From April 26-29, the drama department put on their first and only musical of the year, “Legally Blonde,” and it was a huge hit.

Directed by retired drama teacher Jane Ferguson, the story centers on a college girl, Elle, who follows her ex-boyfriend, Warner, to Harvard Law School after he breaks up with her for not being serious enough. In the process she meets many new friends, including a boy named Emmett, and learns more than she could have ever imagined.

This adaptation starred juniors Julia Rehmann as Elle and Tucker Hoffman as Emmett, although it should be noted that I went to the last performance, which was the understudy show, with sophomore Jess Orkin – instead of Rehmann – as Elle. This was arranged as a reward for Orkin’s commitment to the understudy role.

The rendition performed was outstanding, despite the production nearly not being performed at all as a result of an unexpected change in drama teachers and switch from student directors to Ferguson.

Ferguson took over in the middle of preparing for the production for drama teacher Tom Beckett, who is on leave. After two student directors resigned from their positions, Ferguson stepped up to direct the play.

With a few weeks before the play was to premiere, the administration opted to cancel the production, citing a host of reasons. After some pushback from parents and cast members, the administration elected to put the play back on, but not after securing commitments from all involved.

The lines were witty, and the music was very catchy, with their first song, “Ohmigod You Guys,” getting stuck in my head for a few days.

Most of their sets were made by slightly changing their main set – four pillars with two sets of stairs leading up to them – which I thought was a creative way to have quicker transitions.

The costumes were very fitting for the characters, and Rehmann even dyed her hair blonde to play Elle. Now that’s commitment.

Clever aspects in clothing change, such as the Greek Chorus changing into clothes that were the same, but lighter colored, when Elle was imagining them, was one of the amazing attentions to detail that showed how much effort was put into the show, not only by the actors, but the crew as well. They even brought in real dogs to play Elle and Paulette’s pets! Altogether, it was a very fun and entertaining show, and it exceeded my expectations.

When asked how he thought all of the issues with switching drama teachers and directors affected the show, Hoffman said, “I think if the confusion did anything it was strengthen the cast and helped us find out who was really committed and really motivated to make it the beautiful show that it was.”

“Honestly, I think it went better than I expected. I didn’t expect that many people to be there either because people thought it was canceled. I think the level of production was also so much better than I expected considering the amount of time that we had. Everyone worked super super hard to get it to be as good as it was,” Orkin agreed.

Although these issues were a challenge, it turned out to be all for the best because the switch seemed to come at a perfect time. Although Rehmann says that the student directors made a “really fun environment” for the cast and crew, Hoffman said the switch was, “definitely what we needed at that point in time,” to give them that final push.

In the end, it all worked out, and Rehmann suggested that in general, it was a good time, saying, “It was fun and I’m really glad that I got to have the experience and share it with the whole cast.”

The musical was a hit with all of the viewers as well. Vivi Hurley, a sophomore who went to the performance, said, “It was really good and full of energy. You could tell they put a lot of effort into it.”

Rehmann’s family also told her that they thought it was “a professional-level production.”

Overall, I was very impressed by the Company of Warriors’ performance and I can’t wait to see what other shows they have in store.