By Bruce Chadwick
originally published: 04/17/2023
Most actresses appear in a play long after it has already been a successful movie. Not Lea Sevola. She appeared in Legally Blonde: the Musical, the college beauty queen comedy, when she was 17 and then, years later, saw the movie. Now she is back again on stage, co-starring in a new version of Legally Blonde that is touring the country. Lea is legally and illegally blonde.
“I liked the play when I was in it (County College of Morris production). I enjoyed the movie, too. I wanted to be in this stage version because I now know what makes the movie successful as I understand what makes the play work so well, too,” Lea said of the play, that will be produced at the State Theatre in New Brunswick next week (April 28–30).
Sevola grew up in Randolph, N.J. and became very talented (I grew up in Randolph, too, and have no skills whatsoever). She has been interested in theater since she was eight years old and her parents took her to see The Lion King on Broadway. “What’s the word? Hooked. Seeing The Lion King hooked me. I knew then at 8, that show business was going to be my career.”
She took all kinds of lessons as a kid (especially singing) and then landed different roles in different plays over the years. She is a co star of Legally Blonde now because she was in it when she was 17.
“Over the years I’ve seen the movie and now, with the stage and experience of seeing the movie, feel pretty confident on how to play my role in the play,” she said.
She is a stage girlfriend of the male lead in the story. In it, a beautiful and talented woman believes that good looks are all she needs to succeed in life. She is wrong and the play proves it.
“I like the idea that the play is exactly the same as the movie. Nothing is different. So, within that framework, the producers of the play tell the same story as the movie people did,” she said.
The play, she thinks, is about the “empowerment” of women.
“We all need to see that women are empowered. We do not admire a woman, or a man, because he or she is pretty or that he is handsome. We admire them because they are strong women and men. Life is like that and the play Legally Blonde teaches all of us that virtue of life,” said Lea.
There are a lot of solid comparisons - stories out of real life - in the musical. “UCLA in Southern California vs. Harvard in Boston. Big famous college life vs. big Ivy school life. Easterners against westerners. The list goes on and on. What always disappointed me about the movie was that people just saw it as a funny film. The story is not. It is at times very serious and we try to show that in our musical,” said Lea.
She understands that view of people, now. “I did, a little, when I was in the play when I was 17. Now, with the play and seeing the movie, I have a much better understanding of it.”
The play started touring the nation in October and has been shown in 30 states and 50 cities. “We still have months to go and are aiming for, I think, 80 some cities before we’re finished,” said the actress.
She has met a lot of people around the country.
“You’d be surprised at the attitudes many people have about the play. Sorority women, as an example, remembering their times back on campus. Many of them told us they dreaded going to our show because they would be seen as evil people of some kind. We don’t show them that way at all and most of them are pleased with the show,” said the actress.
Lea does not foresee an all-musical future for her. “The last play I was in was Hamlet. I loved it. I enjoy being in dramas as much as I do musicals (dramas? You can’t beat Hamlet).
She would like a well balanced career.
“I want to be a good actress and to do that you need to be in musicals and dramas. I’ve done some small roles on television, too, and that helps give me a more balanced career.”
Well, you have been reading and reading this story and it is all about Legally Blonde. So, of course, Lea is a blonde.
NNNNNNNNNNN000000000000000000000! She is NOT a blonde She is a brunette.
Well, that’s show biz, folks.
Photo by Jessica Osber Photography
About the author:
Bruce Chadwick worked for 23 years as an entertainment writer/critic for the New York Daily News. Later, he served as the arts and entertainment critic for the History News Network, a national online weekly magazine. Chadwick holds a Ph. D in History and Cultural Studies from Rutgers University. He has written 31 books on U.S. history and has lectured on history and culture around the world. He is a history professor at New Jersey City University.
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