smith really sparkles as Elle, and she has great support from Jill Halfpenny, Alex Gaumond and Susan McFadden. The poppy score is catchy, the lyrics are rather inspired, and all in all I saw throughout with a big, dopey grin on my face! - ajh
21 Jan 10
I had a blast, but had I paid (not that I would pay £60 for this sort of thing) I might have been less thrilled. Sheridan Smith is superb, and I disagree with Michael about the lyrics - my friend and I found them suprisingly witty and fun. But musically poor and the set is rather a mess, it looks like it has been salvaged from a number of different shows. - Jon
18 Jan 10
Leading lady Ms SM ****
I can see her winning many awards.
Second leading man Mr DJ **
singing still weak but charming.
music score **
not memerable I can see why it flops on Broadway.
lyrics ****
witty
set *
not West End standard. - from an audience point of view
15 Jan 10
Cheap, mindless, drivel at rip-off prices...what a surprise! - Coral
15 Jan 10
Loved it, loved it, loved it! Total fun from top to bottom.
Though I don't think it's really fair to judge critics based on the review of a fairly insignificant, uninfluential website such as whatsonstage.com; the critics from The Independant, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph (Charles Spencer!!!! The man who never likes anything remotely fun, and even started his review stating he wanted badly to hate the show) have all been hugely complimentary to the point of (in the case of The Independant and The Telegraph) raving, in their reviews. Just goes to show that you can be a pretentious, high-brow patron of the high-falutin arts and still know when you've seen a great piece of frothy fun done well! - Marian Twigg
14 Jan 10
I think that reviewers just don't know what does it mean going to the theatre just to have fun!!
LEGALLY BLONDE is an amazing Show! Energetic and very funny!! Just love it!! - Maria
14 Jan 10
This show is brilliant. Loved it in New York and in London. GO SEE IT! This Reviewer does not know what his talking about. You should have rather gone to the RSC up the road if that's what you wanted to see. - Mr Hewitt
14 Jan 10
Take your glasses next time Mr Coveney,Amy Lennox does where a wig!and talking of age isnt it time you retired?! - John
14 Jan 10
I have seen the show 5 times and cannot believe what i have just read. Sheridan Smith was born to play elle woods and completely suited for the role. Her comical timing is genious and at some points throughout the show you only have to look at her facial expressions and your laughing out loud.
She wows the audience night after night her 16 costume changes done with ease and the wigs.... Nothing to fault in my opinion. I would suggest anyone who is not sure go and see it. you will come out feeling very happy with a smile on your face for days.
I cannot fault the show i think its fantastic and Sheridans name should already be on that Laurence Olivier award!! - Danni Dyer
14 Jan 10
Legally Blonde is an escape from reality. Truly when you come to watch it, you will have a brilliant 2.5 hours with continuous giggles. Considering it has been on Broadway for more than two years, I think the West End team is absolutely amazing. The principals are fantastic and swings are working so hard they should be congratulated every night. Sheridan, with 18 songs sung (out of 20 in total in the musical) and 16 costume changes, has proven that the musical is so demanding but she is just perfect to be the blonde. Understudies for all principals look promising, especially for Elle (Amy Lennox) and Warner (Matthew McKenna). The Savoy theatre is probably with limited space and unorganised chaos with rude Box Office staff (the one bald guy) but kudos to the House and Duty Managers as well as other staff to make everyone's visit to Savoy a fabulous one. Coming to see the show for the 10th time soon xx - Hazwan Abdul Rahman
14 Jan 10
This was so well worth the walk on ice to and from the tube for the WOS outing! I haven't seen the film and had a suspicion it might be a chick-flick-on-stage like Dirty Dancing (which I hated), so I really wasn't expecting to be swept away by this terrific feelgood show. It is rare in a theatre that an entire audience spontaneously stands, but that's what happened when Sheriden Smith took her curtain call - and wow, does she deserve it; this is a true STAR turn. Lots of other great performances too, particularly from Jill Halfpenny and Alex Gaumond. It's very funny indeed, the music's good and the choreography is superb. Legally Blonde equals those other uplifting evenings - Mamma Mia, Priscilla and Hairspray - and I can't wait to go again.....and a huge thank you to the director and all five leads for generously staying for the WOS Q&A. - Gareth James
07 Jan 10
As 'Charmed' was the poor relation to 'Buffy', so 'Legally Bland' is the poor relation to 'Hairspray'. In fact in many respects 'I can't believe it's not Hairspray' would be a more appropriate title for this piece of pointlessness. It lacks the Marc Shaiman genius in its instantly forgettable musical score, but more offensive is the poorest excuse for a design since.. well.. poor designs started. It's cheapness is jaw dropping, and more offensive still is the costuming, which seems to have come entirely from Primark. Elle's multigazillion dollar lifestyle is reduced to a chavy pink tracksuit and her friends are all VERY rough/large round the edges. It makes you wonder where all the beautiful british show girls who could pull that off are. Were these girls cast to make Sheridan Smith look better? Who knows!
