I'm not sure what to make of the current Hollywood to Broadway (and then sometimes back to Hollywood) trend. Certainly it's nothing new, but lately there's been a spate of popular - and even some less-than-popular - flicks getting the song-and-dance treatment. Sometimes the transition breathes new life into dusty properties, such as Mel Brooks' "The Producers," John Waters' "Hairspray," and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," and they make for some pretty damn good stage shows at the same time.

But when I look at the loooooong list of current and upcoming adaptations - "Xanadu," "Billy Elliot," "Shrek," "Cry-Baby," "Young Frankenstein," "9 to 5," "Footloose," even "Spider-Man" - it's tough to suppress the cynical notion that Broadway producers are shooting for the lowest common denominator. Is the assumption that audiences won't come unless it's a show they already know from the multiplex? And even worse, could they be entirely right?

Ultimately, none of that matters with "Legally Blonde: The Musical." Because once the chorus of sorority girls starts in on the first beyond-catchy song, "Omigod You Guys," it's over. Resistance is futile. This show is so charming, so utterly freaking cute, I wouldn't care if it was adapted from the back of a milk carton.

Of course, this show is not based on a dairy product. It's adapted from the 2001 film of the same name about a sunny California co-ed, Elle Woods, as sweet as she is blonde, with her own brand of savvy and smarts. Elle has gotten pretty much everything she's ever wanted in life, and now she's convinced that her moneyed, frat-boy boyfriend, Warner, is about to propose to her at a special dinner date. Instead he dumps her, explaining that he's starting his career at Harvard Law, and he needs a Jackie, not a Marilyn. Heartbroken Elle convinces herself that she is a Jackie, just with brighter clothes and personality, and studies her ass off to get into the prestigious school in the hopes of winning Warner back. Once there, she's confronted by the reality of the situation - Harvard is hard, her professors are mean, Warner has already moved on to a severe, bitchy brunette, and nobody wears pink in Massachusetts - but ultimately discovers that when she actually applies herself, she likes law, and is good at it, and can remain the same plucky Elle Woods, even when swaddled in navy suits.

I loved the original movie, and expected the show to be essentially the same thing (it is, with some tweaks) and some half-baked songs thrown in to fulfill the musical part of the title. I was wrong. The score for this play totally shocked me; there's not a bad song in the bunch. The lyrics are reasonably clever, the hooks are infectious, and they blend well with the narrative of the show. I want the soundtrack. I ended up wondering why they bothered making a film that wasn't a musical.

The show moves at a fast clip, rarely slowing down, even for scene changes, as backgrounds drop out of the sky or roll in from the sides. Certain scenes from the movie have been dropped, and others have been added, but for the most part it stays true to the source material. The second act falls apart a bit as the show rushes to its conclusion. (What was with the bizarre line-dancing segment, or the last-second relocation to the crime scene in Elle's case? Oh, Broadway...) But these small sins can be easily forgiven when weighed against what the show gets right.

Becky Gulsvig carries the show as Elle, and she is fantastic. She's got a great voice, tons of personality, and a passing resemblance to the original Elle, Reese Witherspoon. There were some mic issues, especially in group numbers where her lines occasionally got dropped. But she is a tiny dynamo who powers the show. Almost literally; on Tuesday night, the sorority girls seemed stiff and workmanlike during the opening number until she came on stage, and then they came alive. (And the idea to use her sorority sisters as a classic Greek chorus - ha! - throughout the show is genius.)

D.B. Bonds deliberately plays teaching assistant Emmett as a soft-spoken milquetoast, which makes sense given the character. However, it makes for some quizzical moments when he sings with a thin, Ben Folds-like affect. By the end, some power starts to sneak through, and it's welcome.

The character of Vivienne, Elle's brunette nemesis, gets a bit of the shaft in the musical version, having much less to do than her film counterpart. That's a shame, because Megan Lewis's one big solo number showed a lot of power, and I would have liked to have seen more from her.

Jeff McLean failed to impress as generic frat boy Warner. The character only requires the actor to be blandly handsome and believably smug, and McLean succeeds in only one of those tasks (I'll leave you to decide with one). His singing voice has an irritating nasal quality, and I was glad he had only one big number, and that it was early in Act I.

In the film, sage hairdresser Paulette nearly steals the show from Elle. The same thing nearly happens in the play, as she's given a couple of stand-out scenes, notably the surprisingly effective ballad "Ireland" (it's kind of out of nowhere, but it works), and the expectedly awesome "Bend and Snap." The entire audience erupted into thunderous applause when the actual dog playing her pooch came on stage, and I was embarrassed for them for a minute. It's a dog, people! Running on stage! You've got actors working their asses off up there that are getting less of your attention.

The best way to sum up the show might be this: I never thought anything could be better than the film version of Elle's "personal essay" to get into Harvard, a video message taped with her in the hot tub, wearing a string bikini. And then I saw the stage version, an in-your-face pep squad number featuring Elle in a spangled hot-pink bandleader outfit and ripped male cheerleaders dancing in outfits that are at least two sizes two small.

And did I mention the choreographed prison-yard jump-rope number? There is a choreographed prison-yard jump-rope number.

Go see it.

Legally Blonde: The Musical

Through October 26

Rochester Broadway Theatre League

Auditorium Theatre, 885 E Main St.

$32.50-$64.50 | Tue-Thu 7:30 p.m., Fri 8 p.m., Sat 2 & 8 p.m., Sun 2 & 7 p.m. | 232-1900, rbtl.org