Aoife Mulholland: “LEGALLY BLONDE shows that you should never judge a book by its cover”

LEGALLY BLONDE opened in Broadway on 2007, and since last January this show with music and lyrics by Laurence O´Keefe and Bell Benjamin is running at West End´s Savoy Theatre.

Irish actress performs the role of Brooke Wyndham on LEGALLY BLONDE, a fitness video queen accused of murdering her rich elderly husband, who becomes Elle Wood´s first client while interning at a law firm.

Mulholland appeared on the hit Tv show ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?’, where reached the semi-final of the BBC competition. Mulholland theatre credits in London include CHICAGO -as Roxie Hart- and THE SOUND OF MUSIC -as Maria von Trapp-. The actress also appeared in the concert revival of CHESS at the Royal Albert Hall.

On this interview, Aoife Mulholland talks about her experience on LEGALLY BLONDE and about her artistic career.

‘LEGALLY BLONDE’ OPENED AT THE SAVOY THEATRE EARLY THIS YEAR. HOW HAVE BEEN THESE FIRST MONTHS OF THE SHOW IN THE WEST END? HOW HAS BEEN THE AUDIENCE REACTION?
We’re really happy with the reaction we’ve been getting. People seem to love the show – it’s funny, the music is great and you are guaranteed to have a smile on your face at the end of the show. We’ve had a great time so far.

ON ‘LEGALLY BLONDE’ YOU PLAY THE ROLE OF BROOKE WYNDHAM. COULD YOU COMMENT ON THIS CHARACTER? WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST OF PLAYING THIS ROLE?
I love playing Brook Wyndham.. She’s a very strong woman - physically and in personality! I have to skip (jump rope) and sing at the same time which was very challenging at the beginning but it keeps me really fit and I never have to go to the gym!

HAVE YOU SEEN THE ORIGINAL MOVIE ON WHICH THE MUSICAL IS BASED? ARE THERE MANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE MOVIE AND THE SHOW?
The musical is very similar… it’s basically the movie with music, but I think the musical is WAY better!!!

‘LEGALLY BLONDE’ IS SEEMINGLY FRIVOLOUS, BUT HAS A MORAL MESSAGE, DO YOU AGREE?
Yes definitely, it shows that you should never judge a book by its cover. Ells appears to be a dumb blonde but in the end she proves everyone wrong.

WHAT´S IT LIKE WORKING WITH THE REST OF THE CAST OF `LEGALLY BLONDE´? We’re like one big happy family! Everyone is really generous on stage… we have lots of fun. Jill Halfpenny is such a laugh to work with.

HOW DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE BBC TV SHOW ‘HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA’? WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THAT EXPERIENCE?
It was one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to do. Awful to be judged all the time but I got so much out of it in terms of training, contacts, experience, etc…

YOUR WEST END DEBUT WAS IN ‘CHICAGO’ AS ROXIE HART. WHAT DID IT MEANT TO YOU TO STAR IN THIS CLASSIC MUSICAL?
CHICAGO was the first musical I ever saw in the West End with Ruthie Henshall. Little did I know 8 years later I’d be up there playing the very role she did. A very surreal, amazing and such a joy to play Roxie Hart.

YOU ALSO PERFORMED THE ROLE OF MARIA VON TRAPP IN ‘THE SOUND OF MUSIC’ AT THE PALLADIUM. HOW IT WAS WORKING ON THIS SHOW? HOW DID YOU FEEL WORKING WITH SO MANY CHILDREN ONSTAGE?
That was very different to CHICAGO!!! It was lovely to work with the kids, although on one occasion Gretle, the youngest, ran off stage because she needed to use the lavatory. I had to improvise for what seemed like an eternity until she came back on stage…  my heart was in my mouth!

YOU WERE IN THE CONCERT REVIVAL OF ‘CHESS’ AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL. HOW DO YOU REMEMBER THAT EVENING?
It was incredible, such a fabulous experience to perform on that stage. I had never even been in the Albert Hall before, so perform on the stage was definitely a high point in my career.

ON JULY 2008 YOU STARRED ON YOUR OWN SHOW AT THE TOWN HALL THEATRE IN GALWAY. WHAT CAN YOU TELL ABOUT THIS SHOW? ARE YOU PLANNING TO PERFORM IT AGAIN?
My show was called SWAY – an autobiographical show about the last 4 years of my life – from when I left my home town to starring as Maria in SOUND OF MUSIC. It was a real challenge to write, direct and produce something by myself but I loved the creative process and I hope to do something like it again maybe at the end of the year.

IN 2008 YOU RELEASED YOUR DEBUT ALBUM ‘LIVE FROM GALWAY’, RECORDED DURING YOUR OWN SHOW PERFORMANCES. DO YOU HAVE ANY PROJECTS TO RELEASE A SECOND ALBUM, MAYBE A STUDIO ALBUM?
I’m really proud of `Live from Galway´ and I would love to record another album – in fact I’m going into the recording studio next month with an up and coming artist called Rod Molinski. We’re going record a track together and maybe release something in the future so watch this space!

Aoife Mulholland and the cast of LEGALLY BLONDE during "There! Right There!" song