Florida Rep Announces the Opening of LEGALLY BLONDE, THE MUSICAL, 5/31

Florida Rep's Education Department has announced the opening of the hit Broadway Musical, LEGALLY BLONDE.

Harvard's beloved blonde takes the stage by pink storm in this fun, upbeat musical about self-discovery playing May 31st at 7pm and June 1st at 2pm and 7pm in the Historic Arcade Theatre.

[Legally Blonde]

Elle Woods appears to have it all. Her life is turned upside-down, however, when her boyfriend dumps her so he can start getting serious about his life and attend Harvard Law. Determined to get him back, Elle uses her charm to get into the Ivy League School. Once there, she struggles to keep up and to fit in. With the help of some true friends, Elle quickly realizes her potential and sets out to prove herself to the world.

Legally Blonde is presented as part of Florida Rep Education's Theatre Conservatory, an audition-only program that puts young actors onstage. The Conservatory Program is designed to give students an introduction to the professional world with real-life regional theatre experience.

This is Florida Rep's third season producing musicals for its highly popular Cconservatory Program. "This program has attracted the area's best and brightest students," says Education Director, Rachael Endrizzi, "many of whom work professionally already with Florida Rep, Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre and the Herb Strauss Theater on Sanibel. This cast in particular is incredibly talented, and I know the audiences will fall in love with the fun story."

The production features a company of 38 of Florida Rep's finest young performers ages 13-21. The cast consists of students from Cypress Lake Center for the Arts, Cypress Lake Middle, Edison State College, Evangelical Christian, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers High, Gulf Middle, Lehigh Senior High, North Fort Myers High, Oasis Middle and Three Oaks Middle Schools. These young artists auditioned in February with nearly two hundred other students for spots in this competitive Conservatory Program. Over the course of 3 months, the cast of Legally Blonde has rehearsed with Working Theatre professionals to learn staging, choreography and music.

Florida Rep's Education Director, Rachael Endrizzi (The Odyssey Experience; Pippin), directed and costume designed the production and was joined by an expert team including music director, Matt Koller; choreographer, Amy Marie McCleary; set designer, Christopher Todd Simpson; lighting designer Kate Smith and Asst. Director, Taylor Murphy Hale. Lehigh Senior High School student, KateLynn Foster is stage managing the production as part of the Florida Rep Explorer training program.

Legally Blonde, book by Heather Hach, music & lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin, is based on the novel by AmanAda Brown and the Metro-Goldwyn Mayer motion picture. It plays in the Historic Arcade Theatre for 3 performance only on Friday, May 31 at 7pm and on Saturday, June 1 at 2pm & 7pm. Legally Blonde contains some adult language and is rated PG-13. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students and are available online at www.floridarep.org or by calling the Box Office at 239-332-4488.

Florida Rep's Educational programming is generously sponsored by Grampy's Charities, the City of Fort Myers Public Art Committee, LCEC, Florida Theatrical Association, Parent & Child Magazine, Publix Charities, the Alliance for the Arts, the Edison & Ford Winter Estates and Arthur Zupko.

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