A Brief Interview with Madison Baker

Madison Baker is directing her first show at Cottage Theatre with Legally Blonde, but she is no stranger to the CT stage, having appeared in many shows here.

Madison in Les Misérables, 2015

What first sparked your desire to direct this musical?

"I was first introduced to the musical version of Legally Blonde my junior year of high school. I was in a production of the show at Actors Cabaret in Eugene — it was the Oregon premiere, no one else had done it in Oregon yet — and I played Vivienne. I've known since then that I'd direct this musical one day. I think the story of perseverance, growth, and the bonding of so many incredibly strong yet different women, is what inspired me. You look at Elle, Enid, Paulette, and Vivienne, and they are all so incredibly different but also incredibly valuable to each other’s lives. It speaks volumes about real life: each woman is so different, unique, and specially gifted in her own right. This story celebrates that when women come together, we can change the world."

What would you like the audience to take away from this production?

"I hope the audience walks away touched by this show and maybe given some new perspectives on things. This show can easily be masked as the "ditzy, bright, sorority girl show" and that is all. Which, don't get me wrong, it is all of that, but it's also so much more. This show is about growth, change, and becoming who you were always called to be. I think the struggle all of these characters face, though we see the struggle most prominently in Elle, is letting yourself be defined by where you come from and thinking there's no possible way to be more than that. When Elle runs to Harvard, she is chasing "love" and the idea that if she can just have what she thinks to be this picture-perfect ending, she will be happy. Through many different twists and turns, challenges and opportunities to grow and rise to the occasion, she realizes she has the potential to be so much more. 

I sincerely hope that when people come to see this show they walk away knowing that no matter how hard the circumstance, how big and difficult or small and trivial it may seem, we can all get through it. You can do anything you set your mind to. After all, if a stereotypical sorority girl from southern California can move all the way across the country, become a lawyer, and prove everyone's preconceived notions wrong, I think you can too!"

Madison as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere in 
​The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, 2016

Madison as Winnie Tate in Annie Get Your Gun, 2016

What have been some of the directorial challenges  with this show?​

"Honestly, the biggest challenge I think has been the set. This show travels to SO MANY different locations. The show starts at UCLA and ends up at Harvard, which doesn't sound complicated, but several times throughout the show locations change in the middle of a song. In one number, we go from the Delta Nu sorority house to the golf course, back to the Delta Nu house, to Elle's bedroom where she studies during Spring Break, and then to Harvard. That is just ONE song ! I'm thankful to have two amazing set designers on my production team: Janet Whitlow and Tony Rust. Together they have created an amazing and versatile set that I am so excited for everyone to see."