The musical “Legally Blonde” sold out its run at Cotuit Center for the Arts in the spring of 2024 and also at the College Light Opera Company later that summer.
Audiences have another chance to see it performed locally, this time by the Falmouth High School Theatre Company from Friday to Sunday, May 15, 16 and 17 in the school’s auditorium.
In addition to the show being hugely popular for both the students to perform and for the audience to see, Artistic Director Alyssa Guida said she chose the show because it has multiple supporting roles.
“I try to pick shows that have more than one star vehicle, because we have so much talent,” she said.
For anyone unfamiliar with the plot, “Legally Blonde” features popular college senior Elle Woods, who is hoping to settle down with her beau after graduation and become Mrs. Warner Huntington, that is, until Warner breaks up with her and takes off for Harvard Law School. Unable to give up on love, Elle manages to get accepted at Harvard and, after a bit of an adjustment period, discovers she’s got more to offer than being just another pretty face.
Since high school shows are always a learning experience for the students, one of the new challenges in this production is the fluidity of the set.
“This is different than a lot of shows that we’ve done where, at the end of a scene, there’s a blackout and then you do a set change,” Guida said. “This show has a lot of scene changes that happen within songs and scenes, so everything is in motion; there are a lot of moving parts.”
In addition to the actors and the crew, Guida said, there’s choreography for moving the set pieces around. “It’s like directing traffic, trying to figure it all out.”
Sometimes the stop-and-go of a blackout can decrease the momentum of the show, Guida said. “This keeps you in it the whole time.”
The 33-member cast is supported by a 14-member crew led by Guida, Christopher Ricci as music director, Peter D. Cook as technical director and set coordinator, and Sharon Chapman as costume designer. In addition to those interviewed, student crewmembers include Vinny Citrone, Octavia McCall, Ayla Brodet, Dorothy Linton, Naomi Shank, Jackson Citrone and Annalisse Rogers.
“I’m grateful that our team has grown in the last couple of years,” Guida said. “You never know how much it takes to put on a show until you experience it.”
The school recently acquired new lights for the auditorium’s cyclorama, the fabric curtain that hangs upstage against the wall with either lights or images projected onto it during performances.
“Visually, things will look a little different than what we’ve been doing,” Guida said, adding, “We’ve been trying to make improvements on the space this year and I think we’ve done a pretty good job.”
The musical is based on the movie of the same name starring Reese Witherspoon. Rated PG-13 back in 2001, Guida suggested the same rating for the musical. “There’s some language and suggestive dialogue. It’s family-friendly for ages 13 and up,” she said.
“The message of empowerment is really relevant,” Guida said. “I think the tagline is ‘being true to yourself never goes out of style.’ That definitely carries through the show with Elle in how she starts one way and ends another.”
Several members of the cast and crew were on hand before rehearsal earlier this month to talk about their roles in the show.
Adaline Birmingham will play the lead role of Elle Woods. Adaline, a junior, has been involved in the high school’s theater program since she was a freshman.
Appearing in almost every scene and having multiple costume changes will be a challenge for Adaline, but it’s a role she’s been working toward by appearing as Scuttle in last year’s “Little Mermaid” and as Rizzo in 2024’s “Grease.” Adaline also performed with College Light Opera Company in 2024’s “Gypsy” and last year in “The Sound of Music.” She called playing Elle “a dream role.”
“I’m really excited to play Elle,” Adaline said. “She’s in so many scenes and she has a great track where she gets to sing, dance and act. She has a wonderful character arc where, when the show starts, you don’t really expect much of her, but as it goes on, you discover she’s this really powerful woman. For me, it’s an inspiring story.”
While she’s looking forward to the part, Adaline admitted the role is difficult: “She has so many challenging iconic songs, so it’s strenuous for your voice.”
Junior Ruthie Chapman is part of the ensemble for the production and also helped Guida with the show’s choreography.
No stranger to this show, Ruthie was a guest performer in College Light Opera Company’s 2024 production.
Ruthie’s dance background includes studying at both Turning Pointe Dance Studio in Falmouth and Harper Dance Center in Mashpee.
Ruthie also helped with choreography for last year’s “Little Mermaid.” “I really enjoy having the freedom to put in my own moves,” she said. “I’m grateful that Ms. Guida lets me do this.”
Ruthie said the biggest challenge to choreographing a number is keeping in mind that every performer is different. She said she tries to keep the moves simple enough for new dancers but difficult enough to challenge seasoned dancers. “I’ve definitely gotten stuck a couple times,” she said.
An interest in art propelled crewmember Heather Crowell to get involved. Last year, Heather created digital drawings and animations that served as background projections for the set of “The Little Mermaid.”
This year, Heather said, the set is larger and helping out with the crew has meant “more hands-on building things.”
Sophomore Dylan Kenny said she enjoys being part of the ensemble. “You can play multiple roles in the ensemble,” she said, “you’re not just playing one part and you don’t have to stress that much about lines, especially if you have a lot of academic stuff going on.” Dylan said she particularly enjoys being part of the Greek chorus. “They follow Elle everywhere and say some fun lines.”
Stage Manager Angie Coughlin, a senior, has been involved in several high school productions. Angie said being involved in a “leadership position” is what made her gravitate toward the position.
“I liked the idea of being someone people in the crew could look up to,” she said.
For Angie, leadership isn’t something that comes naturally to her—she’s had to work at it. “I’ve definitely grown into the role,” she said.
Freshman Watson Domingos is part of the show’s crew. Watson said he got involved because he “wanted to spend more time with the people in the play.” Watson said he was also interested in the architecture and the building of the sets and that he had “a pretty big part in building at least half of the set.” Watson was also involved in theater at the Lawrence School, where he learned about theater lighting. At Falmouth High School, he’s taken the school’s Intro to Woodworking class.
The show will feature FHS student musicians under the direction of Christopher Ricci, including Nate Birmingham, Xavier Echeverri, Isabella Cabral, Aoife Cahill, Hannah McAuley, Avery Okon and Ethan Liam Souza. Adult members of the band are Brent Alger, Gordon Zemotel and Andrew Hellwig.
Rounding out the cast are Max Calderbank, Emma Racicot, Jaidon Gray, Sheldon Mapp, Avila Rudd, Gwendalyn Andrews, Marine Willcox, Naraeya Gray, Autumn Upton, Dan Sullivan, Rima Petrosyan, Jaylynne Tomascik, Emiliana Pachano, Caitlin Wells, Kate Partan, Cullen Ellia, Salem de Souza, Rhys Nagy, Collin Morrison, Kate Christian, Ari Pottle, Hannah Adelmann, Taryn Joyce, Ellie Benett, Brianna Anderson, Frankie Gallagher, Faith Kane, Lala Roman, Matt Roslansky and Angelina Wilbur.
“It’s an energetic show and when people come and see it, they’re going to leave feeling good and feeling like empowered,” Adaline Birmingham said. “A lot of people have probably seen the movie and this takes a lot from it. You have some of the same iconic lines and some of the same scenes that you remember from the movie played out—maybe in songs. I think people who have seen the movie and maybe haven’t seen the show should come and see it come to life in this cool artistic way.”
Heather Crowell encourages anyone who hasn’t been to a show to come out for “Legally Blonde.” “Live theater is a really good experience overall, even if you’re not familiar with it or you think you won’t like it. You can just walk out after it’s over, but at least you tried it,” she said.
Performances of “Legally Blonde” will take place on Friday, May 15, at 7:30 PM, Saturday, May 16, at 2 and 7:30 PM, and Sunday, May 17, at 2 PM. Tickets can be purchased at the door as well as online through On The Stage ticketing.
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