Have you heard of Blackpink? It's the name of a massively popular Korean girl group whose successful singles include "Playing with Fire."
It's also a good description of the clever spin that director Phaedra Tillery-Broughton and co-director ShawnJ West have put on Ray of Light Theatre's production of "Legally Blonde: The Musical."
Adapted for the stage in 2007 (a pre-Broadway tryout played the Golden Gate Theatre here) from the even more prehistoric 2001 Reese Witherspoon film, the show would feel painfully dated had Ray of Light's staging been loyal to the not-so-pretty in pink original.
To mount a show which, as originally written, asks audiences to take pity on a spoiled white UCLA sorority princess who's picked on by a pack of similarly privileged ninnies, would very much be playing with fire in contemporary San Francisco.
Instead, in a rejuvenating stroke of genius, the talented Black actress Majesty Scott has been cast in the lead role of Elle Woods, the ditzy but common-sensical golden-locked girl who matriculates at Harvard Law.
This choice challenges audiences to look at the show through a very different, not at all rose-colored lens. The incredibly low stakes of the original — Will plucky Elle transcend white-on-white mean girl pettiness and social climbing? — are enormously heightened.
While the large supporting chorus is markedly multicultural, the characters pitted against Elle in the plot-a boyfriend who dumps her, his new Yankee flame, an imperious law professor-remain white and self-righteous (Seth Hanson).
Every time they speak to her condescendingly or laugh at her guileless opinions, audience members are forced to consider what exactly is eliciting such scorn. Is it Elle's girly-girl materialism and manner, or is it the color of her skin? Do you have any doubt? (That's also a reminder of how flimsy the original material's plot is).
Apart from the clever orchestration and movement that infuses one production number with an HBC-style drumline and stepping (Music direction is by Jad Bernardo; choreography by Jill Jacobs), there's nothing particularly Black about this version of the show beyond some of the cast members' races.
The directors are conducting a fascinating experiment with audiences as their subject. You sit in the Victoria Theater contemplating complicity. The influence of the superficial gets under your skin.
Still, while casting a Black actor as Elle is a successful provocation, it doesn't lead to a coherent overall reconceptualization of what has never been more than a C-grade storyline. Even with this audacious tweak, "Legally Blonde" remains a cotton candy cloud of a show; musically unmemorable and, at times, wincingly silly (My lord, the recurring "Riverdance" gag is idiotic!).
Kudos to set designer Matt Owens and costume designer Katie Dowse for the many variations of pink in their color-drenched handiwork. And to everyone involved for adding a bit of brain-bending nutrition to this show's empty calories.
"Legally Blonde" has always been a guilty pleasure. This version may have you blushing for a better reason.
'Legally Blonde: The Musical' through Sept. 29. $21.99-$74.99. Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St. www.rayoflighttheatre.com
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