Audubon Arts | Arts & Culture | Musical Theater | Neighborhood Music School | Youth Arts Journalism Initiative
The cast of Legally Blonde The Musical at Audubon Arts. Virus Visuals.
Lights came up, filling the stage with an infectiously exciting shade of pink. Upbeat music filled the air. Actors dressed in pink shirts and denim skirts and shorts moved their hips to the music with purpose, ready to perform a finished, polished version of “Omigod You Guys!” It was the opening number they learned all but five weeks ago.
On Monday afternoon, Audubon Arts’s theater group performed its last dress rehearsal for Legally Blonde The Musical, eagerly awaiting the opening night to come. The familiar feeling of anxious excitement was palpable in the rooms of the Little Theatre on Lincoln Street, the home of this production. Read about an earlier rehearsal of the show, when actors were just settling into their roles, in the Arts Paper here.
“We’re supposed to have a bad dress rehearsal, guys! That's how this world works!” joked director Stephen “Phen” Dest after the final number, visibly proud of his cast as they took deep breaths, sparks in their eyes and exhausted smiles on their faces.
As the play unfolded, that anxious excitement gave way to a show that has come together in under two months. In a sorority house in Malibu, the sisters of Delta Nu sorority anticipated the engagement of their president Elle Woods (Cora Lloyd) to her boyfriend Warner Huntington III (Robin Weiss), as Elle herself went out shopping for an “engagement outfit.” As the scene shifted to the Old Valley Mall, a prop door spun open, revealing Woods, blonde hair and all, her heels high and her spirits higher.
Onstage, the mood was celebratory. Actors swayed, belted, and jumped rope, each step, costume change, and solo number delivered with passion and panache. The moment they stepped onstage, they were no longer high school students—they were artists, delivering that passion to their audience.
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Those spirits evaporated however, when Warner, stylish in his gray suit and aviator sunglasses, broke up with Elle, explaining that she was “not serious enough” to fit into his future. Determined to prove him wrong, she followed him to Harvard Law School to show him that she could be serious.
Lloyd portrayed Elle with earnestness and intention. She charmed the audience with each genuine note, tearing down Elle's “dumb blonde” label with expertise. She looked out onto the audience with a yearning and hope in her eyes, expressing that part of all of us that desperately believes in love.
Other cast members matched Lloyd’s energy and understanding of their characters as well. Enid Hoopes (played by the sharp and captivating Molly Davis), was a law student on a mission to better the world. Dressed in camo, jeans, and a bandana with the lesbian flag, she walked onto the stage with confidence, unafraid to speak her mind.
Professor Callaghan (Noah Summerer) was Elle’s teacher, a renowned and successful lawyer with an intimidating reputation, pacing between rows of anxious students, unafraid of offending or frightening them.
Vivienne Kensington (Noga Yogev) shone as Warner’s new girlfriend—who isn’t a particularly likable character until she is. Her sleek bun and sharp words opposed Elle’s blond waves and cheery disposition. To counter that bluntness, Paulette Buonafonte (Emma Kreidler) played a hairdresser and Elle’s new friend. Kreidler absolutely nailed her song “Ireland,” a ballad about love lost and love hopeful.
In the course of the show, Elle also met Emmett Forrest (Cole Nelson), Professor Callaghan's teaching assistant. In the show, Emmett uses his life’s challenges as reason to be “driven as hell,” as he explains in his solo number “Chip on Your Shoulder.” As he took on the role, Nelson portrayed Emmett like an Hadestown’s Orpheus or Anastasia’s Dmitry—young, poor, and full of determination and heart.
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“I always kind of identified with Emmett because of how dedicated he is to his goals,” Nelson said of his character. “However, over the course of the show, I think that playing Emmett has showed me that the key to success is confidence and self-advocacy. You can keep your head down and do all your work, but it's important to speak up for yourself too.”
Everyone in the group seemed to have different things to take away from the experience, from morals their characters taught them to their favorite parts to perform.
“I adore singing ‘Ireland,’ it’s the first solo I've ever had at Audubon Arts,” Kreidler said, reflecting on the show and experience. She is a rising senior at Hamden High School, and this is her last show with Audubon Arts. Having attended the camp for 14 years, she observed that the cast and crew always get significantly closer by the time opening night rolls around.
“The experience of doing a show in six weeks and seeing people for eight hours a day for 29 days is a completely singular experience that makes people feel like family.”
Monday, that familial bond was visible in the way the cast interacted, not only backstage but onstage as well. Each time the Delta Nu girls showed up to support Elle, their enchanting harmonies complemented Lloyd’s impressive vocal riffs, each performer supporting the others in a cornucopia of harmony.
The group, meanwhile, grew by leaps and bounds. They gained set pieces, props, many many costumes, and moved from the Neighborhood Music School recital hall to the Little Theatre on Lincoln Street. They also gained comradery, coherence, and volume, much like Elle finding her voice and her place.
As the curtain closes on this chapter of Audubon Arts, the cast and crew deserve to be filled with gratification, knowing that they have delivered their production to the world with precision and talent beyond their years.
More than that though, they have shown New Haven the kind of community they are. They care for and support each other very deeply.
“In my first year of Audubon, I had a lot of supportive older friends in the group, so I hope I can be that for the new people coming in,” Nelson said. “And of course, I can't wait to make the most of next year's show.”
This article comes from the 2025 cohort of the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative (YAJI). YAJI is a program in which New Haven, Hamden and West Haven Public Schools high school students pitch, write, edit and publish articles through the Arts Paper. This year, YAJI advisors include Arts Paper Editor Lucy Gellman and reporter and YAJI alum Abiba Biao. Olivia Tapia Ko is a rising sophomore at New Haven Academy.