Legally Blonde

Creative
Director	Andrew Panton
Musical Director	Simon Beck
Choreographer	Chris Stuart-Wilson
Set and Costume Designer	Becky Minto
Lighting Designer	Simon Wilkinson
Production Team
Stage Manager	Rosie Barber
Deputy Stage Manager	Ashley Kerray
Technical Stage Manager	Andrew McCabe
Chief Production Electrician	Elleanor Taylor
Deputy Production Electrician/Lighting Programmer and Operator	Patrick Watson
Stage Electricians	Hannah Allan Astrid Rothmeier Riona Gilliland
Sound Number 1	Sam Cunningham
Sound Number 2	Stephen Cunningham
Stats
Venue	New Athenaeum Theatre

The international award-winning hit Legally Blonde the musical is coming to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland after three triumphant years in the West End. Elle Woods can handle anything. So when her boyfriend, Warner, dumps her she decides to follow him to Harvard Law School and win him back. With some help from new-found friends Paulette, Emmett and her chihuahua Bruiser, she learns that it’s so much better to be smart.

Photos

RCS Flickr Page

Cast List

Elle Woods - Molly Dobbs/Alex Roots

Serena - Molly Dobbs/Alex Roots

Paulette - Laura Denmar

Vivienne - Nina Sneve

Brooke - Zoe Barker

Enid - Lucie Thaxter

Margot - Sophie Falkenberry

Pilar - Eve Nicker

Emmett - Tom Cotran

Callahan - Laurence Libor

Warner - Brian McEwan

Dewey/Grandmaster Chad - Joel Benedict

Elle's Dad/Winthrop/Ensemble - Greig Baxter

Padamadam/Nicos/Ensemble - Drew Gardner

Ensemble - Christina Gordon

Ensemble - Rebecca Dawson Smith

Elle's Mum/Judge/Ensemble - Ashlee Rose Soldo

Whitney/Chutney/Ensemble - Natalie Spence

Pforzheimer/Kyle/Ensemble - Thomas Milligan

Carlos/Ensemble - Miguel Garcia

Ensemble - James Baxter

TSM

The technical stage management department for Legally Blonde originally consisted of just the TSM and two crew. From the initial design meetings it was clear that this was going to be one of the biggest shows of the year, if not ever at the Conservatoire. The crew size was increased to just the right amount of people to run the show. This allowed for an intense and very fast pace for all involved. Shown below is information regarding some of the key technical elements of the show.

Set Elements

Flown

• Shower Curtain (bar 5)
• Mannequins (bar 6)
• Hair Affair Practical's (bar 7)
• Prison Bars (bar 8)
• Hair Affair (bar 13)
• Festoons (act1) / Mannequins (act2)(bar 14)
• Blackboards (bar 15)
• UCLA (bar 18)
• Elle's Door (bar 21)
• Harvard (bar 22)
• Department Store H+H (bar 23)

Live Flown Cloths

• White Gauze used as show cloth (Bar 1)
• Full Black Blinder (bar 2)
• Black Border (hemp - between bars 21+22)

Trucks

• Staircase Truck, fits under center section of platform and is stored in scene dock. Space inside to hide 3 crew.
• Wooden Double Doors, fits under center section of platform and enters/exits from up stage left.
• Hair Affair Trucks, enter from stage left and right. Stored in the scene dock and room1.
• Bedroom Truck, enters from SR and is stored in room1. Just fits through dock doors.
• Bathroom Truck, stored in the scene dock and enters from up stage through wooden double doors.
• Restaurant Trucks, 2 small trucks enter from stage left, stored in the scene dock.
• Palm Tree Truck, enters from SR with practical lighting. Moves to scene dock during interval.

Sliders

• 3 UCLA walls that fit under platform. 2 outside ones have practical doors.
• 3 Wooden panel sliders that fit under platform.

Fixed Set

• 6 portals - 3xSR + 3xSL (explained below.)
• 3000mm high platform U/S (explained below.)
• White cyc. (bar 30)

Portals

A main part of the design was six large glittery portals that also lit up. These had been used twice before for previous shows in outside venues and were not in great condition. We had to do quite a lot of work to them during the fit up to make them look straight.

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Floor

The floor also had been recycled from previous shows. It consisted of simple MDF sheets which we painted black. It was then coated in 3 layers of high gloss glaze to give a very deep black mirrored effect. It was really important that we kept the floor clean and shiny.

Floor Care

To keep the floor clean and shiny I bought some simple bath towels from Primark and we used these to wash the stage. To do this, simply wet the towel with hot water, wrap it round a brush and push it in straight lines across the stage. Once done, rinse the towel and leave it to dry. This is a highly effective and very quick way to clean the floor and it also does not leave big water marks like traditional mops tend to do! We had to mop the stage at least once a day during tech work periods and then once before the show and again at the interval. I would highly recommend using towels to mop any stage.

NOTE - You will also want to sweep/vacuum the stage before using wet towels to get the best results.

Platform

The platform was the main constructed design element of the show. Originally it tracked on and off stage and had two levels; one just above the stage and one 3000mm high. This design was cut back due to budget restraints and the volume of time and work that it would of taken to construct such a high cantelevered steel structure. Another challenge would of been trucking the huge sections on and off of the stage. It would of taken approximately 6 crew to get each one moving and this was just impossible! The new design consisted of no lower level and still the 3000mm high deck, none of which trucked, it was in a fixed position and other set elements trucked round it.

The basic construction was 3 sections of 8x4 steel deck, 2 sections of 4x4 steel deck and 2 sections of 2x4 steel deck, custom built access treads and alliminium scaffolding bars to act as the legs and bracing. The outline of the platform is shown in the PDF below. Note - Not all of the cross bracing and horisontal bracing is shown in the ISO.

Challenge 1

Masking

• 16x5 Black Border (bar 27)
• 16x5 Black Border (bar 17)
• 16x5 Black Border (bar 11)
• 4x12 Black Leg (DSR Entrance running DS->US)
• 4x12 Black Leg (DSL Entrance running DS->US)
• 4x12 Black Leg (MSR Entrance running DS->US)
• 4x12 Black Leg (MSL Entrance running DS->US)
• 2400x6000 Hard Masker on the off stage edge of all portals. (6 in total)
• 1400x6000 Hard Masker on the on stage edge of MS portals to mask platform "towers".

Scene Changes

All of the scene changes in Legally Blonde were very quick.

General Notes

Temperature- Musical Theatre need the venue to be warm in order to work! Speak to the venue techs in advance to see about putting additional heaters in the wings to keep the cast warm when not on stage.

Noise- Dance shoes make a lot of noise in the wings and performers don't have time to think about how loud there quick change will be. Try and situate quick change areas away from the stage or in the void to try and mask noise. If appropriate put carpet down in high traffic areas of the wings to help dampen the sound.

Tidiness- Always leave the venue, room1 and scene dock as tidy as it can be, these big shows move quickly and you don't want to be chasing your tail tidying up when you are pushed for time.

LX

Lighting Booms

The booms for this show were on 6m length scaff poles. These were then attached to the grid, as well as the base being screwed into the floor.

Sound

File:costings 2.docx

File:SYSTEM DESIGN.docx

File:CHAN LIST.docx

File:pit.docx