On stage this week at Ocean City High School
OCEAN CITY — “Elle Woods is just so incredibly amazing and such a great role model,” said Vivian Maucher, the senior starring in the lead role in the Ocean City Drama Guild’s production of “Legally Blonde: the Musical,” on stage this week at the Bill and Nancy Hughes Performing Arts Center.
Maucher, who will be performing in her eighth and final production, noted she was using the story as source material for a paper she was writing on feminism.
“A lot of time with feminism, powerful women have to have a lot of masculine traits in order to be seen as powerful. They can’t be pretty and also smart. They have to wear a suit to appear smart,” Maucher said. “You have to have more masculine traits to be seen as a powerful woman, but I think Elle Woods is the complete antithesis of that. She’s still super feminine, was a sorority girl from Malibu and wins her first case ever as a student lawyer. She can do it all.”
Performances are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21, and Friday, March 22, as well as 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 23. Tickets are $16 for adults, $13 for students and senior citizens and free for children under 12.
According to information provided by the Drama Guild, “Legally Blonde: The Musical” is a delightful adaptation based on the novel “Legally Blonde” by Amanda Brown and the 2001 film of the same name.
It follows the journey of Woods from marketing major at UCLA to law student at Harvard University as she defies stereotypes, navigates scandal and pursues her dreams.
It includes memorable songs, dynamic dances and a heartwarming story. Although fun for all ages, the show has some mild bad language and mildly suggestive themes.
Director and club adviser Robert LeMaire said the show is among the most popular for high schoolers.
“It’s a fun story about overcoming stereotypes. Being blonde and from California and bubbly and vivacious doesn’t mean you are not intelligent,” LeMaire said. “A big theme is a lot of characters have a moment of overcoming who they were to discover who they become.”
LeMaire said 16 of the 33 cast members are seniors, “which is going to be interesting next year.”
The school first performed the musical in 2012, when they had a cast of 83 members. Some of those cast members are now working with the district, including choreographer Hannah Breed.
“Young adults who are teachers now can come and see the show they were in when they were in high school,” LeMaire said.
Breed, who was Pilar in the 2012 production when she was a senior, has spent the last few years choreographing the spring musical.
“I’m really excited they are doing it this year. It’s a nice trip down Memory Lane for me but I also think that this is such a great show to do with high schoolers,” Breed said.
After graduating from OCHS, she earned a BFA in dance from Long Island University and has been working as a freelance performer, teacher and choreographer.
“When they changed the movie into a musical, they definitely very consciously were trying to get a big, splashy Broadway musical. A lot of big dance numbers and a lot of great songs, and it’s mostly just really, really fun,” she said.
With varying levels of experience among the cast, choreographing a musical is sometimes challenging.
“All of them are always very game; they work very hard. Even if they don’t have a lot technical training, they all end up doing a good job,” Breed said. “They are willing to take the risk.”
While the adults can look back on their own experiences, Maucher is enjoying one of the best years of her life.
“This has been an amazing year for me,” she said, noting it’s her senior year and her final production.
In the fall she was in “Robin Hood” at OCHS as well as “Into the Woods” with the Ocean City Theater Company, in which she played the witch.
“That was my dream role since I was 10 and this was my other dream role. When I found out we were doing my two dream shows and I got my two dream parts in the same year, it was absolutely insane. It made little 10-year-old me very happy,” she said.
Along with the other 15 seniors, Maucher said the performance would be bitter-sweet.
“We’ve been together, I’ve been performing with most of these people since middle school. We’ve worked so hard together for these four years,” she said.
Vincent Piraino, who was an excellent Friar Tuck in “Robin Hood,” plays Emmett Forrest, the male lead who becomes Woods’ love interest at Harvard.
Piraino said his character is working as a teacher’s assistant after finishing law school and is belittled for not coming from a wealthy family.
“She gets kicked out of her class and I was there to console her,” Piraino said. “I am judged for no money and she was judged for being too pretty.”
“Different types of judgment but we are both outcasts at the law school,” Maucher added.
While Forrest treats Woods like someone with potential to succeed despite her outward appearance, he is the only one who does so.
“Every other guy hits on her but he sees her as what she can be. He’s the only man in the show that doesn’t just see her as pretty,” Maucher said.
“This is the most fun I’ve had with a role. The first one I have had with a full story line. I never realized how I can dive so deep into a character until this one,” Piraino said.
Professor Callahan, played by Ryan Mulraney, ends up hitting on Woods.
“It think it’s a really cool role to play; it’s fun to be a bad guy,” Mulraney said. “Also, it does feel a little weird sometimes because I have to be really creepy. That’s sometimes a little awkward.”
The cast includes Maucher, Piraino and Mulraney, along with Kristiana Bauer, Robby Neville, Gianna Molinari, Katie McAlister, Brielle McDowell, Keira Reilly, Siena Eden, Erin Cantwell, Liv Schmidt, James Swan, Christian Hornig-Fineran, Elijah Watson, Alessandra Lucasti and Matt Murray.
The Greek Chorus consists of Lyla Ginzberg, Noley Schenck, Khushbu Pandya, Reina Xu, McDowell, Reilly, Eden and Cantwell.
The ensemble is Avery Silva, DJ Gilbert, Emma Saul, Julia Colangelo, Cassidy Campanella, Michaela Voegtalin, Tegan Woodwin, Aubrey Cubberly, Olivia Roache, Lily Pettit, Lucasti, Hornig-Fineran, Watson, Murray, Swan.
Even some family dogs landed roles in the production. Henry McDowell will perform the role of “Rufus” and Finn McDowell that of “Bruiser Woods.”
“The two pups woofed, wiggled and wowed their way into our hearts,” one cast parent wrote.
Brielle McDowell, who plays one of the main character’s friends, said the family pets are both very excited for their upcoming performance.
“They’re both very much loved,” she said. “Vivian is playing Elle, so it was a match made in heaven.”
The Ocean City High School Theater Boosters has scheduled its third annual Designer Bag Bingo fundraiser for 6 p.m. April 20 at the Upper Township Community Center, 1790 Route 50 in Tuckahoe.
The cost is $35 per guest, which includes 10 games and a door prize raffle ticket. Email ochsdg@gmail.com for tickets.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff