Legally Blonde
at The Sagemont School

Reviewed on December 6, 2012

Amani Pope
South Plantation High School
Submitted for publication to

Today's youth is constantly being pressured to conform. Images and advertisements are constantly telling our generation how we should look, feel, and act towards society. But, in Sagemont School's production of Legally Blonde, the cast showed us that "being true to yourself never goes out of style".

This musical tells the experiences of a young women named Elle Woods, who leaves her privileged lifestyle for Harvard in order to win back her ex-boyfriend, Warner. Along the way, she is put through the ringer, experiencing everything from discrimination to shark-like teachers. Through it all, Elle finds that her pursuit of Warner was really the one thing that was keeping her from excelling at the school. She gives up the selfish pursuit in order to help others with her newly acquired knowledge of law.

Elle, Played by Jessie Jordan, was absolutely fantastic in the role. A beautiful voice paired with her enthusiasm and spot-on characterization made her the perfect fit to play the role of the peppy sorority girl. Although everything about this production seems to be larger than life, there was something very real and oddly relatable about Jordan's portrayal of the character which is quite refreshing.

This musical was packed with lively and entertaining songs including the song "Bend and Snap", a term made famous by the movie starring Reese Witherspoon. With the way the show was composed, many of the musical numbers crescendo into large spectacles. This can pose quite the challenge for a high school drama program, but Sagemont did a commendable job at entertaining the audience.

The set for this show was quite intricate, considering the fact that they were performing in a black box theatre. While producing a show in a black box, the large set pieces affected the efficiency of scene changes. But aside from that and a few microphone issues, all other technical aspects of the show seemed to run smoothly.

With such witty dialog and thoughtfully composed tunes, you can't help letting a smile creep across your face while watching this musical. Sagemont's production of Legally Blonde makes for a thoroughly enjoyable night and serves as a testament to how originality always works in your favor.

Ryan Juda
University School of Nova Southeastern University
Submitted for publication to

Elle Woods is here. Here at Harvard Law ready to be "positive" and give you just "what you want." Who knew that everything could be fixed with just a dash of pink? Well, the Sagemont School made sure of that and much more in their energizing production of "Legally Blonde: The Musical."

Based off of the 2001 movie, "Legally Blonde: The Musical" follows the story of sorority sister Elle Woods and her trials and tribulations of following what she believes to be her one true love all the way to Harvard Law School. Elle conquers the stereotypical ideas of blondes proving that she's "blonde, but not THAT blonde" in this heart-warming comedy.

As the spunky, light-hearted Elle Woods, Jessie Jordan commanded the stage throughout the entire performance. Jordan displayed both vocal and acting maturity far beyond her freshman years. Keeping the energy high, Jordan truly kept the show moving. Apart from Jordan, Mitchell Wiecek (Emmett Forrest) captured the audience with his loveably awkward character. The two leads worked well together, showing true onstage chemistry, rarely losing focus.

Other notable performances came from both Cristina Quintero (Paulette Buonufonte) and Bruno Paes-Lema (Warner Huntington). Both actors stood out in the performance with both their character work and solid vocals. Quintero shined in numbers such as "Ireland" and "Bend and Snap" showing off her powerful belt while Paes-Lema wooed the audience with his alluring tone in his hilariously depressing number "Serious."

The nearly forty-person cast worked extremely hard for such a demanding production, rarely letting energy drop. There was a true feeling of ensemble through numbers such as the hilarious "Gay or European" and the title number "Legally Blonde."

Supporting the cast backstage, stage manager Adriana Imposimato and her crew performed scene changes relatively quickly and efficiently. The larger than life set proved somewhat difficult for the crew, yet whenever there was a problem they fixed it quietly and professionally. Such sets were designed and constructed by Chris Guzzardo and his student team. Guzzardo's sets truly made me the small black box space feel like a mainstage theatre.

The Sagemont School definitely got rid of the "chip" on any audience member's shoulder in their truly rousing performance of "Legally Blonde: The Musical."

natalie schilling
Archbishop McCarthy High School
Submitted for publication to

The well known show Legally Blond the Musical is a join to watch for all age groups. Everyone knows something about the show wither it's from the TV show "Finding Elle" , the movie, or even just the Broadway show. The Sagemont school showed off their voices Thursday night at Nova Southeastern University black box. It was a show that couldn't have been missed.

Legally Blond is a musical about a Sorority girl named Elle Woods. Elle Woods the preppy blond who has everything she could ever want. A 4.0 in fashion merchandising and the perfect boyfriend. When they break up, he leaves for Harvard. Elle pushes her boundaries and gets into Harvard for love. Through out the play she works to prove to everyone that she's not just a blond she's smart.

Jessie Jordan having the role of Elle Woods really dominated the whole floor. Her outstanding vocals and acting skills made it seem like this role was made for her. Jessie held the whole show together and she's just a freshman! She showed us what a great Elle she really is from the moment she stepped on the stage to the finally curtain close.

The supporting cast was really the last piece to the puzzle. The sisters of Delta Nu were great! All the girls in this show had great vocals. Paulette Buonufonte, played by Christina Quintero, was perfect! Having one of the strongest voices and her ability to always make us smile when she said something was amazing. Even one of the small parts played by Mateo Nawarro as Kyle was just drop dead funny!

