"What, like it's hard?": Dressing Elle Woods

In the heart of Bakersfield's Arts district, surrounded by galleries, antique shops, and the trendiest cafes and restaurants in town, sits the newest venue that Bakersfield's actors are calling home. As of Spring 2017, Stars Theatre, The Empty Space, and the Gaslight Melodrama have had to compete with the brand new Ovation Theatre, not just for their audience, but for their actors.

This theatre may be new to the game but that doesn't mean it's management team is. Adam Cline, Hal Friedman, and Bien Resolme all have extensive pasts in theatre. For 3 years Cline taught children and adult acting classes for television and theatre for the McCright Agency and Stars School of Fine Arts, until 1995 when he started a productions company called A.C.T.S. Productions, where he helped provide sets, lighting, sound and crew to help local theatres and schools. Friedman also taught acting, in addition to directing, and screenwriting, at the New York Film Academy. While in New York, Friedman was also the executive director of Rescue Agreement Theatre Company. Resolme has been serving Bakersfield's local theatres for 25 years, in addition to the four years he spent serving his country in the U.S. Navy.

The Ovation Theatre started with a bang earlier this summer, with its premiere show, "Jesus Christ, Superstar", and has since been in rehearsal for their newest show, which opens this weekend, "Legally Blonde: The Musical". For those who haven't seen the movie, Legally Blonde is about Elle Woods, a sorority girl with a love of fashion and all things pink, who is dumped by her boyfriend because she's "too blonde" for a Harvard Law student like him. So in order to win him back, she tries to prove to him that she is smarter than he thinks, by getting into Harvard.

Although it may not sound like it, Legally Blonde is a feminist classic, all about crushing stereotypes, female empowerment, embracing your femininity. Later in the show, Elle realizes that her ex-boyfriend Warner is just an idiot, and discovers her true passion for law and excels. Despite being stereotyped, discriminated against, and sexually harassed, she wins her first case, graduates top of her class, and is offered a job at a top law firm, all in killer outfits.

Since Elle's knowledge of the law is second only to her fashion sense, costuming this show is no easy feat. I got the chance to sit down with Legally Blondes costume designer, Miranda Lomeli-O'Rielly, and ask a few questions about dressing Elle Woods, her sorority sisters, and fellow law students.

Miranda first got a taste for costuming in high school, when she took costuming as an elective, and her love for costumes continued to grow through college as she majored in drama. Later she realized that acting wasn't for her and got her degree in art history. If you saw Bakersfield's first ever "Shakespeare in the Park: The Very Ecstasy of Love", you've seen Miranda's most recent and favorite costuming job. "It was very ethereal and beautiful... there were lots of flowers and fairies, and very other worldly", she recalls, "There were lots of fun little details, and when it's other worldly you get to make a lot of fun choices."

Miranda loves Legally Blonde but agrees it was a challenge. "The hardest character to dress, without a doubt, is Elle. She's such an iconic character, that if you get it wrong, people would notice", she explains," Because she's the main character and she has such a signature look, I definitely had to put the most time into getting her character right, getting the feel of a young college woman right."

The hard part doesn't stop there, as Elle also has the most quick changes out of all the characters. "I'm honestly not even sure how many [quick changes] she has. It feels like a hundred." she laughs. "There's probably around five. This musical is very involved, so there's lots of singing, lots of dancing, lots of characters, and lots of costumes. At one point, just like in the movie, she's dressed like a playboy bunny, in a corset, and then she has to quickly get out of it, so luckily we have a lot of talented people, who have done quick changes before, and they help a lot."

Elle also has more gradual costume changes. For example when she goes to Harvard, she's wears her "serious pink". "I've sorted it as her serious pink, because she goes from sorority to serious", Miranda adds, "She doesn't really know the lay of the land yet, but she wants Warner [her ex-boyfriend] to take her seriously." Despite all of the different pinks Elle rocks, Miranda's favorite costume is red, "There's one number where, instead of writing a personal essay, Elle and her friends come in dressed as cheerleaders, and Elle is in a full sequined dance leotard, and its so beautiful and fun! I squeal with delight every time I see it! It takes me to my happy place.".

While Elle may only shop at the finest boutiques, her costumes came from local thrift stores, Ebay and Amazon, and from Miranda's own sewing machine. "Build it, borrow it, steal it, whatever the situation calls for," she jokes.

In contrast to the fun, bright colors that Elle and her friends wear, "the law students are taking themselves very seriously, there clothes are a little darker, and sharper." Miranda says, "There's a little more formality and effervescence whereas in the sorority the costumes are a lot more fun."

These differences make Elle a target for discrimnation when she first arrives at Harvard. Miranda, had a lot to say about that,"Number one, you shouldn't discriminate someone based on their looks. Period." She adds,"Femininity is very powerful. I'm a woman and I definitely dress the way I want to. Its beautiful that I live in a time where I have the choice to do that." Miranda says that femininity is not something to be ashamed of," It's a very powerful tool, and I think that discrimination of anyone based on their appearance is problematic, because that person is just expressing who they are and how they feel, and there's something amazing and transformative about that. Just like costuming, you could have so much fun with your every day wardrobe."

Miranda believes that this show truly would not be the same without costumes. She says,"Costuming is a craft, and an art, and it adds value. It's been a part of theatre since the beginning, because it's transformative in nature, and it transforms the actors right before your eyes, and I think that's what's really magical and beautiful about costuming."

An example of the importance of costumes in story telling can be found in the climax of Legally Blonde. "One of the big costume changes is that she changes out of the doubtful work-wear we've put her in for the court scenes, into a pink dress, that's still professional but more her style, and its one of those moments where she realizes "No. I'm going to do this as myself", and I think that's one of the most important themes of the show. From the surface it may look like a silly musical about a blonde woman, but it is so much more than that. It tells you that its okay to be you. You can be professional, and be very feminine, or you can be incredibly smart and love bubblegum pink. That is a truth, and I like that truth. You don't have to wear something just because that is what's deemed semi-appropriate , you can be yourself and still be successful."