From March 12–14, PHS Spectacle Theatre, Tech Crew, and Orchestra came together to bring the musical “Legally Blonde” to life on stage. The show follows former sorority girl Elle Woods as she navigates law school, determined to prove her ex-boyfriend wrong and demonstrate that she is serious about life.
The students spent four months preparing for the final performances. In the beginning, the cast members spent rehearsal days learning music with Vincent Metallo, PHS’s choir director. Next, they transitioned to also working with director Julianna Krawiecki for the dancing and acting scenes.
On opening night, Red Cast was joined by Laura Bell Bundy, who played Elle on the original Broadway run. She performed three songs, including “Popular” from “Wicked,” before the cast joined her for a medley of songs from “Legally Blonde.”
The Princeton community came out to support “Legally Blonde,” marking it Spectacle Theatre’s most successful musical of the past decade.
“We sold out three shows, and the fourth was pretty much sold out. ... I thought this story ... wasn’t necessarily one that people would support because they [would think] it wasn’t as important as some other stories. So I loved that that’s not what happened,” said Krawiecki.
A particularly challenging number for the actors was “Whipped into Shape,” a song at the beginning of the second act featuring a fitness influencer. In this scene, actors had to sing and dance while jumping rope.
“You [had] to ... do all these dance movements, and in the beginning it felt almost impossible, but [it came] together really well,” said Arianna Kapoor ’29, who was a part of the Delta Nu girls and Greek Chorus group in the Blue Cast.
Two real dogs were involved in the show, acting as two characters’ dogs. Bruiser, Elle’s dog, was played by Theo, and Rufus, Paulette’s, was played by Oakley. The dogs, owned by Krawiecki and Serafina Joseph ’26 respectively, had both either been a part of other PHS productions or had passed training tests that would ensure their cooperation. Both dogs were featured in every performance.
PHS Orchestra additionally provided a live accompaniment, though performing with a cast presented its challenges.
“[The most difficult aspect was] learning the part, getting it together, and syncing it up with the cast,” said Charissa Hsu ’28, a violinist in PHS Orchestra.
“Legally Blonde” marked a departure from previous Spectacle Theatre shows by highlight- ing an unapologetically positive story about women.
“‘Legally Blonde’ ... was about a strong female leader who does things a bit differently. The message of believing in yourself [was] really important ... for our students to walk away with,” said Krawiecki.