The American musical ‘Legally Blonde’ picked up three awards yesterday at London’s Laurence Olivier Theater awards, the British equivalent of Broadway’s Tony Awards.

‘Legally blonde’ the musical based on the 2001 comedy by the same name starring Reese Witherspoon, was named best new musical. Star Sheridan Smith was also crowned best actress in a musical, and Jill Halfpenny took the prize for best performance in a supporting role in a musical, according to Reuters.

The musical came out in 2008 in the US to less than stellar reviews on Broadway, and closed in October of that year after 595 performances. While it didn’t do as well as expected in the U.S, the British jury gobbled it right up seeing it as a “burst of sunshine in the rainy West end” according to AP.

The story about a ditzy California girl who makes it into Harvard Law School in pursuit of her college sweetheart won over critics on the other side of the Atlantic with the star of the musical Sheridan Smith who plays main character Elle Woods saying, “It’s credit crunch, terrible weather, and all you want to do is have two and a half hours of escapism.”

When she received her award, she thanked the show’s creators who “let a chav play an American rich girl.” She later told the BBC “I was so gobsmacked and overwhelmed.” She added, “This is beyond my wildest dreams. I’m baffled, but so honored,” according to the Daily Mail.

Smith left the musical in January to star in “Flare Path” opposite Sienna Miller, but she said that working on ‘Legally Blonde’ was “the best 14 months in my life.”

Other awards went to the Royal Court’s production of “Clybourne Park,” Bruce Norris’s political comedy about race relations in suburban America for best new play; Roger Allam for best actor playing “Henry IV” parts 1 and 2; and award for direction went to Howard Davies for “The White Guard,” reports the New York Times.