Elle Woods trades Harvard Law for the Manhattan Arts Center as “Legally Blonde: The Musical” runs Sept. 12-21. Jayna Ukrazhenko portrays Vivian Kensington, who begins as Elle Wood’s competitive, snobby classmate who eventually turns into an ally. 

“This is a Broadway caliber play, and it’s taken a lot of time, energy and commitment from this cast to put this on,” said Ukrazhenko.

The cast of “Legally Blonde: The Musical” has been hard at work for the past two months, rehearsals starting Sunday, July 20, to create a “super fun and high energy” show, Ukrazhenko said.  Many of these cast members are students at Kansas State. 

Anthony Belin, junior in vocal performance, said balancing schoolwork and a musical production is a large undertaking, but as long as his lines are learned, it is smooth sailing. Belin said his character Emmett Forrest, the main love interest, is “a dork.”

“Emmett is very shy, but he’s also super relatable,” Belin said. “He just wants to do good in the world, and he notices that there isn’t good in the world, but that if you can make a difference for somebody, then that’s what really matters.” 

Belin’s favorite song of the show is “There! Right There!” — which also happens to be one of  Aidan Heusman’s, senior in biological anthropology, favorite songs of the show.

Heusman played Warner Huntington III, the primary male antagonist of “Legally Blonde: The Musical.” 

“He is a pompous jerk,” Heusman said. “He is so entitled; he has had that silver spoon life since he was born.”

Heusman has been involved in musical theatre since elementary school. 

“My parents sent me to theatre camps just to get rid of me,” he said. “It’s so funny, it’s [the musical] got a good mix of everything, theatrics, music, dance. It really has everything you can ask for. I think it still holds up to this day and also has a really good message.”

Layla Hood, a graduate student studying park management conservation, said people should see the production “if they just want to have a really fun night, laugh really hard, listen to some really talented performers and just have a good time.” She plays Harvard Law student Enid Hoops. 

“I love her one-liners,” Hood said. “She doesn’t say a lot, but when she does, it’s really funny and clever.”

Director Chaz Coberly has worked in theatre for 20 years. He describes the backstage energy of “Legally Blonde: The Musical” to be “accepting” and “kind.”

“Because they are so kind to each other, they’re fearless, which is critical when you’re going to put yourself on stage and do something,” Coberly said. “I’ve never seen people just go for it like these folks have.”

He explained that audiences should come see the show because of its entertainment value, catchy music and meaningful messages about women’s empowerment. 

“Our space is a little bit strange, and I just want to show people that we can jam huge, awesome, fun musicals in our space,” Coberly added. 

The Manhattan Arts Center is located at 1520 Poyntz Ave. To buy tickets for “Legally Blonde: The Musical,” visit manhattanarts.org. So bend and snap those tickets up, ladies and gentleman, because this is a show that you will not want to miss!