'Legally Blonde': Funny and enjoyable

Hoof n’ Horn performed “Legally Blonde,” its third 24-hour musical Saturday evening. The performance was a delightful mix of energy and skill — one of the best performances of the school year and a testament to the strength of the campus arts community.

As the name might suggest, a 24-hour musical is when a musical theatre group gives themselves a total of 24 hours to learn, rehearse, find or make props and do all the other necessary preparations — with the exception of cast selection — to conduct a musical. At the end of the 24 hours, they present to an audience. To fit the preparation for a full musical into only 24 hours, performers and cast members generally forsake most of their sleep, often resulting in comedic errors during performances and funny set design. In order to capitalize on this fatigue, most 24-hour musicals are either comedies or played for laughs.

“Legally Blonde” is a 2007 musical with music and lyrics by award-winning composers Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, based on the 2001 novel and 2001 movie of the same name. The story follows sorority girl Elle Woods (Trinity junior Seneca Russell) who — after being dumped by her boyfriend Warner Huntington III (Pratt senior Graham Curtis) — applies to and is accepted by Harvard Law School in an attempt to win him back. She finds herself struggling to adjust to the culture and academic intensity of Harvard Law School but befriends local hairdresser Paulette Buonufonte (Trinity senior Sophie Rees). She begins to adjust with the help of potential love interest Emmett Forrest (Trinity senior Gus Gress), even playing a pivotal role in a local murder trial.

The show took place in the small Brody Theater on East Campus. By 7 p.m., the lobby had filled up with people waiting to get to the show, and by the time the doors opened, a line had formed snaking from Brody’s entrance to the edge of the Lilly Music Library. All in all, close to 100 people lined up to see the show in a space that comfortably fit about 40 chairs. In response to the high demand for seats, Hoof n’ Horn used floor mats in place of seats, fitting a sizable number of people into the venue. Before the show began, the room buzzed with excitement as people talked about who they’d come to see and their hopes for the performance. The condensed nature of the 24-hour show meant many kids who wouldn’t normally join a Hoof n’ Horn performance did, which in turn meant new people joined the audience.

Every actor and actress delivered a phenomenal performance that was incredibly comedic while still being emotionally sincere when the story demanded. Russell did an outstanding job as the lead, and many other students put on outstanding character performances, turning minor roles into scene-stealing characters. Rees was wonderful as Paulette and pulled off an impeccable Bostonian accent while being laugh-out-loud funny. While there were a few mishaps caused by lack of sleep, the actors used them to enhance the play’s comedic atmosphere. One slip up about getting a female inmate off sparked widespread laughter in the audience.

In addition to doing a excellent job acting, the actors expertly performed their music and dance routines. The sisters of Delta Nu — Wood’s sorority — in particular had a number of superb song and dance numbers, and the songs performed ran the gamut of style and comedic appeal. Yet, each one delivered, a testament to the talent of the actors and the work of the behind-the-scenes team. The strong all-around performances were complemented by a creative set design — including hilarious shark-related props and a mysteriously acquired toilet — along with strong lighting and background music that highlighted key characters and plot moments.

Compared to the movie, the musical is far more comedic while retaining every major storyline and each moment of heart and charm. While “Legally Blonde” is one of my top five movies — and a key reason for my childhood desire to attend law school — I can say without a doubt that I enjoyed this musical far more than any viewing of the movie. This is due both to the strength of the musical itself and the exceptional ambiance of the room it was performed in. The performers fed off of the crowd’s excitement, and the fact that everyone in the room was eager to either participate or watch made the audience experience more enjoyable. 

The fact that Hoof n’ Horn was able to bring close to — if not more than — a hundred Duke students, many of them upperclassmen, to East Campus on a Saturday night is a testament to how much people love student art groups at Duke. Hearing the pre-show chatter about who everyone was there to see was the perfect demonstration that, while not everyone at Duke is directly involved in the arts, the community of people who care about arts is huge.