This past weekend, Friday and Saturday, February 2 and 3, Fieldston Varsity Theater put on a unique performance based on the iconic movie, and what many gen-z students would consider a modern classic, “Legally Blonde.” For those who have been living under a rock, Legally Blonde tells the story of a fashion and looks obsessed “blonde” from Malibu, CA, named Elle Woods. As a character in a satire Elle is a celebration of all that is superficial. Elle is the president of her sorority at UCLA and has a 4.0 gpa in Fashion Merchandising. When Elle’s serious boyfriend, Warner Huntington, breaks up with her because he is going to Harvard Law and wants to be with someone more “serious,” Elle makes it her mission to win him back by getting into Harvard Law herself and proving to him that she can be serious. However, when Elle finally gets to Harvard, she learns that Warner has a new girlfriend named Vivienne Kensington. In the process of trying to win Warner back, Elle befriends a hairdresser named Paulette, and her law school TA, Emmett, and realizes that she has so much more to offer than just her looks.
Although many people may view Legally Blonde as a movie further emphasizing the dumb blonde and boy crazy stereotypes, it is also a story about a woman who learns that she has so much to offer and that she does not need a man holding her hand to be successful. Her academic success is “So much better” than male validation.
Last spring, Clare Mottola, the head of Fieldston’s Theater department, was dared to choose Legally Blonde as the 2022-2023 high school musical. Legally Blonde is unlike any other musical Fieldston has done, and is an extremely challenging show to produce. It is long (about two and a half hours long including intermission), controversial and incredibly vocally demanding. Elle Woods, played by Jane Minus (Form VI) in Fieldston’s production, is a specifically challenging role considering Elle stays on stage for the entire show and sings in almost every number. Additionally, the role is insanely vocally demanding and requires a massive vocal range. Minus has had years of vocal training, allowing her to safely use her voice in the part. However, someone without extensive vocal training could have easily caused permanent damage to their voice from this part. In an interview, Mottola said, “In choosing the musical, we were a little concerned about who would play Elle because of how difficult of a role it is. We never precast our shows, but we like to have a pre-audition meeting to see who is interested in auditioning. At that meeting, we were certain that we had an Elle, though we had several people in mind. Ironically, Minus had to miss several days of auditions because she was performing at the All State Chorus Festival, which just further showed us the level of vocal training she had. Ultimately, our casting choices came down to how we wanted to tell the story.” Minus then added that although it was definitely the most challenging role she has ever had, it was also the most exciting and rewarding.
I asked Minus to share a little bit about her experience with the show. She explained that although the show was incredibly difficult, it was totally bearable because of how helpful all of her cast members were. She had many quick changes and her castmates were always eager to help out however they could. She also explained that she felt so supported every step of the way which made her feel comfortable the whole time. Minus has been doing theater, both in and out of school, for eight years and yet she confidently shared, “This cast was without a doubt the most supportive and kind group of people I have ever had the opportunity to work with! The experience, though challenging, was beyond rewarding and fun.” Elle Woods was Minus’s final role in Fieldston Theater, and she could not have asked for a better cast or show to conclude her time with Fieldston Theater. We wish her the best of luck working with Emory Theater for the next four years.
I was interested in understanding the unique approach Motolla took to directing the musical, so I spoke with both her and Alex Taube (V), the Assistant Director. Motolla explained that, “I wanted to highlight the importance of satire in the production. The show is just so silly that in order for it to make sense, every single cast member needed to go all out with everything they did. The final result was everything I imagined, and so much more. There was so much energy, so much joy, and so much collaboration. I was so proud.” I asked Taube to explain why Legally Blonde was so different from other Fieldston productions. He said, “The average Fieldston production has about 100 cues, while Legally Blonde had 600. Every single cue has to be spoken, and this number highlights the absurdity of the tech necessary to make the show happen. So much work was needed behind the scenes that no one in the audience knew about.” Thus, so many different people needed to collaborate to allow everything to fall into place, and yet it worked out. Alex also explained how amazed he was that so many cast members were so eager to come to him and work through their material and improve.
I then spoke with Noa Saviano (IV), one of the Delta Nu girls, as well as one of the student choreographers. Although the production did have a faculty choreographer, Ava Heller, Motolla chose to have Ava work as more of a full picture choreographer. She explained that because so much of the choreography, especially for the Delta Nu girls, is supposed to be “sexual,” she wanted the students to choreograph it themselves as much as possible. Then, Ava Heller would step in and make sure everything worked together. She did not feel comfortable with an adult telling the students how to dance in a sexual way. She also thought that when the students made their own choreography, they were able to truly make their roles their own. Saviano said, “Clare would give each Delta Nu girl an 8 count to choreograph in about 5 minutes. Then we would put it all together and see if it worked. It was definitely stressful to come up with choreography so fast, but it was also rewarding and made us so close.” Saviano is a dancer outside of Fieldston, so her dance knowledge allowed her to come up with amazing choreography. Following the show, there was a lot of commotion about the talent and synchrony of the Delta Nu girls. Noa shared, “Honestly, we spent so much time just the five of us that we started to understand how each other worked and we all got so close. We also built off of each other’s energy and supported each other all the way through.” She also explained that they would make up for each other’s energy if someone was having an off day. They knew that their success depended on each other, so they worked together constantly.
Legally Blonde is an incredibly satirical musical and in order for it not to look stupid, it requires everyone involved to fully commit. That being said, it is easy to go all out when you are surrounded by your castmates. It is difficult to fully commit to being ridiculous in front of the entire school. However, every single member of the cast put their all into the show, making it so enjoyable and impressive to everyone in the audience. Fieldston’s Musical is a massive event, and the whole high school typically comes to see it. Additionally, teachers tend to bring their families to the musical to support their students. The musical at Fieldston is a time when the whole school comes together to appreciate the talent of the students on stage. Legally Blonde, though the most challenging show Fieldston has ever performed, is another success for Fieldston Varsity theater.
Here are some great photos I captured from the performance:
