Spokane Civic Theatre’s ‘Legally Blonde’ is ‘one of the biggest musicals we’ve produced in a long time’

Filling the season for Spokane Civic Theatre’s main stage is a very particular process.

The season opener, according to Executive Director Jake Schaefer, needs to be strong, something that makes a statement. In the winter, the show should be welcoming, usually a more traditional story, and something celebratory of the season.

In the mid-winter, the season calls for something thought-provoking, perhaps a new musical or something contemporary. The season closes with a big musical, not necessarily big in scope but big in title or intellectual property.

If you think about it from that perspective, Schaefer said, “Legally Blonde” has all the ingredients needed to kick off the theater’s 78th season.

“It’s got awesome music, the script for the musical is clean,” he said. “The production itself is massive. It’s definitely one of the biggest musicals we’ve produced in a long time. And the message is totally in line with Civic’s mission.

“The idea of this character persevering and putting in effort and investing in themselves and then ultimately seeing the fruits of that labor, I think we all need to be reminded that that’s cool. Humanity is great. Also, Elle Woods is such an iconic character for people.”

“Legally Blonde” opens Friday and runs through Oct. 12.

At the beginning of “Legally Blonde,” Elle Woods (Elizabeth Theriault), president of UCLA’s Delta Nu sorority, is preparing for dinner with her boyfriend Warner Huntington III (Noah Graybeal). She believes he is planning to propose and enlists her sorority sisters, including Margot (Jacqueline Mallene), Serena (Josian Brett) and Pilar (Karlin Marie Kahler), to help her get ready.

At dinner, however, Huntington tells Woods they have to break up. He needs to date someone more serious if he wants to become a senator, he says. Woods is heartbroken but eventually decides to show Huntington her serious side by following him to Harvard Law School with her faithful companion Bruiser (Sugar Bear).

Sorority sister Kate (Carmyn Parks-House) helps Woods study for the LSAT, and Woods, surprising perhaps everyone but herself, is accepted. She gets a lot of strange looks at Harvard but finds support from teaching assistant Emmett Forrest (Jonah Taylor).

Adding to Woods’ list of things to worry about is classmate Vivienne Kensington (Meghan Jane), who happens to be Warner’s new girlfriend. She tells Professor Callahan (Steve Lloyd) to kick Woods out of class because she missed a reading assignment.

But after getting knocked down, Woods gets right back up and continues to excel, eventually earning a prestigious internship. She then shows everyone how it’s done while helping with the case of fitness instructor Brooke Wyndham (Tori Liezen), who is accused of murdering her husband.

The cast also features Kalla Mort, Elizabeth Spindler, Cael Birch, Taylor Clanagan, Tori Diana, Mike Donahoe, Jameson Elton, Reuben Erlinso, Lilah Gail, Ayden Gilbreath, JJ Hathaway, Owen Henderson, Henry Jackson, Delaney Kahler, Katelynn Roohr, Victoria Scribner, Katie Snider, Sean Stoudt and Kellen Weigand.

“Legally Blonde” features music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin and a book by Heather Hach. The musical is based on the 2001 film of the same name, itself based on the book of the same name by Amanda Brown.

The show is directed by Schaefer, music directed by Beth Rainey and choreographed by Bonni Dichone. Peter Rossing is the scenic designer, and Jamie L. Suter is the costume designer.

More than 110 performers auditioned for the show, making casting a “gnarly” process for Schaefer.

“From the outset, I was looking for an actor,” he said about casting the role of Woods. “I wanted someone to tell the story. I didn’t want it to be a presentation or a regurgitation. I wanted it to be someone’s take on this, and someone that wanted to go for it.”

Schaefer said he’s excited for Theriault in this role because she is putting in the work and finding the nuances of the character while also being a great leader.

As with most shows, there is a good mix of returning performers and newcomers.

“That’s been awesome to see the community grow …” he said. “It’s so inspiring. It’s exactly what we’re trying to say with Civic is there’s a place at the table.”

Working with this cast alongside Schaefer are choreographer Dichone and music director Rainey.

Dichone worked with Schaefer for the first time on Civic’s production of “Cats.” She is typically interested in more traditional musical theater but couldn’t say no when Schaefer asked her to choreograph “Legally Blonde.”

Even though she considers ballet and traditional musical theater in her wheelhouse, Dichone consumes a lot of dance media, so she had plenty to draw from when it came to “Legally Blonde.”

Dichone is particularly proud of Act 2 opener “Whipped into Shape,” which requires performers to jump rope while singing and performing extra movements. The variety of choreography this show requires, from a marching band to Jamaican house moves to a tribute to “Riverdance,” kept everyone on their toes.

“It definitely opened up a whole other arena of choreography to me,” Dichone said. “Using dance to tell a story, it doesn’t really matter what style you’re doing or really what your expertise is per se in performing it; if you stick to the storytelling and you make sure that the music is honored in many ways, and the story is honored in your in the movement, it all falls into place.”

Rainey played second keyboard for a high school production of “Legally Blonde” in Seattle and learned a lot about how to program her laptop to assist with her keyboard playing.

” ‘Legally Blonde,’ it’s all about timing precision,” she said. “Everything is so silly and wacky that the jokes and the moments and the heart are so intelligently timed and as a keyboardist, you’re just trying to get through the page with all the instrument changes you’re trying to accomplish. It’s a real ride and we’re all really brilliant and really high-level thinkers, but anything can happen.”

Rainey thinks audiences will be awed hearing the song “Legally Blonde” and is also excited “Legally Blonde Remix” because “we really play the crap out of it and everyone is going as fast as they can.”

“It makes me want to watch the stage more,” she said. “I really can’t watch. I wish I could because it’s really exciting, all the pieces getting put together.”

And there are a lot of pieces to this show. Music and choreography, of course, but also hundreds of props and costume pieces and more than 20 elements of the set. Schaefer said Rossing built a unit set with pieces that come and go to establish, along with lighting cues, where the action is taking place.

For her part, Schaefer said Suter researched what people on both coasts were wearing during the time the movie and musical were released, sourcing as many period-accurate pieces as possible.

“It’s pretty invigorating,” Schaefer said. “Peter’s innovative, and Jamie’s attention to detail is very inspiring to me. It makes me want to provide a clean show for the people. I take pride in that.”

Schaefer, Dichone and Rainey all mention the joy of “Legally Blonde.” Between Woods’ near-endless positivity and her journey of self-discovery, the fun far outweighs moments of frustration.

Rainey hopes audiences can take a little of that joy home with them, especially during a time when there feels like “an avalanche of heavy stuff in the world.”

“It can feel frivolous to do musical theater sometimes, and it can feel frivolous that I am putting my nights into this, but I really believe in the humanity that it demands of us,” she said. “I think that it’s truly an alchemical experience, but we have to find the release, and we have to learn about ourselves in these weird public ways of being goofy. I’m hoping that this show brings that to the season and to the people that show up.”