In this second edition of Sound Check, we’re changing it up a bit. The single day of ranking fifteen songs is far behind us. For the sake of time efficiency and my sanity, we will now go through core components of a show and talk about the songs outside of a strict format. Let’s get right in to this week’s musical: Legally Blonde.

As what many theater fanatics consider the best musical adaptation of a movie, Legally Blonde stands out from other stage adaptations in terms of plot, music, and improvement upon the original source material. The plot is mostly consistent with the movie, as Elle Woods follows her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School and goes on a journey of personal growth.

There are a couple big differences between the movie and the musical. For example, Emmett Forrest (Elle’s friend at Harvard turned love interest) has a larger role in the musical, specifically in the song “Chip On My Shoulder”; Elle’s success seems like more of a credit to him than to her own intelligence and agency. While I do not like the way Emmett’s character is expanded, I love how the role of Vivian (Emmett’s new girlfriend at Harvard and antagonist to Elle) is expanded to include character

development and demonstrate how women can stick together in the face of adversity. Vivian also gets to sing the best lyric of the show (“you’ve got the best freakin’ shoes” from “Legally Blonde – Remix”). Fun fact: in the original Broadway cast, Vivian was played by Kate Shindle, who was Miss America 1998. Another fun fact: Christian Borle (OBC Emmett Forrest) left his wife Sutton Foster after allegedly having an affair with Laura Belle Bundy (OBC Elle Woods). I mean, how could you not fall in love with someone after singing “Legally Blonde” with them twice a day?

I’ve already mentioned “Chip On My Shoulder”, in which Emmett teaches Elle how to study and stay focused in order to rise to the top of her class. Something special about Legally Blonde: The Musical is how every single song progresses the plot. There is not a single song that exists in a vacuum; all songs continue the story and provide deeper insight into the character(s)’ feelings. This is a longer song full of exposition, but the swelling ending is what truly makes it special. Other musical highlights from the show include “So Much Better”, the big act I closer with Elle and her sorority sisters singing after Elle lands the law firm internship, and “Legally Blonde”, the 11 o’clock number after Elle’s professor hits on her and she considers dropping out and leaving Emmett behind.  The motif of seriousness and the commonplace of women not being serious or professional enough follows Elle in “Serious” and “Serious-Reprise”, both showstoppers (in my opinion) sung by her ex-boyfriend who dumps her for this very reason. This is why it’s so special at the end when she decides to wear pink to Brooke Wyndham’s trial; she shows that you can be yourself and still demand to be taken seriously. Of course, I have to mention my personal favorite song in the show : “Take It Like A Man” (ignore the terrible quality of the clip below, it may or may not be bootlegged from the MTV 2012 pro-shot). This song is spectacular because it uses the phrase “take it like a man” to relate to something typically feminine: shopping for clothing. The vocals are spectacular, the set design is amazing, and the lyrics are clever; what more could you ask for? (well, you would be incredibly valid to ask for some diversity within the cast, but hey, recent revivals such as the London Regent’s Park production have proven that the show can have a diverse cast and still be a huge success, so maybe we can excuse the early 2000s-ness of it all.)

And now, my personal favorite part of Legally Blonde: The Musical… the MTV reality show The Search For Elle Woods in which a group of women competed in ridiculous changes to win a spot as the next Elle Woods on Broadway succeeding Laura Bell Bundy. The entire series is available on YouTube and I’ve watched it at least twice all the through. The challenges the hosts put these girls through were insane, such as having to write down one thing they hate about each other and singing on spin bikes or performing outside in the cold. In a later Zoom cast reunion, the contestants shared that most of the drama wasn’t even real, the producers at MTV just worked so hard to pit them against each other–the antithesis of what Elle Woods stands for might I add. Either way, it makes for some entertainingly outdated reality TV. Last fun fact: Lena Hall (pink dress, red hair with bangs on the couch in the pic below) did not win the show, but went on to have a super successful career and just started her run as Audrey in the Little Shop of Horrors revival off-Broadway. She is most known for winning a Tony for her performance as Yitzhak in Hedwig And The Angry Inch, my current favorite musical that I will likely cover sometime in the near future.

In the meantime, we should all strive to channel some Elle Woods energy as classes pick up this semester. Live every day as if Warner just dumped you to go to Harvard <3