Legally Blonde The Musical, Bournemouth Pavilion

Review by Liz Turner

The talented cast from this amateur company brought the stage of the Pavilion Theatre to life with energy, colour and song in Legally Blonde The Musical.

Sarah Bayliss brought energy and a beautiful voice to the lead role of Elle Woods in her first appearance with BBLOC. Perfect pink outfits and accessories added just the right amount of sweetness. Maybe she could have made her performance a little more ditsy, but otherwise an impressive performance.

Adam Mecklenburgh was convincing as Emmett, caring and encouraging at the same time, helping turn the pink princess into a legal eagle.

Some of the loudest applause was for Sally Wheeler, who played Paulette. Her powerful voice meant that the quirky hairdresser often stole the scene.

A skipping sequence led by Heather Davis as Brooke was a highlight, with her six-strong team of skippers, who performed an amazing routine while singing. Brilliant.

The two dogs in the show didn’t put a paw wrong and delivered ‘ahh factor’.

The whole cast – and there were a lot of them – really brought the wow factor to this show.
There were a few missed notes, microphone problems and slow scene changes, but this was the first show. Some of the content of this musical seems a little out of date – the stereotyped lesbian and gay references were a bit cringeworthy, but that’s down to the script, so best to move on from that.

A bouquet of roses on this occasion should also go to Rachel Forsdike, who took on the role of Vivienne. She broke her leg during the dress rehearsal on Tuesday night, but in true thespian spirit she went on stage with her foot in a boot and wearing trousers instead of a skirt. You would never have known there was a problem. Talk about ‘breaking a leg’ for luck.

Legally Blonde continues until Saturday 23 July with evening performances at 7.30pm and a matinee on Thursday and Saturday at 2.30pm.