LEGALLY BLONDE, THE MUSICAL

SHERIDAN SMITH blew the house down last night at the sensational Gala performance of Legally Blonde The Musical.

She earned her stripes at the celeb-packed show, proving why this stage version of the Hollywood movie has made box office records with £2m in pre-sales.

The story sees Elle Wood, a UCLA Delta Nu sorority girl, conquer Harvard law school in all her pink glory.

REESE WITHERSPOON made the role famous back in 2001, as Elle initially tries to win back her hunky well-to-do, snobby and shallow boyfriend Warner Huntington III.

DUNCAN JAMES, who has eased into stage acting and proved he can cut it on his own with confident ability, plays the role of Warner to a tee.

The show was a sparkly spectacle from start to finish, with a slick and hilarious script, and an on-the-money score by LAURENCE O'KEEFE and NEIL BENJAMIN.

An almost unrecognisable JILL HALFPENNY smashes the role of beaten down hairdresser Paulette Buonufonte, with the showmanship of a natural born entertainer.

She really worked what her mama gave her with a fierce 'bend and snap', that wows the very hunky UPS guy love interest.

Elle's sorority gal pals, including SUSAN MCFADDEN as Serena, bring faultless comedy and energy to the stage.

SHERIDAN SMITH, already an accomplished star of TV with shows such as Two Pints Of Larger And A Packet Of Crisps and more recently Benidorn, is simply spellbinding. She nailed the American accent and showed off a powerful and unexpected singing voice, teamed with footwork and rhythm worthy of a dance professional.

Her comic timing is effortless as she takes on every inch of Elle with vivacious charm and personality, in a role that she made her own. This girl goes from strength to strength and has immeasurable talent and star quality, in which will certainly be an award-winning role.

Legally Blonde simply blows other musicals out of the water and thoroughly deserves some snaps for that! The show plays at the Savoy Theatre in London, for tickets visit Legally Blonde.