It’s 18.00 on Thursday the 3rd of March, and an hour until the commencement of the final show of Legally Blonde: The Musical which was the chosen play for Radnor House School Twickenham this year. In a dreamy haze of hairspray, sweat and various costumes, I walk into the changing room with my trusted camera in tow, to act as a silent observer.
The atmosphere is tense, the feelings of nervousness, excitement and lamenting over all the incredibly hard hours that have gone into these two performances is palpable and I immediately spot the two leads: Elle Woods played by Sally Hamilton and Matty Baker discussing how the outfit changes will be executed when the curtain draws. I start snapping away. Having been at the dress rehearsals, it is remarkable just how much goes into the making of these shows, so much time spent perfecting not only the actors but the lighting and musical teams and practicing scene switches which is never going to be fully known by the audience as they get the gleaming and polished final product. My plans to go unnoticed, sneaking around like a photographic ninja are largely interrupted as I help calm my friends and other members of the cast’s nerves, re-curling parts of Elle’s hair or finding a non-ripped pair of nude tights whilst finding ice to help the feet of those who have been dancing in heels for many weeks. This chaos actually serves me well as everyone is too busy to care I am waving a camera right in their face and I find myself genuinely smiling at the random interactions between people who usually wouldn’t look twice at each other and the mirrors speckled with droplets from different perfumes and sprays which reflect a miniature universe that has been created within this dressing room – everyone becomes an equal backstage because we all have one aim: make this night the best one yet.
I catch up with Izzy Walker who plays Elle’s mum who tells me ‘my knees might be swollen and sore after all this dancing but I can’t even feel it because we are all enjoying it so much’ which seems to be a recurring emotion. As the audience piles into the seats to see what the theatrical students have stitched together this year, we all take positions backstage to make sure we can play our part in helping things run smoothly.
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