(Above: Cottage Theatre presents “Legally Blonde,” featuring actors, left to right, Melissa Miller, Joel Ibáñez, Autumn Carter and Peter Wickliffe; photos by Emily Bly)
By Randi Bjornstad
You might remember high-fashion Elle Woods and her all-pink lifestyle from the Amanda Brown novel and the 2001 chick flick that starred Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods, a college coed jilted by her boyfriend, Warner Huntington III, who is headed for law school at Harvard and doesn’t think Elle fits in with his politically upwardly mobile plans.
After coming to grips with that devastation, Elle determines to fight for her guy, so she abandons her 4.0 GPA in fashion marketing and turns her attention to law. Elle studies up, aces the LSAT exam and also gets accepted to Harvard, where she doesn’t exactly fit — and successfully destroys — the stereotype of what a midnight-oil burning serious law student must be like.
And, as one would expect in a musical comedy, Elle surpasses all expectations — and the smarts of her fellow students, including the former boyfriend — on the way to its happy ending, which does not include Warner Huntington III.
Incidentally, when Amanda Brown wrote her novel, she set it at Stanford University, where she attended law school but apparently soon realized it wasn’t for her and didn’t finish. However, she did gather anecdotes and observations from others she met, which led to her book, the film, and the musical.
Now, the spunky play about the dumb-blonde-who-is-anything-but comes to the Cottage Theatre stage, where it will play through April 29. The stage version has music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, and Heather Hach wrote the “book” for the musical.
In the Cottage Theatre’s production, Autumn Carter stars as Elle Woods, with Joen Ibáñez as her fickle beau. Other feature players include Peter Wickliffe, Tracy Nygard, Ward Fairbairn, Melissa Miller and Nicole Garibay, plus more than 20 additional supporting and ensemble roles. Madison BAker directs the show, with musical direction by Mark VanBeever and Keri Davis and choreography by Katey Kephart. Janet Whitlow and Tony Rust designed the sets, with Chris Carter in charge of costumes and lighting by Amanda Ferguson.
Legally Blonde
When: 8 p.m. on April 6-7, 12-14, 19-21, and 26-28; and 2:30 p.m. on April 8, 15, 22 and 29
Where: Cottage Theatre, 700 Village Drive, Cottage Grove
Tickets: $25 for adults, $15 for youths ages 18 years and younger; available online at cottagetheatre.org or at the box office, 942-8001, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and one hour before performances
The cast of “Legally Blonde” includes: (left to right, Elle (Autumn Carter) with Margot (Cassie Unger), Serena (Stefhani Anderson), and Pilar (Jessika Skalin)
