Get ready to practice the Bend and Snap.
The flirtatious move isn’t the only lesson Elle Woods teaches in “Legally Blonde: The Musical Jr.”
“It has the moral that you can be true to yourself and that doesn’t have to put you in a box,” Musical Director Joelle Kasprisin said.
The youth stage production runs Feb. 9-11 at Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles. Performances are at 6 p.m. Feb. 9-10 and at 2 p.m. Feb. 10-11.
Based on the 2001 movie and subsequent Broadway musical, the junior show is a shortened version for young performers.
“The junior version just cuts out some of the more adult themes. It still does have the fact that (Professor) Callahan hits on Elle and Elle thinks she was hired just because she’s a pretty blond and all of those things,” Kasprisin said.
The musical is true to the story of the film, in that beautiful blond Elle — a fashion merchandising major — decides to follow her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School.
“She ends up working hard and getting in and finds out she really does actually love law, through helping one of her friends with a problem with one of her exes,” Kasprisin said. “She ends up becoming a very successful lawyer and a girlie girl at the same time.”
The 90-minute show features a cast of 15, ranging in age from 10-20. Some of the female cast members are portraying male characters.
“We didn’t get a whole lot of male auditions because we’re still a pretty new program, so we decided to change a couple of the roles around,” Kasprisin said. “We have some of the girls playing male roles and so that kind of puts some of the girls out of their comfort zones. It’s cool they get that experience.”
While the music is the same as the Broadway show, the songs are anything but typical show tunes.
“It is not at all traditional Broadway,” Kasprisin said. “It is modern pop music. That’s what it reminds me of. There’s a lot of fun songs. I think one of the best is our ending song of Act 1, which is called ‘So Much Better.’
In the song, Elle sings of proving to everyone else — and herself — that she is capable of doing great things, including getting a highly competitive internship.
Other upbeat group numbers include “Whipped Into Shape,” which is when Elle meets client Brooke Wyndham.
“She’s an exercise queen guru. The girls in that number and the girl who plays Brooke do some exciting and fun and eccentric choreography in that,” Kasprisin said. “It’s a joy to watch them perfect those dance moves.”
The show, she said, is one of the more challenging ones because of its difficult music.
“When we chose this musical, we had to think really hard whether it was worth it to pick such a vocally demanding show for such a diverse age group, and a diverse group of kids with different levels of experience as well,” Kasprisin said.
“They had to work hard with me to make sure they’re singing correctly and not hurting themselves, because it’s such modern music and it’s really easy to sing incorrectly with that kind of thing.”
Even though the cast had a short rehearsal schedule, everyone has shown tremendous growth throughout the whole process, she said.
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“They have worked so hard and we’re proud of them,” Kasprisin said. “And we hope that as many people as possible can come and enjoy the hard work that they’ve put into the show for you guys.”
Kathy Cichon is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
‘Legally Blonde: The Musical Jr.’
When: Feb. 9-11
Where: Steel Beam Theatre, 111 W. Main St., St. Charles
Tickets: $17 adult; $12 youth
Information: 630-587-8521; www.steelbeamtheatre.org