Rhiannon Hansen is exactly where she planned to be the day she auditioned for the MTV reality show, “Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods.” When “Legally Blonde the Musical” opens in the Kennedy Center Opera House for a month-long run, the bubbly blonde from Logan, Utah, will be in her element as Margot, the dumb blonde and foil for Elle, the smart one, played by Becky Gulsvig.
“I saw the show last year in San Francisco and loved it,” she says. “When my roommate heard about the open call for the TV show, she told me to go after it.”
Clutching her degree from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, Hansen sped to the nearest audition site, one of five throughout the country. From a total of 4,000 contestants nationwide, she was one of 50 chosen to go to New York. The sifting continued there, with the 50 whittled down to 25, then 15, and finally ten outstanding candidates who learned and performed every musical number in the show before the camera and the judges. The MTV series ran for several months, filling both viewers and those auditioning with suspense from start to finish.
“There wasn’t a lot of time to prepare for each number, maybe only four or five hours,” she says. “The last day, when it all boiled down to the final three girls, the judges called us in and told me I wasn’t their choice for Elle. I started to cry and was getting ready to leave when they stopped me, told me they loved me, couldn’t bear to see me go and thought I’d be perfect for Margot in the touring company.”
A favorite of the viewers, Hansen was overjoyed by the reprieve and the opportunity to visit major cities throughout the country for the next year. Because she has never been to Washington, she can hardly wait to see the monuments and museums and has high hopes that the Obamas will attend the show.
From the age of three, she excelled in dancing and singing. After starring as Kim in her high school production of “Bye, Bye Birdie,” she decided that a career in musical theater was the only thing she wanted.
“I love playing on stage and I adore this cast,” she says. “This is a once in a lifetime experience and I can hardly wait for my little sister to stay with me and see all the sights while the show is at the Kennedy Center. I’m passionate about this show and know that our audiences will fall in love with it.”
If you go
“Legally Blonde the Musical”
Where: Kennedy Center Opera House
When: Opens Tuesday; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; 1:30 p.m. Dec. 24; 8:30 p.m. Dec. 31; 1:30 p.m. only Jan. 11; through Jan. 11
More info: $43 to $95 (New Year’s Eve $60 to $150); 202-467-4600; 800-444-1324; www.kennedy-center.org
