“Legally Blonde” reviewed by Carol Moore

Highly Recommended **** Casey Shuler absolutely sparkles in Paramount Theatre’s exuberant production of “Legally Blonde”.  Her Elle Woods is fierce, caring and very, very smart as well as drop-dead gorgeous.  Harvard Law never saw her coming!   “Legally Blonde” is well-written, has clever songs and is downright funny.  I loved “Legally Blonde” and I think you will too.  4 Spotlights

Fashionista Elle Woods has her life together.  She’s a Senior at UCLA, a member of Delta Nu who’s graduating soon.  The women of Delta Nu, led by her best friends, Pilar (Kyrie Courter), Serena (Lucy Godinez) and Margot (Sara Reinecke), are celebrating the proposal she’s soon to get.  Even though she’s wearing the perfect dress, in her signature color, pink, Warner Huntington III (Tyler Lain) dumps her for Harvard Law.

Elle decides that she, too, can go to Harvard Law School.  Despite her high LSAT scores and her 4.0 average at UCLA, the Harvard admission committee is ready to reject her because she didn’t submit an essay.  When she bursts into the office with cheerleaders and a marching band singing an original song (in lieu of an essay) “What You Want”, they decide she deserves to get in.

When she arrives at Harvard, Elle learns that her fashion sense is not a plus.  Warner has a new, preppy girlfriend, Vivienne (Jacqueline Jones), and the other students shut her out.  When she hasn’t read the assignment,  Professor Callahan (James Rank), sings “Blood in the Water” and throws her out of class.

Wearing Grecian white gowns, her very own Greek Chorus, Pilar, Serena and Margot, (wearing all-white versions of their UCLA clothes) appear to cheer her up.  Deciding the situation calls for drastic action, Elle decides to dye her hair brown.  Hairdresser Paulette (Sophie Grimm) is aghast, so she shares her favorite CD of Celtic music and dreams of “Ireland” (funny, funny song, clever lyrics).

Emmett Forest (Gerald Caesar) is the only one willing to help her.   In a male/female defining moment – Emmett gives Elle a time-saver, shampoo and conditioner in one bottle – and men looked on in befuddlement as every woman in the audience howled!

Paulette is smitten with the UPS man, Kyle O’Boyle (James Dohery) who wears tight little brown shorts as he struts through his deliveries.  When she can’t seem to say a word to him, Elle and the Greek Chorus teach her the “Bend and Snap”.  When she uses it on Kyle, she breaks his nose.

Of course, Elle being Elle, she fights her way back, even winning one of Callahan’s coveted internships and a place on the legal team defending fitness mogul, Brooke Wyndham (Jenna Coker-Jones).  When Elle sings the Delta Nu song to Brooke, she gives her alibi to Elle, but swears her to secrecy.

When pool boy Nikos (Anthony Sullivan Jr.), on the stand testifying about his affair with Brooke, doesn’t react to the Bend and Snap, Elle accuses him of being gay.  Everyone in the courtroom joins in singing possibly the funniest song in the show, “There, Right There” (wherein everyone asks the question, is he gay or European?).

Finally, I have to mention the wonderful dogs, Elle’s Chihuahua, Bruiser (Frankie) and Paulette’s Rufus (Romeo).

“Legally Blonde” runs through October 21^st at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora.

Although valet parking is available, there is plenty of free street/lot parking also.

Running time is about 2 hours, 30 minutes, with an intermission.

Performances are:

Wednesdays at 1:30 and 7:00 pm

Thursdays at 7:00 pm

Fridays at 8:00 pm

Saturdays at 3:00 and 8:00 pm

and Sundays at 1:00 and 5:30 pm.

Tickets range from $36-$69.  FYI (630) 896-6666 or www.paramountaurora.com.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Legally Blonde”