Robert E. Bierie says that one of the traditional rules theater directors are expected to hew to is the directive “Don’t work with kids or animals.” Bierie, who for two decades helmed the Wilmette Park District’s children’s theater program, long ago disregarded the first half of the rule.
Now he’s happily discarded the second half, as he directs “Legally Blonde Jr.: The Musical,” this year’s Youth Connection-produced spring musical at Wilmette Junior High School, 620 Locust Road.
The play opens April 17, with the curtain rising at 7:30 p.m. The cast takes the stage again at 7:30 p.m. April 18 and at 2 p.m. April 19.
Like the popular movie of the same name, the musical follows Delta Nu Sorority girl Elle Woods, whose bubbly pink-themed life takes her – and her diminutive chihuahua Bruiser – to Harvard Law School in pursuit of the man she wants to marry. There, she changes her own life and that of everyone around her.
Bierie is a fan of the movie and said April 13 that he chose the musical version because the seventh- and eighth-grade students who comprise its cast and crew can appreciate many of the changes the lead character experiences.
“Of course, she’s in college and they’re in junior high school, but what she goes through there, learning and growing, they’re going through now,” he said.
He praised his boisterous cast members, saying, “it’s very easy to direct them, and they’re definitely having fun.”
As for Lily, the pup who plays Bruiser, Bierie joked, “the dog had to audition, just like everyone else!”
The cast of 17 and five-person stage crew have been working since January with Bierie, assistant director Jack Petito, choreographer Kirsten Markham, assistant choreographer Cameron Broderick, and acting coach Wendy Avon, to polish the script and songs. Helping behind the scenes are costume designer Martha Shuford and stage manager Andrew McCarthy.
All cast members are participants in Youth Connection, which provides low or no-cost social, service and learning opportunities to Wilmette 5th through 8th grade students.
Youth Connection has a close relationship both with WJHS and School District 39, and with the park district, Executive Director Karen Funari said April 13.
The traditional partnership extends to the spring musical, which Youth Connection has put on at the junior high school via its Theatre Experience program for many years, she said.
Beyond the fun and lifelong memories “Legally Blonde Jr.; The Musical” provides its cast and crew, it also acts as an important fundraiser for Youth Connection.
“We have programs like our homework club and after school activities, and this helps us provide kids with what they need,” Funari said.
Tickets for the play are $10. They can be purchased ahead of time online at the Youth Connections website youthconnectionwilmette.org, youthconnectionwilmette.org
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Singing in Pink
What: Legally Blonde Jr.; the Musical
Presented by: The Youth Connection
Where: Wilmette Junior High School
When: April 17-April 19.
Times, tickets: youthconnectionwilmette.org/