Those of you who have followed my blog over the last year have gotten to read about my return to live theatre. I ended last summer uncertain of what the future would hold. I knew I wanted to do another musical. I didn’t know if I would get the chance. Outside of the local universities, which rarely have open casting calls for non-students, most of our local musical theatre happens during the summer. The Paramount Theatre is a major hub for local live performance. It’s where I performed Sweeney last summer. Earlier this Spring I auditioned for the 2024 summer production, their 31st annual musical. I’m pleased to share that this summer I’ll performing the role of Callahan in the Paramount Theatre production of Legally Blonde.
I am thrilled. I didn’t know much about the show before it was announced. It’s quite a divergence from Sweeney Todd. There is no dark, brooding violence. There is a lot of dancing, a Greek chorus of sorority sisters, humor everywhere, and an easy-to-listen-to pop musical theatre score. There are a lot of younger roles in the show (i.e. a lot of twentysomethings). When I read through the characters list last Fall it became clear that the only named role that I would be age appropriate for is Callahan, the egomaniacal Harvard law professor who is what you might call the “bad guy” of the show. He’s no serial killer, but by the end of the show I suspect audiences will like him less than Sweeney. They will fall in love with Elle and this banger cast of young actors I get to hang out with. This show is going to rock.
With Callahan I won’t have as many songs as I did with Sweeney–just 3 by my count, and only one of them a feature song. But what a song! When I first heard “Blood in the Water” last Fall, my first thought was, “Ooooh, I really want to perform that!” It’s wickedly funny and such a fine introduction to Callahan’s smarmy character. Sadly, this show will give me zero opportunities to show off my mad dance skills I learned in high school show choir (note to unaware readers: see my tongue in cheek). Shows are scheduled for June 28-30 and July 5-6. I can’t wait to meet the entire cast, with first read now less than a month away.
Meanwhile, we are fast approaching the end of the Spring 2024 semester. My teaching and practice schedule got disrupted last week when I came down with Covid, my second time to test positive since 2020. I missed three days of classes due to fever and chest congestion, and I’ve missed nearly a week of private practice (at least an hour a day in an ACU practice room has become a monk-like ritual of mine). Last Friday I had recovered from Covid well enough that I thought I’d give practice a go, but my voice was a disaster, so I abandoned the effort. Fortunately, things are improving this week. I anticipate being back at it daily. My Broadway karaoke playlist has grown to nearly 2 dozen tracks, with another 8-10 tracks of vocal exercises I’m using to work on some parts of my singing voice that are underdeveloped and which I have long avoided (i.e. learning how to mix head and chest voice). My ACU faculty colleague Chris Hollingsworth has been gracious enough to take me on as a student. I’m learning a lot, even after just a few lessons.
This summer I hope to blog more about the summer show. I hope to see family and friends this summer at the Paramount! More to come!