It's time for Harvard Law School's most chic student to make the Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus pink. Dr. Kenneth Stilson and the cast of "Legally Blonde: The Musical," are preparing to shake things up with the first big musical of the season.
Molly Dowd will star as Elle Woods, a University of California-Los Angeles sorority girl who is unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend, Warner, on the evening that she believed he would propose to her.
Warner tells Elle that he needs a girlfriend who is "more serious." Elle then decides to follow him across the country to Harvard Law School, where she intends to win him back. She shakes up her classmates' drab wardrobes and attitudes with her very pink attire and sunny personality, all while working to succeed in law school and impress Warner.
The musical is based on the movie starring Reese Witherspoon as Elle and the novel written by Amanda Brown. The musical premiered on Broadway in 2007 and closed in 2008 and has been performed in London's West End and in productions all over the world. Dowd and Stilson both said that the script they will use is from the London production, with only a few changes made in the song lyrics and dialogue. However, Stilson said that the changes are so minor, they're not noticeable, even to a person who has seen the performance on Broadway.
"Every musical we do is big," Stilson said. "This is one of the most complex shows we've done. It has so many moving parts."
Stilson also said that the musical has very strong visuals, with many costume changes for the characters and many set changes.
The show is physically demanding, even requiring crossfit trainings for all of the cast members every night before their actual rehearsals begin.
"Whipped Into Shape," the beginning number for the second act, is one of the more complex scenes, requiring the cast members to jump rope, sing, act and dance throughout the entire number. Dowd said that she was happy that Elle didn't have to be a part of that particular number.
Dowd, who is a natural brunette, has been dying her hair blonde in preparation for the role. She said that she already has dyed it twice, but she will do it once more on the Sunday before the show's premiere. She also said that she has been adding more and more pink to her wardrobe, even mentioning that her best friend goes to thrift shops and brings back something pink for Dowd to add to her collection.
To prepare for her role, Dowd said that she watched different YouTube videos of other actresses who have portrayed Elle in the musical to see how they performed. She said that the difference between Elle in the musical and the film are that the character is much more quirky in the musical, rather than more sweet in the film.
Hannah Lundy, who plays Paulette, one of Elle's friends that she meets while at Harvard, said that one of her most challenging numbers during the show is her solo piece during Act I called "Ireland."
"It's just me on the stage, so I don't have a melody to hide behind or anything," Lundy said.
The musical doesn't just stick to one genre of music, however. Stilson said that there is "a little bit of everything" and that it's a great "date musical."
"Legally Blonde: The Musical" will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 2-5 and at 2 p.m. on Oct. 6 in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus. Tickets are $17 or $20, depending on your seating. To purchase tickets, visit rivercampusevents.com or the River Campus box office.
