Legally Blonde The Musical at Hendersonville Theatre
Nestled in the heart of historic downtown Hendersonville sits the homey, nonprofit Hendersonville Theatre — a long-standing community pillar that I had the pleasure of attending for the first time on July 18 for opening night of Legally Blonde The Musical.
Upon entering the building, I felt welcome and at home, but I was curious to see how such an intricate production would be pulled off in such a modest yet comfortable space. It had been raining for hours already that late afternoon, but the weather didn’t seem to affect attendance in the least.
Director Heather Fender introduced the show while draped in a lovely and graceful pink dress. She informed us that the amazing cast of over 40 plus members would be utilizing all of the aisles and floor space within the theater. And this locally sourced crew (including two dogs) from all over Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina did not disappoint in making the most of all of the venue's spaces.
I had the fortune of being seated on the front row at stage left, directly facing the corner of the stage where the show’s beauty shop set was situated. But it was far from the lone eye-catching aspect of Bess Park's production design.
Stage right in the rear upon a platform roughly three feet above the stage, you found a drum set with David Bruce attentively manning the kit. Stage left to the rear on a similar platform sat Tyson Hamrick, prepared for what proved to be an assiduous and epic production running OrchExtra on a MIDI keyboard. And on the far right of the stage front, strategically connected to a short set of stairs, lay the tastefully Pepto-Bismol-doused bedroom of main character Elle Woods (Morgan Miller, whose powerful angelic voice seemed to carry the heaviest current of the evening).
Of course, this musical — adapted for the stage circa 2007 — is based on the 2001 smash film starring Reese Witherspoon. As with the movie, the musical centers on Elle, a young woman from Bel Air finding herself and looking for love in the culture-clash halls of Harvard Law School. In sync with music director Chuck Taft and his tight live band, the vocalists passionately performed the music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Neil Benjamin.
The live production opens in fervent fashion and manages to capture and maintain the film’s comical, ironic, silly, and playful energy. However, even more impressive is the manner in which the cast sustains energy, coordinates with each other, remains in character, and interacts with a fully engaged audience.
The blunt humor is refreshing and unapologetically sprinkled throughout this dynamic production which carries its pep through numerous scenic and prop movements, dance choreography, costume changes, as well as mood shifts, all of which are handled to outstanding ends by this special group of actors. One particular performance related to a jail scene simultaneously showcases nearly as many people as you could possibly fit on stage, engaged in a well coordinated jump rope and athletic dance routine.
Ultimately, I believe this show outshines the film in so many clever, unique, empowering, hilarious, and touching ways. It is certainly worth a couple of hours of your time if it piques your interest in the least.
Legally Blonde The Musical runs through Sunday, Aug. 4, at Hendersonville Theatre. For details and tickets, visit hendersonvilletheatre.org.
(Photo by John Owens)
