The Legally Blonde musical actually does 1 huge thing better than the movie

Legally blonde is celebrated for its humor and charm, and the Legally blonde The Broadway musical is a faithful adaptation in terms of story and tone. The runtime of the musical is longer than the original Legally blonde movie, and the additional time allows many of Al Woods’ most important relationships to be explored on a deeper level. Even though it is, by definition, a spinoff, this actually allows the stage show to improve on the film in one key area.

Legally blonde was adapted for the Broadway stage in 2007, six years after the film’s release. Fans of Reese Witherspoon’s iconic role in the original Legally blonde The movie will appreciate the new elements added to the musical, with the many songs that add depth to classic scenes from the movie. Beyond that, though, the musical format gives Elle’s character room to adequately develop—especially with how it explores her various relationships throughout the story.

The Legally Blonde musical captures the essence of the original movie

Iconic Legally Blonde moments are blown into epic musical numbers

The Legally blonde Movie was a surprise hit – not quite a romcom, not quite a chick flick, but a really funny and uplifting movie about succeeding on one’s own terms. That was only two years later ElectionSo Reese Witherspoon is not yet a proven box office success playing an adult character. The Legally blonde A musical is a rare adaptation that captures the essence of the original film. Many of Legally blondes iconic lines and moments are lovingly recreated, if not inflated to epic musical proportions.

in this movie, Legally blonde Opens with a tracking shot of a greeting card being signed by Elle Woods sorority sister, set to “Perfect Day” by Hoku. The Legally blonde Musical takes the spirit of the opening montage and starts the musical with the high-energy number “Omigod you guys!” With all of Delta Nu celebrating Elle’s impending engagement. Everyone is so excited to celebrate Elle that the audience can’t help but get excited too.

Similarly, Elle’s video essay as part of her Harvard Law application is a memorable part of the movie. The Legally blonde The musical takes this idea to the next level, blowing it up with a live performance by UCLA’s marching band. Elle makes it clear to Harvard that she is “what you want” for their law school, bedazzled to the nth degree.

Ancient Greek theater used a chorus, a group of performers speaking as one, to provide commentary on a story. The Legally blonde The musical flips this custom on its head by giving Elle a Greek chorus made up of her sorority (Greek life) sisters. Once she arrives at Harvard Law. This allows musical Elle to keep her three best friends around, at least in her own head, as they were criminally underused in the original movie. The clever device speaks to the biggest strength of the musical, which is that through song Elle’s under-explored relationships finally get their chance to shine.

Elle’s relationships are able to go deeper in the musical

The longer runtime of the Legally Blonde musical gives many characters more space

The Legally blonde Movie has a lean runtime of 96 minutes, while the musical adds almost an hour at roughly two hours and 25 minutes. This extra time gives breathing room not only to Elle but to many secondary characters. In the Legally blonde Musically, Professor Callahan, Paulette and Brooke Wyndham all get solos That allows the audience to understand them more intimately.

In the movie, Emmett’s romance with Elle is largely off-screen, relying on Reese’s and Luke Wilson’s easy chemistry. rather, The Legally blonde Musical explores Elle and Emmett’s compatibility and partnership more deeply. As in the movie, Emmett helps Elle buckle down on her studies to gain the respect of her peers, but there is an added sequence in the musical where Elle returns the favor by taking Emmett shopping, knowing that a sharp wardrobe will impress his boss . Musical audiences have more to root for in the relationship, even if Elle and Emmett’s romance isn’t the driving force of Legally blonde.

in the Legally blonde Movie, Vivian Kensington is Warner Hunting III’s new fiancee, the obvious rival for Elle, but they end up bonding. The musical takes their friendship to the next level. In the movie, when Elle feels like no one believes in her, a female professor who was pretty hard on her before convinces her to stay, which is nice, but Elle barely interacts with her. The Legally blonde Musically instead, Vivienne (musical spelling) convinces Elle to stay. This is a much more powerful relationship to be the catalyst for Elle’s decision.

The act one final song is a perfect example of music heightening the emotion

The Legally Blonde musical takes this iconic line and creates an entire musical number

Musicals naturally allow for characters to sing their innermost thoughts, and the Legally blonde Musical uses this feature to better effect than most. In the movie, Elle’s triumph of landing one of the coveted Callahan internship spots is over in one expertly delivered burn from Elle to Warner:

“Remember when we spent those four amazing hours in the hot tub after Winter Formal? … This is so much better than that!”

The Legally blonde Musically takes this one line and blows it into a spectacular musical number that really gives the audience an insight into Elle’s state of mind. Her song “So Much Better” closes the first act, and Elle belts out the cheap seats:

“Maybe you [Warner] Will change your mind, but you may look up to find that I have moved on to better things – better jobs and bigger rings!

With the Greek chorus backing you up, it’s an electric set piece that takes an iconic movie scene and heightens it as only Broadway can. In elevating the feelings of such moments and giving all relationships a greater depth, the Legally blonde Musical makes some subtle yet successful changes to the movie’s approach.