As a sort of ode to the end of “Legally Blonde,” I thought the best farewell would be to reveal my “behind the scenes” experience of being in a musical for the first time.
Where to even begin. The past two months have been a whirlwind of singing, dancing, and “ethnic movement,” (if you saw the show you’d probably understand that joke).
The winter break was over, all energy was devoted to rehearsals. I’m not kidding—our rehearsals ran until 6:00 every night on weekdays, and from 9:00 am to 4:00 or 5:00 pm on Saturday.
Several weeks prior to winter break, we had already begun to familiarize ourselves with the music in choir-opera, (the class you’re required to take if interested in being in the spring musical). This was incredibly helpful because once we started dance rehearsals, knowing the music made it easier to follow along and remember the choreography.
However, the first month of rehearsals were a hot mess. Well, not everything was—but because of how dance-heavy “Legally Blonde” was compared to shows done in the past, it took longer to come together as a cohesive show.
One of the best parts about being in the show was watching it grow and build into something we were proud to perform. The moment in which I noticed the skeleton of the musical take shape was once all of the dance numbers were finished.
Each cast took turns running through all of them, and it was surreal to see the dances officially completed and performed.
We had a chance to appreciate what the show was beginning to look like after hours of hard work put towards learning everything.
This especially rang true with the number “Whipped in to Shape”. We spent literally hours running this dance over and over again until we could sing and jump rope without wheezing or choking during the song.
About four weeks into rehearsals, both casts were called to do a run through of the entire show, which was one of the most terrifying and exhilarating moments of the rehearsal process.
It was our first time with everyone off book (meaning not reading from the script), so there was this slight pressure to have everything memorized and be prepared for anything.
At the same time, it was amazing watching people come to life as their characters from the show, adding nuances that made their performance that much more amazing.
The experience of being a part of the excitement, watching my peers transform into bubbly sorority girls or stuffy lawyers and Harvard students, made it so much more meaningful when it was finally time to perform the show.
While I want to avoid sounding sappy, the one thing, above all else, that made being in “Legally Blonde” worth it, were the friendships I formed over the course of two short months.