After a year of restrictions and disappointments, OHS’s theater students have enthusiastically reappeared on the stage with a glamorous production of Legally Blonde Junior. At each showing, a crowded auditorium full of adoring friends, family, and fans all felt a wide range of emotions as they watched the musical’s main character, Elle Woods, face the challenges that the wild journey of love presented to her.

Due to the amazing acting skills of each actor, audiences could feel each moment of melancholy, delight, and amusement that occurred throughout the musical. The characters in the performance were complex and the actors who played them had to skillfully consider each side of their characters.

“I played Vivian Kensington. She’s the anti-hero, not the villain, not the person you’re supposed to hate, but she sucks,” said Jocelyn Worley, junior. “I loved playing her because in the second act she has a full character arc, and she becomes cool.”

Actors had a delicate task in their hands; not wanting to portray her character in a negative light, junior Madison Perrotti ensured that her character of Elle Woods was seen as a brilliant individual.

“I think for me, I wanted to play [Elle] very genuine. I didn’t want it to seem like I was making fun of the character because she really is smart and she really is intelligent,” Perrotti said. “I think a lot of times with characters like Elle Woods people will read the script and go ‘well she’s just another dumb blonde,’ but that’s really not the case.”

As Perrotti learned more about her character, her perspective changed, and it contributed to a deeper understanding of Elle and her feelings.

“Going into it I was like ‘I have so much that I relate to this character.’ I had so much that I felt that I related to, but throughout the process I started seeing things that happened in the show happening to me in real life and they weren’t all positive things, a little bit of meanness in certain areas of the show,” Perrotti said. “I think I discovered a lot more about the character [because of] that.”

Many actors, due to the nature of a musical, played multiple roles, which allowed them to perform different personalities and emotions.

“I played as three different characters; I played a frat boy, the Harvard administrator, and Dewy,” said Jack Brady, junior. “Dewy was my favorite to do because he was a fun character to play, he was sort of a silly comedic character that you could just do on a whim no matter what.”

Acting multiple roles can be a challenge; although, it depends on the intricacy of each character.

“It wasn’t necessarily difficult due to how many lines there were,” Brady said. “If I had more lines, say a hundred lines, it [would have been] more difficult.”

In addition to performing, some actors are also in the business of creating as they build the sets used in the musical in their Stage Production class. 

“It was really cool because I got to work behind the scenes and also on stage with [the cast],” Worley said. “If anything broke, I was there to fix it.”

Casting the right actors in the right roles for them can make or break a musical production, and the casting decisions proved brilliant throughout the performance.

“I think a lot of [the cast members] did really great. I think Kenna Kelly, who played Chutney, did a really good job because everyone loved her performance; everyone laughed really hard,” Worley said. “A lot of people did a really great job and I think that a lot of people were casted for who they should’ve been.”

Despite the magnificent success of the musical, the cast still endured challenges that impacted their ability to prepare and practice.

“The most difficult part [of the musical] was that so many people were quarantined at the beginning and also at the end,” Worley said. “There was two people who [were quarantined], one person came back two days before the show started, so it was kind of stressful. Missing people was the hardest part [of the performance].”

Shortly before opening night, OHS’s english classes were presented a preview of the musical, which was unfortunately plagued with audio problems. The previews caused some of the cast to be amazed at the support and turnout at each showing.

“After previews, when everyone was talking about it and there was teachers saying that they were coming, we were all surprised,” Worley said. “It was a great surprise but we all did not expect that and it was really cool.”

This performance of Legally Blonde junior was the first for OHS’s stage since before the COVID-19 pandemic began to take effect in early 2020. Actors waited anxiously to be given the chance to return to their much beloved stage, and when finally given the chance, a new sense of appreciation was established.

“It makes you appreciate it a lot more. It’s a very special experience that was taken away and I think, before, many of us took it for granted,” Perrotti said. “Not being able to do [performances] for a whole year really impacts your life and it makes you appreciate it a lot more.”

The cast was filled with emotions as the sense and thrill of performing to a large audience finally returned.

“It was so cool, a lot of the cast were crying because we missed the feeling. It was such a great show to start off and there was such a great turnout for it,” Worley said.

Captivating an audience with magical and authentic acting was not the main goal of every cast member, some just wanted to experience the fun that is performing.

“My biggest thing was going out there and having fun,” Perrotti said. “I only had four shows and because I had been waiting for this opportunity for so long, I just really tried to savor every moment and go out and have fun with my friends.”