For Calgary’s Kelsey Verzotti, playing Elle Woods means grappling with high notes, audience expectations, and impostor syndrome
iPhoto caption: L to R: Maya Baker, Jameela McNeil, Kelsey Verzotti, Sarah Horsman, and Jessica Jones in 'Legally Blonde.' Photo by Trudie Lee.
If I took just one thing away from my conversation with Calgary-born-and-raised actress Kelsey Verzotti, it would be that she’s an unparalleled force in tackling any theatrical challenge.
Verzotti made headlines in 2022 as the first Asian-Canadian to play the titular redhead in Anne of Green Gables at the Charlottetown Festival. Now, she’s set to shatter more expectations as she tackles the lead role in Theatre Calgary’s production of Legally Blonde.
Based on the 2001 film starring Reese Witherspoon (as well as Amanda Brown’s novel from the same year), the pop-genre musical follows fashion-forward sorority sister Elle Woods — who, in the hopes of winning back her college sweetheart, attends Harvard Law School. A sparkling whirl of pink and blonde, Elle is underestimated by just about everyone she meets. Armed with unabashed grit and vogue know-how, she ultimately proves her smarts and legal chops, while refusing to concede her feminine spark.
A long-time fan of the movie, Verzotti was ecstatic to learn that Legally Blonde was slated to run in her hometown (before it transfers to Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre). “When Theatre Calgary announced that they were doing it in their season and that Stephanie Graham was directing and choreographing, I was like, ‘I want to be involved in some way, shape, or form,’” she told me in an interview before rehearsal one day.
The first step in Verzotti’s audition prep? “I got my boyfriend to watch the movie,” she said. “He had never seen it and I hadn’t seen it in so many years and I was just like, ‘Wow, this is still so good!’”
Well aware that many “early-2000s movies have their issues,” Verzotti feels that — despite a creaky joke here and there — Legally Blonde has held up. “It was way ahead of its time,” she said. “The message is so beautiful and the character of Elle is so… inspiring.”
A quintessential model for femininity as an asset and not a weakness, critics have sometimes crowned Witherspoon’s Elle a feminist icon. The musical’s version of the character is no less memorable, reaching bona fide dream-role status for many a mezzo-soprano. That said, when Verzotti learned she’d been cast as the iconic Harvard Law student, she recognized that challenges were in store.
“The thing about Elle,” Verzotti explained, “is she’s always on stage. And when she’s not, she’s likely changing into a new costume.”
From custom-made plaid suits to endless pairs of shoes, costume designer Rebecca Toon has Verzotti strutting from scene to scene in undeniable style — making those quick costume changes worth it.
“Everything is so pink and beautiful and glittery,” she said. “I just feel so privileged to be able to wear these things.”
On top of the sweeping wardrobe, Verzotti has dedicated the past nine months to prepping her voice for the production, describing the high-note-heavy role as “unlike anything I’ve ever done before vocally.”
The hurdles don’t end at the physical, either. Verzotti spoke to a struggle I didn’t expect: the mental fortitude it takes to drive a show like Legally Blonde.
“The impostor syndrome was so real,” she admitted. Before booking the role with Theatre Calgary, Verzotti didn’t think a part like this was in the cards: “I truly just never imagined myself playing Elle, probably just because of our own stereotypes.”
The stereotypes in this case being the associations of blondeness with, well, whiteness. Recognizing the “huge honour” of leading Legally Blonde, Verzotti also expressed a keen awareness of the significance in playing Elle as a woman of colour.
“There’s always a big pressure to be the first or the different version of a character,” she said, recalling her experience playing Anne Shirley — someone similarly known for her bright hair. “That impostor syndrome is tenfold when you [feel you] have to prove that this was a good choice for everyone.”
Verzotti’s secret to fighting these inner battles: mindset coaching. Through consultation with Alexandra Herzog, a Toronto-based life coach and former musical theatre performer, Verzotti forged a solid psychological foundation to empower her performance as Elle.
“It has been so helpful to work on that inner critic that will definitely show up in processes like this,” she said. Thanks to mindset reframing and visualization exercises, Verzotti has successfully broken “down where the impostor syndrome comes from [and learned] why that inner-critic voice is so loud.”
In our result-centred theatrical culture, it’s dishearteningly easy for actors and audiences alike to overlook the mental strain that arises behind the scenes. Verzotti stressed that performing is “not just the dancing and the singing and the acting. It’s also [about] training your brain to be kind to itself.
“So much of singing is a mental thing,” she said.
Verzotti also credits Graham with fostering an encouraging environment. “She has always made it clear to me… that the important parts of Elle are her personality,” she said. “Her bubbliness, her kindness, all of these things that [Stephanie] was like, ‘You have. I’ve never ever doubted that.’”
Although inclusive casting can sometimes drift toward tokenization, Verzotti never felt that Graham’s vision was anything less than sincere: “She’s always made me feel like it wasn’t a decision that… checks a box.”
Even design details like Elle’s exact shade of hair reveal the extensive thoughtfulness embedded in Theatre Calgary’s production. Verzotti applauded the design team and their meticulous work on her wig, explaining: “You can see that I have roots. Like it’s obvious that I’m still an Asian person who has blonde hair.” (Christa Hoefling is head of wigs at Theatre Calgary.)
“It’s been the right amount of care without making it the most important [aspect],” she said, referring to her Asian-Canadian heritage. “Because it actually isn’t.”
Instead, Legally Blonde is, in Verzotti’s words, “full of heart, the colour pink, and… the reminder that staying true to yourself never goes out of style.
“I think it’s just a story that has so much for everyone,” Verzotti said. “If you come to see it, you’re going to be surprised. I think the audience [initially] judges Elle the same way that everyone around her does. But by the end, hopefully you’re Team Elle.”
Legally Blonde runs at Theatre Calgary until June 15, and at Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre from July 5 to August 3.
Theatre Calgary is an Intermission partner. Learn more about Intermission’s partnership model here.
Eve Beauchamp
Eve Beauchamp (they/them) is an award-winning Calgary-based theatre artist, playwright, and graduate of the BFA in Acting at the University of Ottawa. They are the co-artistic director of Levity Theatre Company and primarily create work that explores queerness, capitalism, and neurodivergence through humour, poetry, and storytelling. Currently, you can find them pursuing their Master of Fine Arts in Drama at the University of Calgary.
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