Legally Blonde

Bubble-gum Musical

Princess of Wales Theatre until August 8

Reviewed by Ron Singer

LEGALLY BLONDE is a bubble gum, feel-good musical designed for an audience who want reasonably mindless musical  spectacles. Disclosure; I saw this production on Broadway, prior to its move to Toronto – so I can include general highlights of the production, but can’t comment on the performances of the Toronto stage brigade.

The story and plot are reasonably simplistic; a very pretty, high-energy and bright blonde girl is dumped by her Harvard-bound boyfriend because he believes that she comes across like a “dumb blonde”. So, she decides to also go to Harvard in order to show him that not all blondes deserve the “dumb” label.

At Harvard, naturally, she succeeds at all levels academically, socially and romantically and more than proves her point:, namely, don’t let appearances fool you, or you can’t tell a book by its cover.  The NY acting varied from strong to schticky, except for the two dogs in the production whose acting was outstanding. And there are some up tempo tuneful songs and lots of energetic, well choreographed dances.

Legally Blonde is a well-produced, fun entertainment over-all, but as saccharined and artificial as cotton candy, and just about as Barbie Doll colourful. Nevertheless, I’ll admit that I actually enjoyed it for what it is: a fun, uptempo, but mindless, Valley Girl mentality musical. And the many, many prepubescent girls and their mothers in the audience, for whom this production is perfectly geared, seemed to be eating it up, so to speak.

About Ron Singer: Artistic Director Emeritus of The Randolph Academy of the Performing Arts, former Chair of the Department of Theatre at York University, former entertainment critic (CFRB Radio and Standard Broadcast News), and former  arts and entertainment reporter (CBC Variety Tonight). We’re honoured to have Ron with us.

The Canadian Tenors’ holiday album “The Perfect Gift” goes gold December 8

Stunning. Uplifting. This awesome foursome makes you proud to be Canadian

The Canadian Tenors – Clifton Murray, Victor Micallef, Remigio Pereira and Fraser Walters – are world class performers, possessors of incredibly powerful tenor voices and with diverse vocal styles.

Tempo Toronto met them and heard them perform (minus Remigio Pereira, who was unwell that evening) at “It’s Always Something” for Gilda’s Club at the Princess of Wales Theatre recently. Among the amazing performances that evening, as the final act in this superb benefit show, these talented young men stood out as refreshing and inspiring. On top of all that talent, they are great people, full of positive energy and enthusiasm.

They’ve done well; deservedly so. We found out that the foursome has received rave reviews and standing ovations around the world from the Tel Aviv Opera house where they shared the stage with Andrea Bocelli to Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Coliseum with David Foster and Friends to Toronto’s Air Canada Centre where they headlined at ONE NIGHT LIVE with STING and Sheryl Crow.

From performing opening songs for President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Shimon Peres to making musical memories at events with icons such as John Legend, Wyclef Jean and Canada’s musical maestro David Foster the Canadian Tenors’ reputation is that of talented singers and genuine artists with big hearts. They have raised their voices to support many children’s charities, which is how we came to meet them and be as impressed as everyone else whose lives they touch.

Their debut album went gold in Canada, and was released around the world by Universal Music and its affiliates.

It’s not too late to see them live, and quite honestly we’d urge you not to miss the opportunity. Their local dates in the GTA are

December 18 and 19, Markham
December 20, St. Catharine’s
December 21 and 22 Brampton
December 22, Markham
December 23, Brampton

Catch them now if you can, because, in the New Year, they have mostly American appearances along with their support for the Vancouver, Olympics. Tickets are available through their website as well as Tickemaster. “The Perfect Gift” is also available through the website (only $20) as well as in stores.

www.canadiantenors.com
See and hear a sample of their work too,
www.canadiantenors.com/tenors_tv_2.html
www.canadiantenors.com/tenors_tv_html