A musical based on the 2001 film starring Reese Witherspoon comes to The State Theatre tonight.
“Legally Blonde, the Musical” will be performed this weekend three times. Tickets are $20 for adults and $16 for students. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to the Penn State Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon.
“It’s just fun,” said David Gritzner, executive director of the State College Community Theatre, said about the show. “It’s an uplifting, […] high energy show [with] positive undertones.”
Richard Biever, executive director at The State Theatre, also said the musical is “just a fun, fun show.”
Biever said that currently it is a trend for popular movies to become Broadway shows. The show has a plot very similar to the movie, he said.
Jonathan Hetler, director of “Legally Blonde, the Musical,” said the basic storyline “all focuses around a love-struck sorority girl” who has a “messy breakup” and decides to follow her “thought-to-be one, true love” to Harvard Law School. Hetler said during the show the lead character, Elle Woods, finds a lot about herself and grows as a person.
A large theme of the show is that “being true to yourself never goes out of style,” he said.
The musical has a cast of 36 people and two dogs, Hetler said.
Biever said the community seems to be excited about this show. Ticket sales have been good because the musical has a recognizable title, he added.
He said he thought the community was especially excited because this show has never been performed in the State College area and has a big, local cast. “Legally Blonde, the Musical” is a show the really endears itself to a college town, he said.
“It’s nice when we can have a show that appeals to a younger demographic,” Biever said.
Helter also said the show is very popular with young adults.
“One neat thing about this show is that it focuses around college,” he said. “It’s a very relatable show.”
“Legally Blonde, the Musical” is being put on by the State College Community Theatre, a group that has been performing shows for 55 years, Gritzner said.
He said they recently began using The State Theatre as a venue for shows so they could perform year-round.
“[We are] helping them fulfill their mission of being a performing arts venue for the community,” he said.
State College Community Theatre typically puts on about six shows a year, he said.
Upcoming events include “The Producers ” in June, “The Music Man” in August and “Monty Python’s Spamalot” in October, Gritzner said.
“Legally Blonde, the Musical” is being performed at 8 p.m. tonight as well as 8 p.m. on Saturday evening. There is also a matinée performance at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
