The Cupcake Theater is out in North Hollywood on Magnolia across from the TV Academy. It's also across from Spumante, a fine Italian restaurant where we had dinner last night before crossing the street to see Legally Blonde: The Musical at the Cupcake. This is the third show I've seen at the Cupcake and my third rave 'n' recommendation.
This is not a big theater. It seats less than 200 in a building that was not built to have plays put on in it. The company operates on very limited budgets so orchestras are small, sets are sparse and they're trying to raise money for a new sound system which they desperately need. Another playhouse might confine itself to four-person shows with maybe a piano like Forever Plaid and Nunsense but not the Cupcake. Their Legally Blonde has a cast of about the maximum size that could fit on their stage and I think the last show I saw there, which was Hairspray, had even more.
So — low production values and not enough performance room…but they cast tremendously talented performers and have clever directors and it all works. I liked their Hairspray a lot more than the one NBC spent umpteen-million on.
I'd never seen the musical version of the movie, Legally Blonde. Heck, I've never seen the movie. Still, I had a very good time, largely because the cast was so energetic and expertly-selected and just real, real good. I looked up some of the reviews of the Broadway run and they all said it was a very lightweight show with a special appeal for young teen girls. That's true but that doesn't mean others can't enjoy it and last night, a lot of folks who were neither teen nor girls were standing at the end and clapping their hearts out.
They do four performances each weekend and they're currently scheduled through August 6. They may extend but if this sounds like something you might like to see, don't take the risk that they won't. You can get the cheapest tickets at Goldstar but if you can afford it, buy your seats through the theater's website because they do need that new sound system. And you might also consider dinner at Spumante for a very fine, not-expensive evening. You'll love it even if you aren't a teenage girl. I'm certainly not, nor have I ever been.