Musical Review: Legally Blonde the Musical

I'm a big fan of broadway musicals! In fact, it's one of the main reasons why I chose to pursue music as a career, so I try to catch all the musicals that get staged locally, regardless if I'm a big fan of that particular show or not. Sadly, I missed out on two musicals this year already: RENT and Spring Awakening. You see, my erratic schedule prohibits me from booking tickets for months in advance. I only book tickets around a month in advance, and by the time I was going to book for those two shows, tickets were already gone.

Lucky me, there were still tickets for this show. I didn't get good seats, but that's okay, since Meralco Theater isn't a big theater, anyway. To tell you the truth, I actually have the Legally Blonde Broadway recording, but I don't listen to it because I feel that the music doesn't stand well on its own, much like Avenue Q. Don't get me wrong. Avenue Q is freakin' hilarious, but I find that there's nothing special about the music (I'm very fond of musicals that use orchestras as opposed to bands and such). So I came in the theater with only the movie adaptation in mind. 

I have to admit, I had my doubts about Nikki Gil. I've seen too many local musicals wherein they get big names to headline the shows, even if they have little or no experience in musical theater. In the end, their performances disappoint. This, however, was not the case with Nikki Gil. To my surprise, she really delivered. She was not pitch-y and looked like she really knew what she was doing.. She did great overall: singing, dancing and acting (although I could not see her face since I was so far away).

The supporting cast really delivered, too. Great performances by Jett Pangan, a musical theater veteran, as Prof. Callahan, Cris Villongco as Vivian Kensington, Guji Lorenzada as Warner, Jinky Llamanzaras as Paulette, and Geneva Cruz as Brooke Wyndham, Calvin Millado as Kyle (the UPS guy). Nyoy Volante did great as Emmett, too, but I'm not really a fan of his voice.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable show. Great cast, high energy and with many funny moments!  Of course, you cannot expect a Broadway-type set, but that's okay by me as long as the quality of the performance is good. Today is their last show, try to catch it before the run ends.