Legally Blonde - Nottingham Theatre Royal - UK Tour Review

★★★★★

Legally Blonde at Nottingham Theatre Royal is the most joyfully entertaining musical currently touring the UK, a glitter-soaked blast of pop musical theatre that turns the venue into a screaming pink party from the opening number onwards. Director Nikolai Foster’s revival understands exactly why audiences fell in love with this show in the first place, but can a musical built on colour, camp, and commercial energy still find emotional truth twenty years later?

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The show follows Elle Woods, a fashion-obsessed Malibu influencer who is dumped by her boyfriend, Warner, after he decides she is not “serious” enough for his political ambitions. In response, Elle follows him to Harvard Law School to win him back, only to discover that the thing truly holding her back is not intelligence, but everybody else’s assumptions about femininity, beauty, and ambition.

Foster has resisted the temptation to reinvent the musical or force some self-conscious contemporary political angle onto it. The show’s language and aesthetic have been updated for Gen Z audiences, but it still preserves the sincerity that made the original such a crowd-pleaser. The result feels current without sounding like someone desperately trying to write “what the kids say nowadays.” References to Instagram and influencer culture land naturally because the production understands that a modern-day Elle Woods WOULD be an influencer. Amber Davies leans into that brilliantly, giving us an Elle who weaponises charm and relentless positivity. And Davies is sensational!

There is always nervousness around ‘celebrity casting’ in musical theatre, but Davies owns the role. Every little wink to the audience, every song, every punchline is delivered with confidence. Vocally, she is astonishing. The belt on display throughout the evening is thrilling, but what makes the performance genuinely special is how emotionally open she allows Elle to be. During “Legally Blonde,” Davies strips away the hyperactive confidence and lets the exhaustion underneath finally crack through.

Amber Davies as Elle Woods. Photo Credit: Matt Crockett.

Karen Mavundukure’s Paulette nearly steals the entire show through sheer force of charisma. Her performance of “Ireland” is one of those moments where you are stunned cold from the sheer talent on display. Her voice is absurdly rich, thick and soulful. And the performance works because Mavundukure never turns Paulette into a joke. Whilst she is undoubtedly hilarious, she also plays the loneliness and warmth beneath Paulette’s eccentricity. 

George Crawford brings enormous sincerity to Emmett, which is vital because the role can often feel dramatically functional; the “nice guy” waiting patiently for the heroine to notice him. There is something deeply watchable about Crawford; his vocal opt-ups and riffs add his unique voice to the score, but more importantly, you understand instantly why Elle gravitates towards him. Their chemistry grows organically rather than being forced by the script.

Jamie Chatterton also deserves enormous credit for Warner. Past productions have pushed the role towards villainy, but Chatterton avoids that entirely. His Warner is shallow and privileged but recognisably human. That balance matters because Elle’s heartbreak needs to feel real rather than theatrically convenient.

Amber Davies (Elle), Karen Mavundukure (Paulette), and Company. Photo Credit: Matt Crockett

The set design embraces glitter, LED panels, moving scenic pieces, and relentless colour saturation. Colin Richmond’s Harvard Law School looks as if it has been filtered through a TikTok beauty ring light, which is exactly the right choice for this production. Ben Cracknell’s lighting design pushes the show into concert territory, bathing musical numbers in electric pinks and pulsing colour changes that keep the stage in constant motion and excitement. This is not realism; it is theatrical dopamine.

The costume designs by Tom Rogers are triumphant, taking recognisable elements from the original film and dragging them into a modern influencer aesthetic without losing the vibrancy audiences expect. The Delta Nus look like they’ve stepped directly out of a fashion influencer’s Instagram feed.

As far as choreography goes, “Whipped Into Shape” is a full-scale athletic event, with skipping ropes flying as the ensemble somehow maintains vocal precision. In general, Leah Hill’s choreography deserves huge praise because it understands that femininity is not satire; it is power.

Jocasta Almgill (Brooke) and cast. Photo Credit: Matt Crockett.

There are minor flaws in the production, sure. “Blood in the Water” lacks menace. Adam Cooper sings the number powerfully enough, but the staging has him drifting around rather than hunting students like prey. The song needs predatory tension. Instead, it feels like Callahan is voluntarily supervising an open day at a local sixth form centre.

The sound mix is also aggressively loud. My Apple Watch warned me three separate times that the noise level had exceeded 95 decibels. Yes, musical theatre should feel exciting. Yes, pop music played at higher volumes has been proven to be more enjoyable. But there were moments when the sound engineer must have thought he was mixing for Bloodstock Festival, not a 1,500-seat theatre venue.

And yes, Elle congratulating the “Class of 2020” during graduation did make me briefly think, “Surely this entire plot would’ve happened on Zoom... or socially distanced at least.”

But these are not really negatives, not given how thoroughly enjoyable the show is. This production understands something many modern revivals forget: audiences come to the theatre to feel good. This Legally Blonde delivers joy with absolute confidence. It is funny, fast, visually intoxicating, vocally immense, and completely unapologetic about its sincerity. Packed houses and screaming standing ovations are not accidents; this production earns every single one. This tour proves that Legally Blonde still has plenty of legal appeal.