Legally Blonde: The Musical
On Friday, April 13th, the cast and crew of LV’s musical department put on the production Legally Blonde, a show they had been working on since January. The cast and crew put everything into the production, making it yet another memorable show in the history of Licking Valley.
Legally Blonde tells the story of a preppy, blonde sorority girl named Elle who follows her ex-boyfriend, Warner, to Harvard where she meets opposition and cruelty from her fellow classmates and professor who kicks her out of class almost daily. When she gets discouraged, Elle imagines her friends back at the sorority as a “Greek Chorus” that gives her advice about how to win Warner back from an “evil preppy” named Vivienne. Elle also meets a hairdresser and nail painter named Paulette who helps cheer
her up, but it’s Emmett, the professor’s assistant, who helps Elle get back on her feet and stop obsessing over Warner to instead focus on her studies instead. The show teaches the audience that “being yourself never goes out of style” and that anybody can change and improve themselves if they put their minds to it.
Elle Woods was played by an enthusiastic Savannah Patterson who nailed the act and really embraced the character. Warner Huntington III was played by Andrew Selfe, who despite his nonchalance about the part, played it well and really added in his own personality to the character. Ariel Keener played the part of Professor Callahan, and even though the two are completely different people, Ariel accepted the role and performed it perfectly. Vivienne was played by Amber Wireman, who had to overcome her nice side and act like a jerk, but when she got down to it, Amber was able to convey Vivienne's personality, making the character come alive in the show.
Of course, there are dozens of actors in the show, with many of them playing multiple different roles. Some of their roles seemed to fit them better than others. Ariel Keener stressed that “Callahan is an absolute monster of a man who doesn’t seem to demonstrate any restraint or understanding of repercussions on his actions. He’s very stuffy and uptight… It was fun to play him but I kept a very comfortable distance between us.” On the other hand, Katy Selfe who played Margo, one of the main sorority and Greek Chorus girls, explained that “I feel like my role fit me because Margot is fun, friendly, and an outgoing person!”
Legally Blonde may be a bit on the cheesy side, but it presents plenty of moral lessons such as the idea presented by Nick Casserlie who said that “that the audience, especially the younger portion, took away that this girl took what was likely her life's largest disaster and turned it into her greatest decision ever. Being herself and chasing what she wanted led her down the right path.” Legally Blonde shows the audience that “staying true to yourself never goes out of style.”
As the cast sang during the bows, “go be Legally Blonde” and look out for next year’s musical production!