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"Blonde" is legally bland

By Matt Windman

2:44 PM EDT, April 29, 2007

Not only does "Legally Blonde" look like a big wad of pink bubblegum, it feels like one too. After five minutes, the flavor is gone.

The Great White Way sure looks like a "Girl White Way" or "Great Girl Way" nowadays. At "Wicked," a green teen witch defies gravity by flying on her broomstick. At "Hairspray," a spunky, overweight teen defies high school politics by bagging the hottest boy in town. At "The Pirate Queen," a sixteenth century lass saves her Celtic clan from Queen Elizabeth and the Brits. And now there is "Legally Blonde," where Elle Woods defies sorority stereotyping by enrolling into Harvard Law School.

Based directly on the popular 2001 Reese Witherspoon film, "Legally Blonde" has little to do with the harsh realities of being a 1-L (i.e. a first-year law student). It is devoted mostly to tracking the emotional growth of its ultra-perky protagonist as she at first pines for her ex-boyfriend and later grows independent and ambitious. Few, if any, law students argue before a trial court and successfully solve a murder mystery.

"Legally Blonde" marks Jerry Mitchell's debut as a director-choreographer, after having working steadily as a Broadway choreographer for almost a decade. Mitchell has apparently inherited the slick staging style of Jack O'Brien, who directed movie-turned-musicals like "The Full Monty," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "Hairspray," all of which Mitchell choreographed.

But for all its relentless peppiness and "Think Pink" mentality, "Legally Blonde" feels awfully generic and mechanical. You might call it paint-by-the-numbers musical comedy. Except for some new one-line jokes, the story is identical to the film. Laurence O'Keefe's bubblegum pop score, in spite of its dangerously catchy opening song "Oh My God, You Guys," is mostly bland, and at times derivative of his musical "Bat Boy." And in spite of its feel-good, have-fun, be-blonde messages, the show remains shallow and insincere.

As Elle, Laura Bell Bundy displays little more charm than a high-power energy bar. The ensemble cast, luckily, features a slew of dynamic performers including Orfeh, Andy Karl, Leslie Kritzer, Michael Rupert and Christian Borle. Additional delight comes from two featured dogs, each of which receives a well-deserved curtain call.

Palace Theatre, 1554 Broadway, 212-307-4100, $40-110. Wed 2 & 8pm, Thurs-Fri 8pm, Sat 2 & 8pm, Sun 2 & 7pm. Open Run.