Legally Blonde, The Musical, which has its gala opening performance on Wednesday, is not Chekhov. It's frothy and unashamedly silly but producers say they have been taken aback by the reaction since it began previewing last month – all previews have been sold out, the atmosphere inside has been like a pop concert and the aftershow crowds have prompted the theatre to create a new stage door at the front.
"There is something going on in this theatre, that's for sure," said the show's producer, Sonia Friedman. "There is an energy and a buzz that I've not been involved in before. The word seems to be out. The first preview was what I imagine Beatlemania to have been like. You sometimes couldn't even hear the performers through the screaming. It was incredible. Now it has calmed down a bit, thankfully, so you can actually hear the show."
The show is based on the 2001 film, which starred Reese Witherspoon as a ditsy Malibu sorority girl who gets dumped by her boyfriend when he gets a place at Harvard. Her response is to get a place there too and prove herself as a law student – complete with pink clothes and her chihuahua.
The musical opened on Broadway in 2007 to good reviews but not good enough audiences. It closed in October 2008. Which raises the question – why bring it to London's Savoy Theatre?
"I saw it about three years ago and I just fell in love with it," said Friedman, one of the West End's most successful producers. "Why? It made me laugh and it made me really, really happy."
Friedman believes one problem with the New York version was the cost: it cost $16m (£10m). In London it will cost £2.5m. The running costs are also in different leagues: $650,000-700,000 in New York; £180,000 in London.
Also, while the Broadway show did well with girls in the holidays and weekends it "failed to find the people it looks like we are finding – the couples, the groups, the granny taking her granddaughter, the father taking his son".
She also believes the story was not exotic enough for New York audiences, it was too close to home, whereas for "horrible, windy, grey, snowy, traffic-filled" London the show provides much wanted escapism.
That it arrives in London when the appetite for feelgood froth is high is more down to chance than design, said Friedman. "The fact that it's taken so long to bring to London is purely down to theatre availability. As it's happened, though, the timing is brilliant."
The show has taken £1.5m in advance ticket sales and its buzz seems to be spreading word of mouth as well as virally on Facebook and Twitter. It has also adopted the New York practice of having a daily lottery – turn up two hours before the show and you have the chance to win top-price tickets for £10.
Legally Blonde is also following Broadway by letting in reviewers early with an agreement that reviews are not published before a common date: the theory is that it gives critics more time to reflect.
Friedman is well aware that, for all the preview buzz, the critics could kill the show off. "Yes, of course it could go belly up. Of course I want the reviewers to see what I see in the show and not just see it as sugary, candy, pink nonsense because that's not what the show is.
"The show is about being yourself. About not making yourself into what others think you should be."
What all musical producers hope for, dream about, is getting enough traction to sustain a long run. Last week record box office years were announced by Wicked (£27.3m) and The Lion King (£32m). And in their wildest dreams they might look at Les Miserables, now in its 25th year and which, last Tuesday, had its 10,000th performance in the West End.
The show needs – depends on – a strong leading performance from the actor playing Elle Woods, in this case TV star Sheridan Smith (Two Pints of Lager, Gavin and Stacey).
The critics will have their say on Thursday but Friedman is effusive. It's "one of the most remarkable performances I've ever seen and I'm honestly not just saying that because I'm the producer".
The lack of really big names – the other stars are Duncan James from Blue, Peter Davison and Jill Halfpenny – make the crowds all the more surprising.
The crowds gathered on the evening the Guardian was there were not exactly massed hordes, but then it was fantastically cold. It was Thursday night and most sensible people were thinking more about the ice-rink nightmare of getting home than queuing for autographs.
Those that were there were, mostly young and female and, most crucially, did not have far to get home.
Ruth Watson and Valerie Cairns, Southport care home managers on a short break in London, were a touch older than the average, but still determined to get autographs. "It was just so brilliant, we absolutely loved it," said Watson. "It made you feel good and that's what you need. We've seen a few shows while we've been here and this was by far the best."
Katie Kyle, on holiday from Texas, had seen the Broadway version but preferred this one – better costumes and cast, she said. "It worked well in New York but I think it will really take off here."
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