Sunday in the Park with Legally Blonde

By Hailey Ibberson

Catholic University students rolled their car windows down as they made their to Mitchell Park last weekend to promote the Rome School of Music, Art, and Drama’s upcoming production of Legally Blonde. Legally Blonde has been in rehearsal for about four weeks now, but the cast took a small hiatus from their regular rehearsal process to prepare for this public concert. The sun was shining bright and they were greeted warmly by the park coordinators for the event. Though it may have seemed to be just a casual day in the park, the Legally Blonde cast members were happy to bring some smiles to the faces of those in Mitchell Park.

“It was a great opportunity for me to really just get over my fear of the difficulty of the music and just sing for the love of it. Seeing the audience react so well and the children dancing was a treat,” said Becca Malachowski, who plays Elle Wood’s in Catholic U’s production.

Audience members of all ages stopped their usual day in the park to listen to the music and it was a lovely opportunity for our CUA students to share their work with the community. The performance was rather unconventional in that the usual ambiance of a park — children playing on the playground, folk in their casual conversation, and dog barking along with the music— served as a soundtrack for the concert. Though they may be interpreted as a distraction, these everyone sounds made the performance all the more special.

I believe there couldn’t have been a better place for the the first public performance of Legally Blonde. As Malachowski said, it was a chance to sing for the love of it, and what better place to do it than surrounded by sounds of laughter and happiness. There was no pressure on the audience to stay or go and no pressure on the performers to overpower the other attractions of the park seizing the attention of passersby. The entire performance was merely for the joy of being there.

Catholic U has done promotional performances in Mitchell Park for several years now and this year’s cast was ready to uphold the tradition with some much needed sunglasses and a positive attitude. The cast did a number of pieces from the show featuring ten of the principle performers. Starting with “Omigod” (spelling Delta Nu approved), the cast brought their energy into the park.

Legally Blonde features a variety of different styles of music and so too did this preview performance. In the past, Catholic U has taken a smaller group of students to promote at this event, but this year the larger groups seemed necessary because the show is based so heavily in ensemble work. The beauty of the music, though many soloists with great talent are featured, truly emanates from its collaborative nature.  

If you missed this performance, don’t fret! It was only a preview. Whether you consider yourself “Serious,” want to see “Ireland,” or even crave a little “Blood in the Water,” make your way to Hartke Theatre at the end of October to see CUA’s take on the iconic motion picture.

Legally Blonde will play in the Hartke Theatre Oct. 27th, Nov 2nd, and Nov 3rd at 7:30pm and Oct 28th at 2pm.