Legally Blonde the Musical – Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield

Book: Heather Hach

Music and Lyrics: Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin

Director: Nikolai Foster

25 years since it was first seen on screen and 19 years since it was turned into a Broadway musical, Legally Blonde still feels fresh and relevant. In those 19 years, Legally Blonde has enjoyed a West End run, UK tours, regional productions and many many many amateur and school productions. Now it’s back for another UK tour in a new, colourful and energetic production.

Legally Blonde follows Elle Woods, UCLA sorority sister, as she works to get into Harvard Law School to follow the love of her life Warner. She finds herself surprising herself and those around her becoming a great lawyer, full of integrity, and realising Warner may not be all that she really wants.

The musical has a book by Heather Hach which has had some minor updates to relocate the musical to present day. It is incredibly fast paced, whilst still giving time for the characters to develop and build relationships with each other. It has a fair few laughs throughout but, most of all, it is full of heart. The music and lyrics come from Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin. The songs are catchy and full of energy and almost every single one of them has become a beloved musical theatre standard. There is a great balance between large dance numbers and more emotional ballads, each song moving the story along.

This new production is directed by Nikolai Foster, Curve’s Artistic Director. He has done a fantastic job at bringing together this version of Legally Blonde which feels both fresh and faithful to the original. The locations and references that are changed elevate the production, rather than feeling like changing things for the sake of it. Leah Hill reunites with Foster as choreographer following working together on Kinky Boots and Beautiful. Her choreography is contemporary, energetic and utterly joyous to watch. At times, a few more ensemble members may not have gone amiss, but when she needs to Hill ensures every inch of the stage is full of movement.

Colin Richmond’s set design is fairly simple but never feels cheap. It allows us to move from location to location incredibly quickly, whilst also ensuring we know exactly where we are. Tom Rogers’ costumes are a feast for the eyes – the colourful costumes at UCLA and the dark coloured costumes at Harvard being perfectly contrasting. Ben Cracknell’s lighting ups the energy and the colour of the production, although there are moments where it feels like maybe there’s too much going on with the lighting.

Harry Blumenau CDG CSA, Casting Director, has assembled a wonderful company to perform this feel-good show. You can tell that each member of the cast is having the time of their lives on stage which means we have the time of our lives too.

Headlining the cast, following her stint on Strictly Come Dancing, is Amber Davies as Elle Woods. She is instantly likeable as our protagonist, leading the company expertly whilst never over shadowing those around her. She delivers outstanding vocals throughout, whilst ensuring every song is beautifully acted. She also proves herself to be a very strong dancer, alongside showing off some good comic timing for good measure.

George Crawford gives some powerhouse vocals as Emmett. He is warm and likeable, and the romance between his Emmett and Davies’ Elle develops naturally, but it would have been good to see him lean into the comedy and slightly quirky nature of the character a little more. There isn’t as big a contrast between Emmett and Warner as we might want. Jamie Chatterton’s Warner is perfectly suave and captures his slightly clueless nature well. Adam Cooper is incredibly believable as Professor Callahan, a lawyer people would actually fear which makes the ending even more powerful.

Karen Mavundukure is a little younger than Paulette is often cast but the friendship between her and Elle is still lovely and believable. She makes the songs her own, taking her opportunities to sing up a storm. Jocasta Almgill has excellent stage presence as Brooke. The rapport between her and Davies’ Elle is lovely to watch and makes us root for a positive outcome to the court case in a way that your reviewer doesn’t remember doing so in previous productions. Annabelle Terry is outstanding as Vivienne – the transition from looking down on Elle to lifting her up is smooth and natural, rather than a snap shift as it can sometimes be portrayed.

Legally Blonde the Musical is a wonderful evening at the theatre and you are guaranteed to leave humming the songs with a smile on your face. The love that all the cast and creative team have for this musical is extremely clear to see throughout all aspects of the productions.

Runs until 7th March 2026, before continuing on tour