Legally Blonde - The Musical, The Mayflower, Southampton, until Saturday, June 30.

Faye Brookes gives the loveliest of performances as Elle Woods, the blonde who offers the best possible response when her aspiring boyfriend dumps her in the belief that her pink and fluffy blondness will hold him back.

Elle gets herself into the same top law school and then trumps everyone by getting to the nub of high-profile murder case that has the rest of the legal team scratching their heads.

The musical is all about the triumph of Elle’s instinctive decency – an upbeat tale about not judging a blonde by her pink fluffiness.

And Brookes judges her performance to perfection, making Elle both likeable and interesting.

Ray Quinn similarly impresses as the self-seeking dimwit who doesn’t see her potential; and Iwan Lewis is terrific as the nice guy who does.

Les Dennis is an admirable Professor Callaghan, the fearsome don who falls horribly below the standards he seems to set.

If there’s a niggle, it’s that there aren’t too many of the songs that truly stand out; in fact, there are several you would happily see dropped.

But there’s no doubting the infectious fun which runs right through, stylishly and faultlessly delivered by a top cast at the top of their game.

Phil Hewitt