Queen Anne resident Carly Hebert, who plays Elle Woods in the Seattle Musical Theatre’s production of “Legally Blonde,” has been performing on stage since she was 5 years old, when she snagged the lead role in a Christmas play in her hometown of Spokane.
“My parents remember me telling them that I wanted to be a singer when I was just 4,” she said. “I would write original plays and musicals with my friends, and we would perform for our parents who so kindly built up a great costume selection for us from Goodwill purchases. The obsession with performing just continued on.”
She’s since worked with Spokane Children’s Theater, Coeur D’Alene Summer Theater and City Play House and has performed with Ballet Spokane.
Hebert moved to Seattle in 2007 to attend Cornish College of the Arts, where she studied music and has fond memories of appearing in their production of “Pajama Game.” She has worked with the Seattle Musical Theatre before and, upon hearing it was opening its 35th season with “Legally Blonde,” was eager to try out for the part.
She and her sister had been avid fans of the MTV show “Search for Elle,” which was created to discover a replacement for Laura Bell Bundy, who originated the role on Broadway, and Hebert said she knew then she had to play the part at some point in her life.
“It is definitely a dream role of mine,” she admitted. “The audition was the day after my wedding before I left to Jamaica for my honeymoon. I was thrilled that I could make the audition!”
Director Samuel Pettit was also happy that she made the audition.
“Elle has to carry the show, and we as an audience need to be able to sympathize and root for her,” he said. “Throughout the process, [Hebert] has shown the same great attitude and determination as both the character and as an actress on- and off-stage.”
No cakewalk
“Legally Blonde” is based upon the 2001 film of the same name, which starred Reese Witherspoon as a Malibu fashion bunny who applies to Harvard Law School in an attempt to hold on to a boyfriend whose social ambitions include marrying someone more like Jacqueline Kennedy than Marilyn Monroe.
Witherspoon’s Elle Woods was perhaps the most memorable screen character of its type since Alicia Silverstone reinvented Jane Austin’s “Emma” for the 1995 picture “Clueless.” The musical version, however, in reducing the narrative to a series of song and dance routines, leaves little room for the character to live and breathe.
Hebert, however, does an admirable job of recreating the character within the limitations — not only of an adaptation that gives most of the best songs to the supporting characters but a production that frequently buries the charismatic star in a relentlessly active chorus. It isn’t until the middle of the second act that Elle is really allowed to shine, and Hebert rises to the occasion with a show-stopping rendition of the song “Legally Blonde” that proves she has a lovely and versatile voice when the nasally affectations of the chorus are not imposed upon it.
“A big part of acting is getting over fear and inhibitions so you can be organic and take risks on stage,” Hebert said. “For me, it’s always intimidating early in the process, while I’m still trying to figure out fully who my character is.… It was important for [Elle’s] fashion-loving, bubbly, silly, sorority sister side to come through, and also those times of vulnerability and depth.”
Although her Elle Woods lacks the depth of character that pulled audiences into the inner world of Witherspoon’s film incarnation, Hebert is certainly an active stage presence. She is almost constantly on the stage, only disappearing for brief moments to change costumes.
“The show is a lot of fun and a lot of pink, but it isn’t a cakewalk,” she said. “Taking Elle’s journey is really rewarding. Finding new confidence and pushing yourself to your limits even when everything seems to be against you is something we can all learn from.”
As for whether she has any ambitions to play dramatic roles, she said, “Singing is my supreme passion so I normally go for musicals. I also spent a lot of time in ballet classes, so the dancing in musicals is a perk, as well. However, I wouldn’t say no to dabbling in a straight play in the future, given the opportunity.”
Show time
Hebert is a relative newcomer to theater in Seattle, one that we are sure to hear much more of in coming years. At the top of her wish list is the role of Glinda in “Wicked.” Maybe if we all click our heels and second that wish, it will soon come true.
Until then, “Legally Blonde” continues through Oct. 7 at Seattle Musical Theatre, at the Magnuson Park Community Center Building, 7120 62nd Ave. N.E. Shows are on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. For more information, visit seattlemusicaltheatre.org.
BILL WHITE was a regular contributor to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He most recently was the film critic for Seattle PostGlobe. E-mail him at bwhi51@yahoo.com.