Photo by Jerahmeel James
All eyes are on Elle Woods (Ariela Pizza) in ACM Theatricals’ production of Legally Blond, part of the Broadway at LPAC series.
By AARON KRAUSE
Omigod you guys and gals! Elle Woods is so much more than a stereotypical blonde in Broadway at LPAC’s dynamic and convincing current production of Legally Blonde The Musical.
As Ariela Pizza winningly portrays Woods in this South Florida professional stage production, the character is sensitive, beautiful, and bubbly, but also smart, fearless, ambitious, determined, and inspiring. Certainly, with International Women’s Day approaching on Saturday, it is a good time to cheer on strong female characters such as Woods, as well as real-life female heroines.
Broadway at LPAC’s production (with ACM Theatricals as the producer) runs through March 16 at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center in Lauderhill. The production lasts for about two-and-a-half hours, including an intermission.
You may be familiar with Legally Blonde from the charming 2001 film starring Reese Witherspoon as Woods (the movie’s basis is a novel with the same title by Amanda Brown). But you may not know that Legally Blonde is also an award-winning live musical. It played on Broadway and London’s West End. While is faithful to the film, it branches out on its own.
A regional production of Legally Blonde ran at Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables in February 2024. Actors’ Playhouse’s production soared with energy and humanity, and Broadway at LPAC’s production triumphs as well with plenty of heart and spirit.
Director Michael Ursua, Broadway at LPAC’s artistic director, guides a large cast of triple threat performers. Ursua and the cast nail the show’s humor, while also leaving room for touching moments to move us. The production’s pacing never drags, and proceeds at just the right pace.
From animated dancing (the choreographer is Alex Jorth), to soulful singing and deft acting, these thespians mostly shine by bringing the characters and their world to vibrant, believable life. In addition, behind the scenes artists help bring the world of the musical to life onstage through strong set, lighting, costume, and sound design.
Legally Blonde is a show with relevant things to say about love, first impressions, stereotypes, pursuing your dreams, being the best possible version of yourself, integrity, friendship, and feminism.
We begin at a sorority house on UCLA’s campus during the early 2000s, where Woods, a sorority sister, and a bright fashion merchandising major, is expecting her boyfriend, Warner Huntington III, (Collin Salvatore), to propose to her at dinner that night. But in a song that seemingly builds to the big moment, Huntington instead tells Woods that she is not “serious” enough for him. After all, he plans to attend Harvard Law School, become a lawyer, and win election as a U.S. senator.
With that in mind, Huntington dumps Woods, leaving her shocked and heartbroken. But our heroine figures that if she can make Huntington take her seriously, he might change his mind and take her back. So, after learning that Huntington is Harvard Law School bound, Woods applies there, gains acceptance, and follows her ex-boyfriend to the prestigious Ivy League School. In fact, the two are in the same class together.
At first, Woods suffers from culture shock as she realizes that the preppy, uptight Harvard Law students are not nearly as perky as she and her sorority besties back in L.A. In addition, Huntington proposes to a brunette named Vivienne Kensington (Katie Davis) in front of Woods (in the live musical, not the film). Ouch! But, our resilient heroine, with the help of her sorority friends (appearing in her imagination as a Greek chorus in the musical) and a compassionate beautician named Paulette (Samara Shavrick), forges on and keeps her eyes on Huntington. He is her true love, and she is determined to win him back.
But eventually, Woods discovers that Huntington is not the man she thought he was. And the other characters learn that there is more to Woods than her blonde hair.
Oddly, for a musical that tries to subvert stereotypes, you may think it has a little too much fun with gay stereotypes, especially toward the end during the number There! Right There! But ultimately, this is a show with its heart in the right place.
The live show, which won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical (Britian’s equivalent of Broadway’s Tonys) is, in some ways, an improvement over the movie. For instance, the end of the musical reinforces the story’s feminist theme when Woods takes command of her future; she asks teaching assistant Emmett Forrest (Michael Stafford) to marry her. Contrastingly, in the film, an epilogue merely indicates that Forrest proposed to Woods on graduation night.
While the musical’s songs are not particularly memorable, some of the numbers enhance a scene’s mood, such as the upbeat, celebratory opening number, Omigod You Guys. And Blood in the Water paints vivid images in our head to flesh out Professor Callahan’s belief of how lawyers should act.