The sets were beautiful all students made. With the small space that they were working with they pulled it off to the best of their ability. There were a couple transition problems here and there but that had to be expected with the space they were given. The lights could have been better especially when the cast was in the crowd.

The Sagemont School did a great job performing Legally Blond. The whole cast really came together to pull it off. It couldn't have been done without with out any of them. Overall they did the Broadway show much justice with the show they put on at NSU.

Brandon Vilarello
University School of Nova Southeastern University
Submitted for publication to

Legally Blonde: a story of love, hate…and hair. The Sagemont School pulled off a solid performance of this film-adapted award-winning musical. This musical has travelled all around the world, originating on Broadway and later travelling around North America and to the West End.

Legally Blonde tells the story of a young woman who manages to get into Harvard Law School despite all the odds against her in order to get back together with her ex-boyfriend. She later realizes her high capability and moves on from her boyfriend to her legal studies only to end up defending a woman in a murder trial. She wins the case and goes on to marry a new man she met at Harvard.

The cast's hard work and effort truly prevailed throughout all aspects of the production, including the set and the individual ensemble members. Many ensemble members, especially those in the Greek Chorus, always had high energy.

The highlight of the show was definitely Jessie Jordan who played the part of Elle Woods. Her exquisite vocal ability and control help her stand out from the rest of the cast members in the production. Legally Blonde has an extremely demanding vocal part, and not only did Jessie Jordan execute it incredibly, but she also helped carry the ensemble vocals throughout the show. There is also a twist: Jessie Jordan is currently a freshman.

Cristina Quintero, playing the part of Paulette Buonufonte, pushed the show forward with her superb ability to deliver comedic lines. She also improvised wonderfully during long scene changes; her improvisation fit perfectly into the script and it seemed as if it were supposed to be there. Lead Delta Nu girl, Angel Martinez, demonstrated great energy and set herself apart with a solid vocal performance.

Unlike many other productions, this one had a student-based marketing and publicity staff lead by Bailey Jones that created carefully designed advertisements and admission tickets for the show. The student set builders must be commended as well for building such an elaborate set in such a small black box theatre.

The cast demonstrated its ability in this high-energy, comedic production. Jessie Jordan's vocals especially helped anchor the show together along with the talented tech team. All cast, crew, and pit members succeeded in getting across the comedy, and the deeper message, of the light-hearted story, Legally Blonde.

Nina Balan
Cardinal Gibbons
Submitted for publication to

First, take some pink. Add an overly enthusiastic sorority queen, two very cute puppies, pink, singing, dancing, murder, UPS, a pool boy, pink, Harvard Law School, and oh yeah, more pink. Mix it all together and you have the perfect recipe for The Sagemont School's recent production of Legally Blonde.

Based on the novel by Heather Hach and the 2001 film, Legally Blonde, with music and lyrics by Neil Benjamin and Laurence O'Keefe, opened on Broadway in April of 2007. It closed on October 19th, 2008 after 595 performances, and was nominated for seven Tony awards. The show later toured North America and ran on London's West End for four years, where it received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical.

The show revolves around the life of Malibu born-and-raised Elle Woods (Jessie Jordan), who believes she is about to be proposed to by her boyfriend Warner (Bruno Paes-Lema). After she is thrown a curve ball and Warner breaks up with her instead, Elle decides to follow him to Harvard Law School to prove that she's a "Jackie not a Marilyn". After being admitted, she struggles to earn the respect of her criminal law professor Callahan (Luis Guerrero) and finds out that Warner has a new girlfriend, Vivienne (Maria Moncaliano). Fellow classmate Emmet (Mitchell Woods) and hairdresser extraordinaire Paulette (Crisitina Quintero) convince Elle to work harder in the class and to win a prestigious internship with the professor's law firm. Elle gets the internship, but when she finds out that the professor only hired her for her looks, she becomes determined to prove that she can find the balance between her love of pink and being a lawyer to win the murder case they were working.

Jessie Jordan did an exemplary job as Elle. Her voice was amazing and she was able to maintain the same level of high vocal energy throughout the entire show. Also, she captured all of Elle's idiosyncrasies without distracting from the other actors, as well as providing a radiant energy for every scene with her stage presence. A definite favorite of the audience was Cristina Quintero, who played Paulette. Her comical energy brought out many laughs, and her commendable improv skills only enhanced the bubbly persona of Paulette in some times of technical difficulty. The ensemble also exhibited quite a lot of energy on stage, grabbing the attention of the audience with no problem. The audience couldn't keep its eyes off of the energetic faces of the ensemble.

Almost all of the technical aspects were right on point. The orchestra played beautifully throughout the performance Despite some minor technical difficulties, the show flowed well. The lighting was great showing exactly what a difference pink light can make for a girl's complexion, not to mention how vivid it made the shopping scene. The sets were also commendable, having been built beautifully and intricately by students.

Overall, the Sagemont School did a very good job with the show. The production exhibited an energetic air that left the audience leaving the theater giggling and singing "Omigod you guys!" So, whether the laughs were for the music, the comedy, or love of pink, the show was very enjoyable, giving the audience the opportunity to try their own bright pink stilettos for the night.