REVIEW: "Legally Blonde" Takes Centerstage at Fisher Center

Photo courtesy of Payton Tabb

The outside of Delta Nu Sorority comes into focus as the curtains lift. 

The orchestra snaps to life as Sorority girls sing in excitement for the prospect of a proposal between Elle Woods and Warner Huntington III. 

As the stage transitions to the mall changing room, Elle Woods takes center stage. 

She gets ready for an engagement that ultimately will never come. 

Audiences filled the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts over the weekend donned in their best pink garb to see Woods seek out a spot at Harvard Law, but more importantly to get back the love of her life.  

They were met with a showcase of acrobatic talent, vocal control and even animal handling in Belmont’s presentation of “Legally Blonde.” 

As Woods sits with Huntington, played by Josh Jordan, for a romantic dinner they share a slow melodic talk that abruptly ends with Huntington telling her that he needs to get with someone more serious for his future political plans. 

For Sunday’s showing Woods, played by Kendall Bryant, ends up deciding she will show him and get into Harvard's Law program. Dancing and twirling across the stage advocating for her spot in the program. 

With changing lighting, backgrounds and of course, a variety of outfits all blended into a show-stopping performance. How could the committee say no? 

Of course, Elle starts her time at Law school and enters into one of the most competitive programs in the country, dismissing the challenge by saying the ever-famous line: “What like it’s hard?” 

And actually, it is.  

Woods finds out how challenging law school can be compared to her undergraduate courses in fashion design. 

The stage design and costumes highlighted one of the main themes of the show.  

Looking good on the outside can help to match how good you are on the inside. 

All the dresses worn helped performers stand out on the stage’s largely monochrome backgrounds of the sorority house and serious campus buildings of Harvard. 

Following an impressive Irish ballad and river dance performed in the middle of a salon by Paulette Buonofuonte, the hairdresser played by Katherine Crandall, and a song about hard work from Emmett Forrest, played by Simon Elliott, who helps Woods to see that there is more to life than simply chasing after a man, Woods experiences hardship for the first time in her life adn these lessons help to shape her for the better. 

The first act ends on a cliffhanger as Woods earns one of the coveted intern spots working with Professor Callaghan but also has to witness Huntington propose to Vivienne Kensington, played by Alaina Bozarth, her DeFacto rival. 

As the curtains rose again for the second act, almost all major plot points ended in swift succession. 

The interns and Callaghan discuss and try to learn more about their client, Brooke Wyndham, played by Abby Scalici, accused of murdering her husband. 

The cast and Wyndham performed an impressive display of jumping and vocal control. 

Performing a workout video on stage, the crew jumped, belted and even had a performer do a one-handed cartwheel at one point across the stage in a blend of gymnastic and musical expertise. 

When the rest of the legal team cannot understand why they can’t get an alibi out of Wyndham, the audience then sees Woods bridge an understanding through the Delta Nu anthem. 

While considering how to solve this legal problem the show is briefly graced by the presence of a rather interesting on-stage delivery. 

Kyle B. O’Boyle, the UPS delivery man, played by Jeremiah Gascho, takes center stage, package in hand, attracting the attention of both Buonofuonte as well as the audience. 

Woods then sings with Buonofuonte about her crush on O'Boyle and the ease of attracting straight male attention with the song “Bend and Snap” with the sorority girls making a ghostly reappearance to provide backup vocals. 

Again, Woods is showcased in the courtroom where she argues in favor of integrity and instead argues they should attack the pool boy's credibility because he isn’t fazed by the bend and snap technique, so there’s only one logical conclusion. 

He must be gay. 

Or European as others argue. 

The following cross brings about the reveal of a romance between the pool boy and his male partner in the courtroom in an energetic song that had the entire cast dancing around the room. 

Losing credibility, the defense swings the case in their favor almost entirely thanks to Woods' creative thinking. 

Woods then celebrates before facing an issue not that unfamiliar to some women. 

She is forced to kiss Callaghan and ends up slapping him and leaving the internship, before singing a heartfelt ballad about how she wants to be return to what’s familiar and to just be “Legally Blonde.” 

After returning to the salon, Woods talks with most of the female characters from the show and reclaims her identity before deciding to return. 

But in her way. 

Donning her signature hot pink, Woods comes back to replace and defend Wyndham and replace Callaghan.  

Ultimately winning the case before jumping forward three years to see Woods graduate top of her class at Harvard Law, and ultimately proposing to Emmett leading to an uproar and standing ovation from the audience. 

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This article was written by Braden Simmons