Notes From the Director
Hello,
I would like to welcome you to tonight’s performance of Legally Blonde.
What an amazing ride this has been. It actually started last June with a Facebook message to another colleague and myself. It was sent from a hopeful freshman. It started like this, “I need your help. I really want to have a musical at my school but they haven’t done one in over 4 years because they haven’t had a director. I talked to the principal and he said we could do it if we could find a director…. I enjoy doing community theatre but I really want to do a show with my friends at school.” Some of my best memories are from my high school theatre experiences so I put my name in the ring and here we are 10 months later!
The word that comes to mind to describe this production is courageous! Most of these students have never stepped foot on a stage. Without ever singing in front of anyone they bravely signed up for the first step of the process, auditions! They sang by themselves in front of the production team. After auditions the work began. The next step of the process has been two fold. Without a high school theatre program, I had to bring them up to speed on theatre lingo and acting classes. While rehearsing for the show we had small theatre lessons before every rehearsal. They have all worked so hard. These students have sacrificed many hours learning choreography, music and lines to bring this story to life. Not only are they the cast but they put in several hours constructing the set with the help of an experienced scenic designer/builder. Some never holding a power tool before! I am so proud of all their efforts on and off stage!
The reality of choosing this show was it had several more female roles than male and we knew that is how the population would be at auditions. The irony comes here. After months of working on this script I see how it has mirrored our process. A girl sets her mind to get into law school, (spoiler alert!) she does it and proves to be very successful! Here a girl sets her mind to bring theatre back to a high school and as you will see, it proves to be very successful!
So I ask you to sit back and enjoy the final lap of this ride as I am looking forward to many more roadtrips!
Sincerely,
Glendia N. Strandin
Theatre Director/Producer
Acknowledgements from the Director
Cameron Strandin, Pam Ray, Tim Dorgan, Greg Duncan, Brett Freimuth,
Mr. Ron Gruber, Debbie Palmer, Guy Ford, Savannah Strandin, Kim Ford,
Crystal Vera and the Vera Family, Karla Dorgan, Carol Francis, Kelli Mulkins, MiHee Webb, Debbie Vicencio, Patti Giger, Cortney Skala & Irv Dunaway,
Bruce Hammond and Sound Concepts, Jon Sleger, Melissa Wolf, Guilford High School, Hannah Zammuto, Boylan High School,
Beth Drog, Angelo O’Dierno, Rockford University, Jay Pitney, Eric Larsen, Harold Zarinana & Ryan O’Keefe, Spectrum Progressive School
Winnebago High School Wood Shop, Band, Dance Team, Art Department
Kohl’s Department Store
John Strandin - for all his love, support and sacrificing home cooked meals.
