Amy Poirier Gets a Gold Star as Endearing Paulette

Amy Poirier plays Paulette, the lovable hairdresser 

Although she’s last in order of appearance, Amy Poirier’s Paulette is first in the hearts of most audience members who’ve seen Legally Blonde, the Musical at the Farmington Players.  Amy describes Paulette as “Elle’s confidante, a lonely-heart hairdresser with a hilariously left-field obsession with Ireland. Paulette is brash and funny and longs to find a man for herself.” Like Elle, Paulette “relates to being hit by the negative wave created by a guy in her life. Elle and Paulette support and encourage each other throughout the show, becoming each other’s champion and instant best friends.”

Amy has great chemistry with Heather Dolan (Elle): “Working with Heather has been amazing – she is a true professional, a lot of fun, and extremely talented.”  Amy also has cool karma with Michael Rose, who plays Kyle, her love interest.  Amy’s favorite scene is “definitely ‘Bend and Snap’ – I just love that entire scene, from first meeting Kyle the UPS guy to the big dance number with Elle and the Greek chorus. It’s such an empowering moment for Paulette.” Being true to oneself is the central theme of Legally Blonde.  As Amy observes, “When you look beyond the stereotypes, the comically witty dialogue, and the occasional use of legal jargon, the audience will find that Legally Blonde is about one thing: Being yourself and never letting others knock you down because of it. The message is: I just need to be who I am. I don’t have to be like this person or like that person. And if they don’t like me, well, then that’s too bad. I’m going to still be who I want to be. For myself, this is a lesson that has come with experience and age. That’s what strikes a chord with the audience and with me personally.”

While Amy seems perfectly cast as Paulette, she found it challenging to play someone who is so insecure, saying, “in most areas of my life I’m pretty confident and sure about what I want, who I am, and the people I want to surround myself with.”  Amy has done a great job of contrasting Paulette's vulnerabilities with her strengths.  In the course of ‘Bend and Snap’ alone, Paulette transitions from “being unsure about herself and not thinking she has anything to offer to being loud and brash and funny. She has so many hilarious lines in the show. Paulette is an unforgettable character role that the audience can’t help but fall in love with her and root for her throughout the show.”

Amy’s other onstage roles at the Barn include Mazeppa in Gypsy, Shirley Markowitz and others in The Producers, and Ronette in Little Shop of Horrors. Amy works as an engineer at GM and is a very busy mom of three amazing kids. The Farmington Players' production of Legally Blonde, the Musical is sponsored by TruVista Wealth Advisors.  The show opened April 26 and runs through May 18. Tickets can be purchased online at www.farmingtonplayers.org or by calling the box office at 248-553-2955.

Comedy’s Not Greek to Laura Zenni: Her Zany Margot is LOL Funny

Laura Zenni as Margot with Bruiser Woods

Laura Zenni, who plays the zany Margot, demands and commands your attention from the moment she sings the first verse of Omigod You Guys to open the show. In the Farmington Players’ production of Legally Blonde, the Musical, Margot is part of the Greek Chorus (including Taylor Alfano as Serena and Alisha Gellin as Pilar), who support Elle Woods (Heather Dolan) both as her UCLA sorority sisters and in her subconscious at Harvard. 

Laura describes Margot as a “ditzy, highly energetic sorority girl.  She is a little boy crazy and gullible, but a very loyal and kind-hearted friend.”  Playing an enthusiastic sorority girl comes naturally to Laura, who sees Margot as “a flashback to my undergraduate years.  I was an active member of my sorority Zeta Tau Alpha at Miami University in Ohio. I served on the executive board of my sorority and was very involved in every Greek activity on campus. My enthusiasm for my sorority was almost obnoxious, and I was even voted ‘most enthusiastic Zeta’ in my pledge class senior year.”  While Laura is well cast as Margot, her biggest challenge to playing her is “not laughing on stage!!! I find laughter to be very contagious, so whenever I realize that people are laughing at my character, I have a heard time not laughing myself!” 

Laura is a natural performer who went to the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati for high school … the same school that Nick Lachey, Carmen Electra, and Sarah Jessica Parker attended.  While she used to perform five or more shows per year, Laura has been very focused on post-grad internships and graduate school the past four years, so she saw Legally Blonde both as an opportunity to start performing again and as a chance to make new friends: “I have not had the opportunity to make many close friends since moving up to Michigan.  I knew that Legally Blonde was a show that required a lot of 20-something aged girls, so I figured this would be a great way to make some new friends!  And I definitely have.” Laura just graduated with her masters in exercise physiology from Michigan State and she works as a registered dietitian to help middle school and high school students adopt healthy nutrition and physical activity behaviors. Laura in engaged to Michigander Dave Brown.

The Farmington Players' production of Legally Blonde, the Musical is sponsored by TruVista Wealth Advisors.  The show opened April 26 and runs through May 18. Tickets can be purchased online at www.farmingtonplayers.org or by calling the box office at 248-553-2955.