Carmel Students Gear Up for “Legally Blonde-The Musical”

Since the first day back from Winter Break of this school year, dozens of students have been rehearsing for the musical Carmel High School puts on every year. Now, less than a week away, those students are finally ready to open the curtain based on a movie from the 21st century.

Carmel High School Music Production Workshop is set to present “Legally Blonde- The Musical” all weekend long with opening night scheduled for this Friday at 7:30 at George Fischer Middle School, along Fair St. While advisor and Carmel High School teacher Bryan Lynch has been involved in the production of all plays and musicals performed within the district the past seven years, this is the first time he has a group of students tackling a modern day musical.

“The right kids. We always try to pick a show around the kids that we have,” he said of the rationale of choosing “Legally Blonde”, which was also a Broadway production in 2007. “And this year there just seemed to be the right sort of kids to do this particular musical.”

For show goers who haven’t seen the movie of, “Legally Blonde-The Musical” is about a sorority girl whose boyfriend—a soon-to-be Harvard Law student—breaks up with her. She gets admitted into Harvard Law as well, and follows him there to win him back. Once at Harvard, she faces a variety of challenges, which includes ending up assisting on a murder trial with that ex-boyfriend.

“It’s funny, it’s very witty,” Lynch said. “I think the community is really going to enjoy it.”

The two leads actors this year are seniors Cathryn Lovett, who plays Elle Woods, and Nicholas D’Apice, who plays Emmett Forrest.

D’Apice has been with the production club since his freshman year and has grown immensely over that time. He still remembers his first part as the baker in “Beauty and the Beast” and how nervous he was walking across the stage in that first scene.

When D’Apice found out he was the lead actor his senior year, he was overjoyed.

“That was like my dream part, basically,” he said. “So just then finding out I got the role was an amazing feeling.”

As for Lovett, she already knew her part before it was decided which musical would be performed. A few years back at a drama camp, she’s been involved in the same musical and already knew what to expect.

Another factor also made her feel good about possibly getting the lead role.

“I was kind of nervous for the audition, but I was also optimistic, because I was one of the only blonde ones,” she said. “So I was feeling like, OK, hopefully the odds are in my favor.”

Both Lovett and D’Apice described the added excitement it is to do a musical that they’ve either seen or heard about, unlike many of the past performances put on by the school.

D’Apice said because the production is so recent, it’s something everyone can watch online and prepare for outside of rehearsal. With all the snow days this school year, D’Apice said it certainly accelerated the process.

“’Legally Blonde’ is such a fun show that everybody knows,” D’Apice said.

And Lovett voiced the same sentiment. With a week’s worth of snow days, it added some pressure to the preparation, but not nearly as much as it could’ve.

“I think everyone loves the show enough and a lot of people knew it before, actually,” she said. “And had been listening to the CD, seen on it YouTube so I don’t think it was that stressful.”

Residents can purchase tickets online for the show at https://ticketriver.com/event/10307-legally-blonde—the-musical. The show is Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

David Propper