'Legally Blonde' Crew 'Sets the Stage' at Emmaus High

Special to Emmaus Patch By Chrissy Cilento, Emmaus High School Senior

With opening night fast approaching, rehearsals for Emmaus High School’s spring musical Legally Blonde have really been kicked into full gear.

Unforeseen setbacks, like early outs for snow and bomb threats, have pushed the rehearsal schedule back a few days, but believe me, the lost time has definitely been made up. Earlier this month, we stayed at school rehearsing until about 8:30 every night for a week in order to compensate, although rehearsals don't normally run past 6 p.m. 

Things got especially stressful and hectic when the rented set arrived and needed to be integrated into rehearsal sessions. Two giant trucks drove to EHS from Gateway Playhouse in Long Island to deliver set pieces from their production of Legally Blonde that we are renting to use for our show. Student crew members were excused from school for two days and literally worked for nearly 12 straight hours to unload the set pieces from the trucks and reassemble them onto our stage.

Normally set pieces for our musicals are built by hand by a student build crew, however this year director Jill Kuebler decided that renting the set would be a more suitable option. With several massive set pieces, like a sorority house complete with stairs and functioning windows and an entire hair salon, building the set would have been a nearly impossible challenge, and renting it simply made more sense.  

Despite minor problems with the set, like the sheer size of some pieces in comparison to our stage, the rented pieces really look fantastic. It was an awesome feeling to show up to rehearsal and have everything completely ready to go -- built, painted, decorated, etc.

Seeing the set onstage for the first time was a definite burst of excitement, and as a cast member, really helped me envision what the show is going to look like.  

Legally Blonde will be presented in the EHS Auditorium on April 10-12 at 7 p.m. and April 13 at 2 and 7 p.m. Buy your tickets in the main office or online! Cost is $10 for students and senior citizens and $12 for adults. Click here to reserve tickets online.

Chrissy Cilento, a senior at Emmaus High School, plans to study journalism in college. She is a periodic contributor to Patch.