Three Spires Guildhall’s Legally Blonde delights at the Warwick Arts Centre

Three Spires Guildhall (TSG), a theatre society based in Coventry, returned to the Warwick Arts Centre last week for their annual musical. This year’s choice, the classic riches-to-more-academic-riches tale: Legally Blonde.

The energy in the auditorium for their final performance on the evening of Saturday 15 June was palpable. Small pockets of friends and family erupted in cheers as each of the Delta Nu sorority members poked their heads through the sorority house windows in the opening scene.

Ian Meikle-Walton excels as Emmett Forrest, especially in Act II, finding his home in the soaring belts that punctuate numbers like ‘Take it Like a Man’.

Legally Blonde’s decision to give the first lines of a show to individual ensemble members has always been questionable, but the group grows on you, and you soon find yourself cheering at the Greek Chorus’ pitch-perfect harmonies, bombastic dance breaks (courtesy of choreographer Julie Bedlow-Howard), and questionable definitions of feminism.

The society seems to struggle for strong male voices, but Ian Meikle-Walton excels as Emmett Forrest, especially in Act II, finding his home in the soaring belts that punctuate numbers like ‘Take it Like a Man’. Meikle-Walton shows off his almost 20-year tenure with TSG, expertly encapsulating the boyish charm and well-earned professionalism of the character, and having some of the best comedic timing of the cast.

Phil Spencer is a standout in terms of acting, however, as his Professor Callahan commands every scene he is in. The newcomer to the troupe more than held his own in ‘Blood In The Water’, and I am excited to see how he develops between now and next year’s production.

Amy-Leigh Storer’s portrayal of the lead Elle Woods was full of the relentless optimism that makes her such a lovable character. Occasional ear-piercing squeaks and accent breaks did not detract from what was an overall very nuanced performance. Storer especially showed her acting chops in the ‘Legally Blonde’ number, which garnered a genuinely emotional reaction from the audience (Nell Benjamin deserved a Tony for “some girls were just meant to smile”).

Emily Collins was the most successful at channelling her original Broadway counterpart, Kate Shindle, in the role of Vivienne Kensington. Collins’ portrayal was flawless and understated. My only complaint is that she wasn’t given more opportunities to shine. Indeed, she seemed to nail Shindle’s iconic Ab belt at the end of ‘Legally Blonde Remix’, but fell victim to some subpar audio mixing and was drowned out almost completely.

Elle Woods’ signature colour pink saturated the space, from the proscenium to the cyclorama.

The character of Paulette Buonufonte is a lovable hibernophile, who rarely escapes a production as anything other than everybody’s favourite character. A bad Paulette can sink a show. How lucky for TSG to have a talent like Katie O’Brien amongst their ranks. With her flawless accent, boundless charisma, and magnificent belt, O’Brien stole every scene she was in, with a professional competence worthy of the West End.

The only minor complaints were directorial. O’Brien occasionally spoke in a voice so deep and slow that it conjured images more akin to Kevin from The Office US rather than the character Orfeh originated on Broadway back in 2007. There is a moment where Paulette hikes up her underwear that, while successfully drawing a laugh from the older crowd, felt unnecessary and lets slip a misunderstanding of the character and why she is funny.

The disco ball was a brilliant touch, somehow expertly evoking Elle’s idealised view of a department store, despite the knowledge that most real department stores do not contain disco balls.

I would be remiss not to mention the show’s inclusion of two real live dogs, Dave as Bruiser Woods, and Ginger as Rufus, who both stole every scene they appeared in (albeit quietly, so as not to startle them).

Elle Woods’ signature colour pink saturated the space, from the proscenium to the cyclorama. Simon Butcher’s lighting design was subtle but effective, with excellent use of gobos to emphasise everything from the rectangular lights of the courtroom, to green shamrocks during the Irish dance. The disco ball was a brilliant touch, somehow expertly evoking Elle’s idealised view of a department store, despite the knowledge that most real department stores do not contain disco balls.

The only thing notably lacking from the lighting design was more follow-spot. Key cast occasionally got lost in the larger dance numbers, such as ‘Bend And Snap’. It also would have allowed focus to be drawn to the characters Paulette describes in her “Where Are They Now” section during the finale number, and to cameos like the Jet Blue pilot (who was largely in shadow and would have missed had I not been looking out for), or even adding to the all-consuming nature of Kyle’s entrancing walk (and package).

The set design is impressive for a production otherwise limited in scale. No scene is left undressed, with Paulette’s ex-common-law-husband Dewey even getting his own trailer for this single appearance. I had high hopes for the dressed flat beside the line array off stage-right, but it seemed to go unused throughout the show. Nevertheless, the steps of Harvard, the clothes rails, the salon hoods, and the courtroom stand, all effectively conveyed the surprisingly large number of very specific locations this show takes place in (and was definitely worth however cramped the cast and stagehands may have been backstage).

My one note would be that some of the roll-on backdrops did not extend far enough into the stage – when Emmett cleans Elle’s room in ‘Chip On My Shoulder’, there were times when I could not see either actor from my seat towards the right of the auditorium, which seems an unnecessary shame when the rest of the stage was going unused.

The production achieved what it wanted to achieve, and the cast and crew should be proud.

The show could have benefitted from a live orchestra, not least to avoid the unnervingly perfect abruptness of the sound cutting off during the non-musical interludes within some of the longer numbers – a technique the Laurence O’Keefe’s soundtrack frequently relies on, traditionally to great effect. Nevertheless, the musical direction of Tim Spencer had the cast meeting their sound cues with almost perfect execution.

Legally Blonde is a noticeably white musical, and therefore not a bad choice for TSG, a noticeably white theatre company. However, the double-casting of Marlie Blackstock as both non-white characters, Sundeep Padamadan, and the Gay-and-European Carlos (two characters of very different ethnicities), while well-acted, felt slightly uncomfortable. Combined with a refusal to update the “ethnic movements” line from a member of Harvard staff, the production at times felt unfortunately uncontemporary.

Overall, however, the production achieved what it wanted to achieve, and the cast and crew should be proud. Things could always be bigger, but this performance exceeded my expectations of local theatre troupes, and any limitation on resources did not prevent director Jamie Sheerman from putting on a damn good show and delighting an audience of strangers and friends alike.