Sixth Former's EPQ production met with rave reviews

Our second EPQ production of the year played to rave reviews last week, as Daisy S (G, LVI) took on the enormous challenge of directing and choreographing an extract from the hit West End and Broadway musical, ‘Legally Blonde’.  

For those of you who know the film, the premise is simple – a ditzy Californian fashion-major ditches the sunshine and Manolos in an effort to demonstrate to her snobbish boyfriend that she is sufficiently ‘serious’ to be considered wife material. Along the way, she realises that she has a brain as well as a pretty face; she ends up as the Valedictorian of Harvard Law School while the erstwhile boyfriend drops out to become a model. She is accompanied along the way by a Greek Chorus of sorority girls – played here by a hugely talented group of students from the Third and Fourth Forms. 

Hattie A (G, LVI) was brilliant as Elle, delivering a performance that was both hilarious and vulnerable. It is a hugely challenging role musically and Hattie demonstrated fantastic technique, particularly in the powerhouse first act closer, ‘So Much Better’. Billy G (SH, LVI) and Oscar N (Ch, LVI) played the men in her life – her pompous ex-boyfriend Warner, who tells Elle he wants ‘less Marilyn, more Jackie’, and the hapless but sweet-natured junior lawyer, Emmet.  

There were a series of brilliant cameos throughout the production, including two for whom this was their final performance on the Ashton stage. Isla B (M, V) was fantastic as the hopelessly romantic beautician Paulette, who pines after the handsome UPS delivery man (Tom Daly, PH, LVI), while Kate W (M, UVI) played Brooke Wyndham, a fitness guru wrongfully accused of her husband’s murder. Kate’s number, ‘Whipped into Shape’ was a virtuoso combination of singing, skipping and masterful comic timing, and a fitting finale for her Salopian drama career.  

This was a hugely impressive production, and particular praise must go to Daisy for masterminding the whole affair with such professionalism and aplomb. 

Dr Helen Brown

Deputy Head (Co-Curricular) and Director of Drama