Liberty High School’s theater department is returning to the stage once again for their upcoming spring musical “Legally Blonde.” The story follows a fashionable sorority girl named Elle Woods, played by Liberty senior Bayli Fuchs, who attends Harvard Law school in an attempt to win back her ex-boyfriend.
The show features other characters such as Enid Hoops, feminist political activist, played by Senior Jenna Stone. The show is pulled together by stage managers, such as senior Ava Smith, who work to run the show smoothly in every scenario to prepare for the final production.
The show will debut on April 16 at 7 p.m. and will follow with show dates on April 17 at 7 p.m., April 18 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale at https://lancertheatre.ludus.com/ where seats can be reserved for every show date.
Although the school musical is now set on the cult classic movie, the theatre department was not set on this story until fall of this year. Originally, the spring musical was supposed to be a rendition of “Freaky Friday,” due to the heavy topics featured within “Legally Blonde.”
These topics include subjects like sexual assault, which are often not discussed in a high school setting. However, according to Stone, after many discussions and debates with admin the school determined they could perform the show.
Despite being based off of the source material, the musical features key differences from the movie. Some of these differences include the absence of Pilar, one of Elle’s best friends in the movie.
Other differences include a different ending with Elle and Vivian as well as a difference in the reaction to the scene of sexual assault, which was changed to lay within school guidelines.
It can be difficult to produce a show with these types of graphic scenes, which is why Fuchs commended her fellow castmate Brendan Skelcey, who plays Callahan, a character involved as an antagonist in the scenes. “[Skelcey] is so respectful every time we run that scene. He always asks for permission about all the things we need to do. In the show he might seem like the villain… but he’s genuinely the nicest guy behind the scenes,” stated Fuchs.
Despite the changes to the story, the significance of the musical is not lost upon everyone involved. Fuchs explains the significance of the role as she said, “This is my first ever lead role, and being Elle Woods is such an insane thing to say… It goes by so fast and I’m just so grateful to call Elle Woods my last Liberty role.”
Smith also spoke to the intricate technical aspects of the show as they said, “It’s a lot more technically involved than shows I have previously done which is awesome because I haven’t gotten to work this close with tech before… We’re actually going for a national set design award which means we’re using origins travelling Broadway set plans.”
The intense set plans also mean the actors have had to become accustomed to performing without a full set present. However, Smith explains that despite the setbacks the actors are almost fully ready two weeks before the show goes live.
While it is exciting for the department to put on a musical of a high caliber such as “Legally Blonde,” it is an emotional goodbye for the senior participants who are soon to graduate. As Stone stated, “It’s a huge emotional climax to the senior experience. It is definitely what I’ve been looking forward to this whole year… It’s just such an iconic story.”
Similarly, Smith also had an emotional goodbye as she reflected on the inspiration they had taken from the seniors in Adam’s family musical her freshman year. “We’re that role model for the underclassmen who are going to be inspired by us and take on our performing qualities into the next musical… I hope I can be the inspiration for a freshman to become a stage manager,” they said.
In a closing remark, Fuchs encouraged students to attend the musical as it holds valuable life lessons for all high school students alongside the iconic story and visual elements. The musical will be one of the final productions of the year for the theatre department and is held as a goodbye to the seniors who have worked in the theater scene for the past 4 years.