Smith, however, is an excellent comic actress with a great voice, but is miscast as Elle. She muddles through the choreography well enough, but doesn't have the precision and tightness that you'd except from this role. A wondering generic American accent didn't help (Bad vocal coaching!!.... what... you mean, there wasn't one on this entirely cheap production you made me pay full price for a preview ticket for????) You keep wondering who exactly could pull this off properly in Britain, and i was stumped apart from Summer Strallen (but she's a very cold performer and would probably have the audience shouting abuse at her) and the obvious 'Elle' Understudy who isn't famous, but looked and danced the part of one of Elle's friends very convincingly. Duncan from Blue is in a blink and you miss it role, thankfully. He's unfeasibly hot on stage, and has a nice quality to his voice, but cant quite act. But then he doesn't really have to. Like the cat in 'Brakefast at Tiffany's' the dogs in 'Legally' steal the show. It's as if nobody can quite understand how a dog could possibly be trained to walk across a stage, and there is rapturous applause for this every time one appears (which is infrequent).
The whole show feels safe because of it's conformity to a tried and tested structure, never really excites (apart from the court room scene in act 2, which is by far and away the only fun bit of the entire show), and despite it's 'love of the gays' ethos, i found it's stereotyping and persistence in using them for derogatory comic effect, quite homophobic, especially to lesbians. In fact gays in 'Legally' are like the blacks in 'hairspray', but in NO way is it dealt with the same sensitivity.
Oh yeah, and the bald guy in the box-office needs to be fired. SUCH a rude man.
- Cassox
03 Jan 10
Good show, not brilliant but entertaining enough. Agree with previous poster, man in box office is extremely rude and should be sacked - maria
24 Dec 09
The show is really good fun and has a really strong cast. It's a great night out, pure escapism, just to leave your brain at home and let yourself go. Sheridan Smith is fantastic and has great comic timing. The set is a bit of a let down, very cheap looking, nothing to do with the one used for the Broadway production, it's probably the scale down one they used for the touring production. Disappointed with the very rude and arrogant bold man at the box office. I've seen many productions at the savoy and box office staff have always benn lovely. He shouldn't be there if he doesn't like the job. - Ann
23 Dec 09
Legally Blondes, do have more fun!
Every Christmas my friends and I treat each other to see the latest big musical and have dinner somewhere gorgeous. This year our outing was to see Legally Blonde the Musical, and dinner at Yauatcha, interspersed with a bit of Christmas sight seeing, a few cheeky gins, and the obligatory photo’s of us in silly hats. I did also end up standing on a podium outside Hamley’s giving out golden tickets – don’t ask:)
Legally Blonde is still in preview, which is always a risk, however I have to say apart from a few sight line issues, we wouldn’t have known. The theatre was packed, the pink fluffy merchandise out in abundance and our festive expectations high. The show open with the show stopping “Omigod you guys” and the bright, poppy songs kept coming. Sheridan Smith is superb, her energy, comic timing and singing ability make her the star of the show which considering Elle is the star of the show, make this perfect casting. I know that she had to go through many auditions and impress the American producers – not an easy feat but thankfully successful. Sheridan owns the stage and makes you forget about Reece Wither-who….
Duncan James, looks great, however he isn’t the best singer or dancer but will draw love-struck girlies in. Alex Gaumond as Emmett is perfect – again great casting, as is Aoife “How do you solve a problem like Maria” Mulholland. Jill Halfpenny has the dancing, singing and acting ability for Paulette, however isn’t trailer trash enough. Neither Peter Davison as Professor Callahan nor Caroline Keiff as Vivienne Kensington are quite right either, which is a shame, however the rest of this hard working and talented cast make up for it.
The show follows exactly the same story as the film, which is quite handy, as that’s what we expected. The songs are fun; however there isn’t a really good power ballad which is a shame. I enjoyed the choreography, especially the Irish dancing in “Ireland”, and “Whipped into Shape” which is very clever, I never knew you could do so much with a skipping rope.
My big disappointment was the set. For a large scale West End production such as this, and a top ticket price of £65, I think the audience deserves more than a few trolleys being wheeled on and a couple of back cloths being flown in. It is the sort of set I’d expect to see on a regional C tour of the provinces, and very, very lazy. When you think of the amazing sets in Mary Poppins or even Zorro, the set designers are out there, the producers obviously didn’t get round to calling them.
So overall a great production, lots of fun and definitely worth seeing. (It is ideal if you have teenage girls, in fact the perfect birthday outing with a Prêt a Porter tea at The Berkeley Hotel), let down by the cheap and uninspired set, but worth the ticket price for Sheridan Smith.
8.5/10 - Alassin Sane