Callahan sings: Blood in the water. Dark and red and raw. You’re nothing until the thrill of the kill becomes your only law. Yes, blood in the water. So fight and scratch and claw. Recorded tracks ably accompany the performers in song, provided by The MT Pit LLC.
In another example, Huntington describes to Woods the type of “serious” woman he is looking for. Elle, if I’m gonna be a senator when I’m 30, I’m gonna need somebody serious. Less of a Marilyn, more of a Jackie. Somebody classy and not too tacky.
Speaking of Huntington and Woods, it is hard for us to feel sorry about their breakup in the beginning. That is true for the film and the musical. Indeed, we learn almost nothing about their relationship. The show’s creators never inform us how long the couple have been together, and why Woods loves Huntington so much. A song, for instance, in which Woods sings about Huntington’s positive qualities, may have fleshed out his character and made us care more about their relationship. But unfortunately, there is no exposition or flashbacks in the film or the musical to reveal any such information.
At least in the film, Matthew Davis, as Huntington, lent the character a tender side in the beginning. This helped us understand why Woods was so attached to him. Similarly, in Broadway at LPAC’s production, Salvatore conveys his character’s soft side. However, he does not do so until the end. Mostly, Salvatore endows Huntington with a serious demeanor. Frankly, it makes it hard to care too much about the young man.
It is easier to pull for Forrest, whom Stafford injects with eagerness, charm, and warmth. Strong chemistry exists between Pizza’s radiant Woods and Stafford’s sincere Forrest. We can envision them as a loving couple.
In the film, Witherspoon nailed Woods’ perkiness, while also allowing the character’s intellect and determination to shine through. However, there was also something fragile about Witherspoon’s Woods. You almost felt as though someone could merely touch her the wrong way and she would become a sobbing mess.
Pizza, without mimicking Witherspoon, creates her own winning portrayal of Woods. Pizza imbues the young woman with a resolve and a resilience that makes her seem stronger than Witherspoon’s film character. To her credit, Pizza is also credibly vulnerable when necessary.
Contrastingly, Davis, with dark hair and costume, projects a cold, serious demeanor as Kensington. But that icy persona gradually melts until warmth and compassion overtake it. Truly, Kensington is a dynamic character who changes for the better over the course of the show. Through this portrayal, we sense that Kensington regrets having treated Woods coldly at the beginning.
But there is nothing apologetic about Wayne LeGette’s pompous Professor Callahan. He lends the character a formality and arrogance that is off-putting. You want to shout “Good riddance” to him at the end.
One of the characters from the film we miss in the musical is a female professor who encourages Woods. The two women get off to a tense start in the beginning of the film, but Professor Stromwell ends up being an advocate for Woods in the end. So, it is disappointing that the musical adaptation’s librettist, Heather Hach, left the female professor out of the live show. In general, though, Hatch’s libretto is touching, engaging, humorous.
Another character who is clearly on Woods’ side is fellow blonde Paulette, a beautician who operates a shop near Harvard’s campus. Shavrick radiates warmth, compassion, and dreaminess as Paulette. You find yourself rooting for her as much as Woods and Forrest.
Other cast standouts include Allyson Rosenblum. She lends murder defendant Brooke Wyndham credible toughness and vulnerability when necessary.
The scenery, provided by Gateway Playhouse, deftly contrasts Elle’s pink and bright world with the darker, harsher halls of Harvard. Similarly, costume designer Penelope Williams uses dark and lighter hues in her character-defining clothes, provided by Costume World.
Lighting designer Clifford Spulock appropriately incorporates hues such as pink and green. Curiously, Spulock does not use red for Blood in the Water. On a more positive note, the lights blink at times, which lends the production extra energy.
Overall, this is another winning effort from ACM Theatricals. The Broadway at LPAC season concludes in April with the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, South Pacific. That show, like Legally Blonde and 9 to 5 before that, is especially timely.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: ACM Theatricals’ production of Legally Blonde
WHEN: Through March 16. Performances are at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, as well as 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
WHERE: The Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, 3800 N.W. 11th Place in Lauderhill.
TICKETS: $45-$65. Call (954) 777-2055 or go to https://www.lpacfl.com.
Photo by Jerahmeel James
Elle Woods (Ariela Pizza) and Paulette (Samara Shavrick) become as close as sisters in Legally Blonde.
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