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SHOW

ANALYSIS:
Legally
Blonde

Sara Soneira & Anna Torres


Musical Theatre

Soneira Llamas, Sara


Contextual Studies
Institute of the Arts Barcelona

INDEX

1. INTRODUCTION.....................................2
2. ANALYSIS...............................................2
- Acting................................................2
- Singing...............................................3
- Dancing.............................................3
- Staging..............................................4
3. CONCLUSION.........................................5

Sara Soneira & Anna Torres


Musical Theatre

1.INTRODUCTION
The main goal of this report is to consider what a perfect
show is for us. Saying that, we wont take a specific performance
as perfect, but we will analyse a show on all the aspects that we
loved more: acting, singing, dancing and staging. For that reason
the show we propose is Legally Blonde on Broadway.
We want to clarify that our aim as performers is not to get
specifically in that musical production what would be great if
we have the chance but to be on a show with the same
professional characteristics and quality.
Legally Blonde has been our choice because its been
possible for us to watch the whole show and at the same time it
achieved all we were looking for in a production: its a complete
musical with a story that catches you from the beginning, a
delightful soundtrack and an outstanding cast.
If you want to see it is available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjkscx9Osmw

2.ANALYSIS
As we want to differentiate every aspect, because of its
uniqueness as a part of a whole, we have organised our critical
analysis in four points.
ACTING
One of the main characteristics of Legally Blonde is the
stereotyping of its characters. Elle Woods, the main part, plays
the role of the typical silly Californian blonde girl, whose only
desires are love and fashion; her best friends are wild high
school cheerleaders and her boyfriend is the standard handsome
superficial guy who ends up leaving her to go to college.
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Sara Soneira & Anna Torres


Musical Theatre

Despite all of these


stereotyped features can
easily bring the actors to
parody, all the cast from
the performance have
joined
the
characters
personality
to
theirs,
making it true to the
audience.

At the same time, the audience can


enjoy a funny performance full of
jokes and irony, where each character
adds constantly some things you
didnt expect.

SINGING

and
can

Weve been impressed by the high


vocal level of the cast. We are
working on the vocal technique
this is the level we want to
achieve by the end of our formation, so we
say this is a reference for us to get.
We also want to give importance to
the fact that even supporting roles are
required to have an outstanding vocal
quality, either to cover harmonies as a
choir or to have a small intervention.
Finally, one of the things that we most
admire of musical theatre is the effect
that harmonies create in duets, trios
and company numbers. In Legally
Blonde we have many moments which
we find this fascinating game of voices,
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Sara Soneira & Anna Torres


Musical Theatre

such us the company numbers Ohmygod and Legally Blonde


and the duet Take it like a man.

DANCING
The kind of dancing used in Legally
Blonde is mainly jazz and a variation
of cheerleader-aerobic dance. Most of
the company dance numbers are based
on
jazz
style
including
ethnic
movements, acrobatics and gymnastic
steps.
For the combinations there is
an specific dance troupe, and
then all the cast has a
considerable level of dancing
technique to follow and do the
steps together when it's needed.
As audience we loved the choreographies because they are
amusing, daring and incredibly visual. They are well-related to
the script, so you don't feel the choreography is
there just because, but it has a reason and helps
to illustrate and follow the story.

STAGING
We have been amazed by the
changes of the set. First of all
they are very fast, in seconds
you go from one place to
another, being them completely
different. That is what makes
them so impressing.
Furthermore these changes
are that fast because of the
different levels of the stage surface, which makes different
furniture appear instantly from underground, as well as slide
from upstage.
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Sara Soneira & Anna Torres


Musical Theatre

Regarding the light, it plays


an important role for the
final visual result.
The staging also counts
with a giant cyclorama
where images are projected
to simulate sets, which
creates even more effect of
reality.
As a Broadway production, Legally blonde has the resources
to create big scale sets, with all the details needed to capture
reality and make the audience get completely into the places
where the story happens.

3.CONCLUSIONS
After all the research and work done, we realized that if
we want to get a job with such professionalism, we must
keep on working and training, as hard or even more than we
have been doing until now.
Having to analyse the show made us see it with a
different perspective. We didnt just see it as audience, but
as critics who had to be accurate at finding out which details
makes us think it is perfect or almost perfect.
By doing this, we now appreciate even more the work of
the performers, as well as the work of everyone involved in
a production; and how essential professionalism is to bring a
performance to the highest level of brightness.
Legally blonde is, for us, a referent and a top musical
because it involves having in the same stage great actors,
amazing singers and incredible dancers, many of them as
flexible as to be the three things at the same time. Thats
the essence of musical theatre, what amazes us and what
the audience look for and deserve when they pay such
expensive tickets. Theres nothing worthier than realizing
the high quality of a show when youre seeing it; and
Legally blonde totally worth it.
The script is risky and funny and with unexpected turns;
the songs are perfectly introduced in their place and follow
the storyline; the music fits ideally in all the different
moments; the choreographies are visually wonderful and
every character adds its own richness to the plot.
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Sara Soneira & Anna Torres


Musical Theatre

Everything has been really thought about and thats what


the result projects.
It is not one of the most recognised musicals, and it
seems to be less valuable because we relate it to the
superficiality that its title implies. We can assure that, from
our perspective, its completely the opposite of that. Apart
from being a great technical musical, it shows us how
important is to be ourselves and to follow our convictions
and fight for what we want.
Thats all we have to say about this great musical. We will
work to be some day working in something as closer as
possible to what Legally blonde is.

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