The first student-directed musical play in Cleveland’s history, “Legally Blonde the Musical,” is coming to Cleveland on April 20.

The play is based off the hit movie, “Legally Blonde.” It follows Elle Woods, a woman who has it all: she’s president of her sorority, popular, and is dating the man of her dreams. That is, until her boyfriend leaves her and goes off to Harvard Law School. Determined to win him back, Elle rallies her friends and gets into law school to follow him. Elle’s story is one of empowerment, acceptance, and supporting other women.

“My favorite part about Legally Blonde the Musical is the story. I love stories about women overcoming stereotypes and breaking glass ceilings,” said Claire Miles, senior and co-director.

According to Miles, the play shines light to the real struggles that women go through, while still having elements of comedy.

“There are countless women who get treated poorly because no one believes in them. And oftentimes, like we see in the show, when someone does claim to believe in them, they just want to abuse the power they hold over these women. This is a comedic play, but it is not just some pink, fluffy, girly show about a sorority sister; it is a story about female empowerment and capability,” said Miles.

Jess Orkin, who plays one of Elle’s sorority sisters, as well as the understudy for Elle Woods, reiterated this statement. She said, “You are more than just what you look like and no one should underestimate themselves and their self worth, and it can be seen as stereotypes of the typical blonde sorority girl, but it’s actually empowering those stereotypes and showing that you’re more than them.”

Another reason Miles felt that this was an important play to do was because of the female lead, something that, according to Miles, they haven’t had enough of.

“I am most excited that this will be not only the first ever student-directed musical in Cleveland history but it will also be the first musical in recent CHS history to follow a female lead. We’ve done a lot of musicals in the past following male characters and considering we are a majority female department, I think this is quite silly,” said Miles.

Co-director Anais Lowe agreed, saying, “I think Legally Blonde is coming at a perfect time. Last year we decided that our season should not be written by white, cisgender, hetero men, so we’re doing Legally Blonde for this reason. It also has a theme of sexual assault by a professor to a student, and while it isn’t the main theme, I think it’s very important right now with everything that’s going on in our country and others.”

Though the play is student-directed by Miles and Lowe, they have had some outside help.

Miles, Lowe, and Tom Beckett, the head of the theater department, cast the show. Paula Creamer is the musical director, Sherrie Van Hine is the vocal coach, and Dee Dee Anderson is the choreographer.

Through their first experience directing, Miles and Lowe have been able to experience another side of theater.

“My favorite part of directing is seeing actors come into their characters. This year for Legally Blonde I’ve focused more on character work and it’s been really cool to see how people are developing their characters,” said Lowe.

According to Orkin, being in a musical is a really fun experience, and she’s had a lot of fun on Legally Blonde.

“Well, it’s a really fun musical, and there’s a lot of really fun musical numbers and dance numbers, so so far we’ve had a lot of dance rehearsals where we’ve had a choreographer come in and teach us the dances,” said Orkin.

According to Miles, you should see this play not only because of the messages of female empowerment, but also because of the hard work that has been put into this play.

“You should come to see this show because so many people have been working so hard on it. I cannot convey the amount of sheer ambition I see wishing this group of cast and crew. These people are putting together a wonderful show and that deserves a wonderful audience. Not to mention it is an extremely well written piece,” said Miles.

There are a total of six shows: April 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, and 29. April 20, 21, 27, and 28 are at 7p.m. April 22 and 29 are at 1 p.m.