“Legally Blonde, The Musical” paints Portland pink
February 17, 2010 by karenvitt
Filed under Neat STUFF
By Karen Vitt, neat editor in chief
Omigod, you guys. Last night’s Portland premiere of the touring Broadway musical “Legally Blonde” was totally fun.
Keller Auditorium was packed with pink for the stage adaptation of the wildly popular 2001 romantic comedy, which starred Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods, a misunderstood blonde bombshell who enrolls at Harvard Law School to win back her boyfriend.
Grown women decked in head-to-toe fuchsia, groups of teen girls wearing matching hot pink “Legally Blonde” T-shirts, and even a few fashionable couples who matched her-pink-shoes with his-pink-tie turned out for last night’s show.
And while the movie storyline is pure chick-flick, it turns out the musical adaptation has mass appeal – in other words, it may be geared toward Chihuahua-loving fashionistas, but there are enough hilarious pop-culture references and hot actors on stage at all times that even your tattooed, motorcycling-riding boyfriend will enjoy all the song and dance. (True story, he did!)
Actress Becky Gulsvig was adorable in the lead as Elle, nailing her Reese Witherspoon-by-way-of-Malibu accent, and making her 15-plus designer costume changes seem effortless. It was a fashion parade of couture costumes, including pink Juicy Couture sweatsuits; pink slip dresses; sparkly sequined marching band attire; tall, hot pink lace-up boots; Playboy bunny complete with furry tail; Rich & Skinny and 7 For All Mankind jeans; navy blue skirt suits; Chanel-inspired Brocade coat; fuchsia wrap dress, etc. and so on.
The only cast members not costumed to the hilt were Bruiser, Elle’s Chihuahua – played by Frankie (who almost stole the show with the first canine speaking role in theater history) – and Rufus (played by Nellie), who had a central (albeit non-speaking) part as Elle’s hairdresser’s beloved bulldog, who got howls from the audience when he (we mean she) would streak across the stage on command.
Wardrobe dresser Laura Ellington was at the show’s after-party at downtown Portland’s Courtyard Marriot Hotel, and she said it was no small feat keeping the characters looking glam at all times with the near-constant costume changes. In fact, she said slipping from one costume to the next without making it obvious becomes as much a part of the actors’ choreography as the show’s song and dance routines.
And boy were there ever song and dance routines! We were treated to groups of choreographed cheerleaders singing “Omigod, omigod, omigod you guys…” and shirtless frat boys dancing and Irish jigs and more – and all the while it never stopped being funny. In one scene, an entire courtroom sang a chorus of “Is he gay or European,” and in the middle of another dance number, Elle halted a routine abruptly to exclaim, “Wait – this isn’t helping. This is Harvard, not a stripper bar.”
We spotted ever-stylish KOIN TV “Keep It Local” anchor Priya David laughing in the audience, and today we asked her what she thought of the show. “I laughed from the opening act to the closing curtain,” she said, “and I’m making my friends at work listen to me sing awful reprises of ‘Legally Blonde’s’ high-energy songs this morning. I loved the quick humor… sometimes over the top, with everyone in on the joke. Go!”
It was an all-around good time for sure, but even more importantly (and not unlike Elle herself) there’s a serious message beneath the story’s superficial fluff: Be who you are, go after what you want, and let’s all hope ponchos never come back in style.
Get behind the scenes photos from last night’s after–party at ByronBeck.com.
“Legally Blonde” continues through Sunday as part of Portland Opera’s Broadway Across America series.
“Legally Blonde, The Musical”
$25-$77; 503-241-1802 or Ticketmaster.com
Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St.
tour.legallyblondethemusical.com
