If you were like me, in 2007, you had a TiVo recording of the “Legally Blonde: The Musical” MTV Special that you were ready to put on at the drop of a hat. Well, now’s your chance to see the real thing at City Springs Theatre Company May 3-19.
Based on the 2001 movie starring Reese Witherspoon, the musical follows Elle Woods as she takes on Harvard Law dressed in pink from head to toe. This production stars Lily Kaufmann as Elle and is directed by Nikki Snelson, a Broadway veteran who originated the role of Brooke Wyndam on Broadway during the show’s initial run.
Rough Draft Atlanta spoke with Snelson about her time with “Legally Blonde,” the City Springs production, and just how difficult the show’s famous jump roping number “Whipped Into Shape” really is. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I’m old enough to have watched “Legally Blonde: The Musical” on MTV when it aired in 2007. You were Brooke Wyndham in that original cast, and I know you’ve directed “Legally Blonde” quite a few times. I wanted to start by talking about that transition. When was your first time directing the show and how was it returning to it as a director?
Nikki Snelson: I was still acting full time when I did the musical on Broadway. But a couple of years after that I made the transition into directing, and then not long after that somebody asked me to direct “Legally Blonde.” So I think this is the fifth production I’ve directed and choreographed. Obviously, I was with the show kind of from its inception. I did all the workshops and readings of it. I think I’m probably on a 19 or 20 year journey with the show, all things said. But it’s always so awesome for me to go back and revisit it with a different group of people, because the cast always brings something really different. And the crew and the different points of view – it’s always just really fun to revisit it.
How do you think having performed in the show affects your direction of it?
Snelson: I try not to be super precious about anything that we did as an original cast. Obviously, the parts were at some point or another kind of written on us and for us and with us. So they were very personal to us. But now, it’s just a beautiful piece of storytelling. I try to let the actors have their own take on it and their perspective and their own point of view. This one, City Springs, this group is really really special. They’re bringing a really nice new flavor to the whole thing.
You mentioned this is the fifth time you’ve directed and choreographed. Do you try to change things up every time, particularly with the choreography? How does that evolve?
Snelson: I have Jerry Mitchell [the original director and choreographer] and the writing team’s blessing to put my stamp on it. So when you come see our production at City Springs, for instance, if you are a fan of the MTV recording, you’ll still have that nostalgia and kind of the overall vision. But a lot of the nuance and a lot of the steps will be different. We’ve tried to update it and make it feel like it’s happening in 2024 and not 2007 when we first did it. We really like the perspective, because it’s a different show now. Now that the Me Too movement has happened, the harassment of Elle that happens in the second act hits a lot harder than it did before, when we were kind of ignoring these things in the world. So it kind of has even more gravitas and more for young women to look up to Elle now than it did before.
Have you ever worked with City Springs before, or is this the first time?
Snelson: No. I saw “Holiday Inn” here years ago. Tyler Hanes is one of my best friends, so I came to see him in a production. I was blown away by the work that they do here, so when Jerry Mitchell, the original Broadway director, recommended me to Schuler [Hensley, the artistic director of City Springs Theatre Company], I was thrilled to get the call.
What has the rehearsal process been like? I would love to also hear a bit about the cast and that process.
Snelson: We cast the show in January, and we started rehearsals three weeks ago. So we’re in tech rehearsals now, but we had three weeks in the studio, in the beautiful City Springs Theatre Company studios. We kind of hit the ground running the first week. Some of the choreography in the show is very tricky, very difficult, especially the jumping rope. So we hit the ground running right away so it could kind of get in their bodies, and they could get their staminas up to it. Then we kind of doubled back on the music. We have been doing run-throughs of the show now for about a week and a half. We’ve done three or four full runs in the studio, so now we’re just putting the tech part of it together to make it all the better.
I was going to bring up the jumping rope. I still think it’s one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen.
Snelson: Thank you! Well, a lot can go wrong, you know? We’re just trying to tighten it … and make sure that nobody hurts themselves.
I started jumping rope for the first time since I was a kid, and I mess up all the time. And I’m not dancing.
Snelson: You get used to it after a while. It’s not quite as intense. But there were certain matinees after somebody’s birthday party that were not as fun. [Laughs]
You mentioned this cast kind of puts their own spin on this production. Can you talk a little bit about what makes it different and what this cast in particular brings to the material?
Snelson: Specifically, our Elle, Lily Kaufmann, is kind of a tour de force comedian actress. She has an amazing voice. She’s an awesome dancer – I think she grew up as a dancer first. But she has this ability to kind of transcend the material. She’s got a Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett kind of sensibility about her where she’s able to ground the comedy, but it’s super zany and out there and fun and funny for the audience.
That kind of energy just kind of trickles down from Elle all the way through the ensemble. What’s amazing about this production is we’ve really taken good care to [make sure] that everybody on the stage has a name and a character and a point of view … All the Delta Nus, they know what their majors are, they know what their names are. They’ve come up with the Delta Nu rules, which are hilarious. Some of the highlights are: There are no capris allowed in the house; you must know calligraphy; you’re not allowed to wear silver jewelry, unless it’s Tiffany’s. They’ve come up with this whole giant list. It sits by the call board, it’s hilarious.
I feel like you could come see the show every night and find some new story that is not necessarily the overall Elle Woods plotline, but just extra, beautiful pepper.
The calligraphy thing is great. I’ve always loved the Greek chorus as a concept. Even when I was little, I was like, that’s such a smart way to keep them in the show.
Snelson: So Nell [Benjamin] and Larry [Laurence O’Keefe] went to Harvard – it’s funny, I was talking about this this morning – the writers went to Harvard, so they had a lot of that kind of stuff to draw from. When we first opened in New York, I feel like the critics didn’t get it. They weren’t paying attention to how smart it is. It’s really, really a smart musical, the way they’ve crafted it.
Has there been a favorite moment for you? Either with this production or just over the years returning to “Legally Blonde?”
Snelson: When we were doing it on Broadway, there’s a thing that they used to call the Gypsy Run –I don’t know what they call it anymore – but it’s when all the other Broadway shows come to watch your very first performance of the show, before you ever have an audience. That was really electric, having all the shows and all your friends that have been hearing about the rope jumping seeing it for the first time. They went crazy. The MTV recording was very electric as well.
Each and every one of these opening nights – so Friday – it’s always fun to see a new audience and a fresh audience, maybe some young people in the audience who have never really seen a show, get kind of electrified by the power of musical theater. So I’ll be really looking forward to this Friday and seeing how that goes.
You can purchase tickets for “Legally Blonde: The Musical” at City Springs’ website.