Channeling authenticity

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

When choosing Legally Blonde The Musical for her fifth production, Lake Pend Oreille Repertory Theatre founder Keely Gray said the choice came down to authenticity. 

“One of the reasons I connected with the show is that Elle, the main character, is a very strong reminder of being authentic,” Gray told the Reader. “It’s kind of coming off the skirts of Barbie, how difficult it can be to be a woman — both an assertive woman and a girly girl.”

Gray and her cast of local actors will bring Legally Blonde to the Panida main stage Friday, May 24 and Saturday, May 25 at 7 p.m. with a matinee scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 26. The following week, the show will conclude with performances on Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1 at 7 p.m. and final matinee at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 2.

LPO Rep, as it’s known, has been on fire since its founding in 2019. With an emphasis on high-quality plays and musicals that a wide swath of theatergoers will enjoy, Gray continues to outdo herself with each new production.

Cast members of Legally Blonde The Musical, from left to right: Sydney Carlson, Britt Hagen, Stefan Kien, Connie Kien and Hana Luttman. Courtesy photo.

With music and lyrics written by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin and a book by Heather Hach, the play was based on the novel Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown, which also spawned a 2001 film of the same name starring Reese Witherspoon.

Gray said the choice to produce Legally Blonde came after the strong positive reception of LPO Rep’s 2022 production of Young Frankenstein.

“So many people who had never been to theater before said Young Frankenstein felt immediately accessible to them,” Gray said. “Legally Blonde popped up in my mind because it’s such a cult classic favorite and the music was so fantastic.”

The play follows a similar plot to the popular film, with the biggest difference being the introduction of music to tell the stories that emphasize the emotions each character goes through. The musical follows the transformation of Elle Woods as she tackles stereotypes and scandal in pursuit of her dreams. When Elle’s boyfriend Warner dumps her so he can attend Harvard Law, Elle is determined to get him back, ingeniously charming her way into the prestigious law school. While there, she struggles with peers, professors and her ex, but with the support of some new friends, Elle quickly realizes her potential and sets out to prove herself to the world.

It’s a story that resonated with Gray.

“I promised myself two years ago that I was never going to apologize for being myself,” she said. “I needed Elle to remind me of that promise for myself, to be the whole capacity of who I am.”

While there are several familiar faces in the cast from past LPO Rep performances, Gray said there are a lot of newcomers who wowed her during auditions.

Married couple Connie and Stefan Kien play Elle Woods and Emmett Forrest, respectively.

“They both kind of came out of the blue, showed up last on one audition day and when she sang, our jaws just dropped,” Gray said. “We were asking her about her schedule before she even read the monologue because her singing was out of this world.”

Then, when told the production was looking for a few good men to round out the cast, Connie suggested her husband Stefan. His singing also drew an enthusiastic response from the crew, and the pair were chosen for lead roles — with Connie also stepping in as choreographer.

Sydney Carlson, Hana Luttman and Britt Hagen are “scene stealers” as three Delta Nu sorority girls, Gray said.

“They’re so funny, coming in as a Greek chorus during the show,” she said. “They have some of the funniest numbers.”

Fellow newcomer Liberty Becker plays Brooke Wyndam, the exercise queen who helps Elle in prison, and Erich Shrack returns to the stage for the role of Professor Callahan. 

The rest of the cast includes Holly Sharp, Myla McKechnia, Chris Jones, James Riddle, Mary Ann Kutzleb, Sarah Morgan, Orion Ettinger, McCallum Morgan, Alex Jones, Dustin Borges, Nicole Buratto, Natalia Lemley, Cory Repass, Terry Owens and Shelly Johnson.

Gray serves as director, among all the other hats she wears, with Katie Skidmore as musical director, Kehle Hatch as stage manager, Vicky Turnbull as costume designer and Corinna Lockwood as props mistress.

Producing high-quality musicals like Legally Blonde is rewarding, Gray said, but it takes a lot of practice, planning and funding to make it happen. The script and music alone cost $6,000 — and that’s before accounting for theater rentals, props and costume costs, among others. Funding for these performances generally comes from annual Speakeasy parties held at the 219 Lounge, for which Gray is grateful. 

“This is a big dance show, with two huge dance numbers,” she said. “It’s a very big beast to conquer, but nobody is going to take us seriously as a company unless we do something big and slap them in the face with it. That’s what we did with Young Frankenstein and that’s what we’re missing in Sandpoint, I think. We’re hoping Legally Blonde helps meet that need.”