Interview: Choreographer William Carlos Angulo Talks The Muny's LEGALLY BLONDE Viral Dance Call Choreography

If you've been scrolling through TikTok this past week, you might have seen users on the app performing fast-paced steps, throwing smooth punches, and leaping through the air to the song "Legally Blonde Remix" from the fan-favorite musical Legally Blonde.

This choreography originally served as the dance call for The Muny's summer production, created by choreographer William Carlos Angulo, but it has quickly become the newest TikTok dance trend, resulting in thousands of videos on the popular app and a record number of auditions for the summer season received by the popular St. Louis theatre.

"The excitement surrounding these videos has been infectious. The combination William created for the dance call is a perfect taste of what everyone can look forward to seeing in this summer's production of Legally Blonde," said Eric Pugh, director of marketing at The Muny. "Ultimately this show reminds us to be true to ourselves and live our best lives. It is inspiring to see the TikTok community doing just that!"

Legally Blonde, the musical based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the 2001 film of the same name, opened on Broadway in 2007 and starred Laura Bell Bundy, Christian Borle, Orfeh, and more. The show featured music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach.

The Muny's production of Legally Blonde is scheduled for July 25 through July 31 this year and is part of a line-up including Chicago, Camelot, Mary Poppins, Sweeney Todd, The Color Purple, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Michael Baxter, the artistic associate for The Muny, shared his excitement for the upcoming season along with the amazing response for Legally Blonde and video audition submissions. "For the 2022 Season, we are honoring the initial casting for Chicago, Mary Poppins, and Sweeney Todd (Previously cast for the 2020 and 2021 seasons). Presently we are looking to cast 94 of the remaining available roles in the season. With the addition of video submissions this year, our required adult audition call numbers are at 2,700. This is the largest interest and turnout in our history! We hope to start making casting announcements by early May."

That large turnout might have been heavily influenced by the viral dance moves created by choreographer Angulo, who we spoke with about his favorite past projects, what inspired him when coming up with the dance call moves, and his thoughts on the trending videos. Read the interview below!

Tell me about your dance background! What are some of your career highlights as a choreographer?

I came up in Chicago. I studied Funk and Jazz styles as a kid. I got serious about ballet in high school, but before I ever set foot in class of any kind my first love was social dance. I was literally dancing in the street with the neighborhood kids. Dance is most meaningful to me when it's bringing people together like this, so I'm always trying to cultivate community onstage. Last summer in On Your Feet we had 50 people ages 12 to 70 in a circle doing Rueda de Casino. Every generation celebrating community together. I remember thinking, "This is it. This is exactly what kind of work I want to be doing." Some other times I've felt this way: In the Heights at Milwaukee Rep/Seattle Rep/Portland Center Stage, MICHA: VISIONS at Joe's Pub at The Public, La Havana Madrid at Steppenwolf/Goodman, Indecent with the Juilliard fourth-years... and basically every time I get to work with my students in Lawrence Township, IN.

Where did you strike inspiration from for this Legally Blonde choreography?

I knew I wanted to do a combo to the Legally Blonde Remix cuz it's a bop (don't even act like it's not!) and probably the most joyful moment in the play. In that moment, everything in Elle's world suddenly comes into focus. She pushes every distraction and obstacle out of her way and just sprints down the runway with so much power, energy, and conviction. These are the feelings I wanted to encapsulate. Once I identify given circumstances and emotional state, the rest is easy... I listen to the song a million times and watch the dancer in my head go crazy. Then I try to do what he does... even if it seems physically impossible.

What stands out to you when looking at these dance calls?

Musicianship. Everyone experiences music differently, but I look for people who are really singing along to the music with their bodies. I love explosive dancers who look like their joy can't be contained. I love dancers who look and dance differently from me. I love putting together a group of people of different shapes, sizes, ages, dance backgrounds and abilities, and watching their combined powers strike lightening.

The Theater TikTok community is going wild over these moves! How does it feel to have your choreography go viral?

It's kinda crazy... I'm not on TikTok (or any social media) so I'm really only aware about the hype via my friends and colleagues. When I created this combination my intention was to spread joy. I wanted people to get excited about submitting a self-tape (which I know can be a soul-sucking endeavor.) I think artists of all kinds by-and-large only share their work if they love it and are proud of it, and I'm honored to have given so many people that kind of inspiration in these scary times. Yet there are a lot of byproducts of the event that I didn't intend... and it has raised some worthy questions about what gets posted and how... who gets credit and who gets paid. I am glad these conversations are happening. At the same time, this particular piece was designed to be circulated, and because of this moment, MUNY received a record-breaking number of submissions. More dancers than ever had access to these auditions by virtue of the format. Many artists - especially aspiring young dancers - don't have the means to get to St. Louis or New York to audition for MUNY. Not this year. That's incredibly exciting to me.

If you can share, what can we expect in regards to choreography for the full production?

I wanted to do Legally Blonde because these characters all seem like people who would naturally burst into song and dance at every turn, and you can push that absurdly far. So I guess you can expect a LOT of dance, and we're gonna go hard. We cover everything from funk to pop to jazz to ballet to contemporary to Irish step... and now with the embarrassment of riches we have in casting options, you can expect living fireworks onstage.

For more information regarding The Muny's 2022 season, visit https://muny.org/.