Starring Spears: OSU business students shine in musical while pursuing data-driven degrees

Monday, November 24, 2025

Media Contact: Hallie Hart | Communications Coordinator | 405-744-1050 | hallie.hart@okstate.edu

 

Andi Reuter knew it would be a feat to balance everything.

By day, she took classes as a data analytics sophomore in Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business. 

By night, she went to Harvard Law School with her tiny chihuahua sidekick, Bruiser, and even used her fashion expertise to solve a murder mystery. 

Well, kind of.

Reuter landed the lead role in a community theatre production of “Legally Blonde,” portraying peppy, pink-obsessed Elle Woods, the fictional law student Reese Witherspoon brought to life in the famous 2001 comedy film. From late September through early October, Reuter starred in 15 musical performances at Stillwater’s Town & Gown Theatre while staying on top of classes and exams at OSU. 

“I felt like I was on Broadway,” Reuter laughed. 

Audience members might be surprised to know that behind the scenes, the charismatic entertainer is learning how to code and create data visualizations. Meanwhile, Reuter’s business school friends didn’t expect her to sing, dance and act — but she’s not the only performer in OSU’s Business Building. 

Bennett Frohock, a second-year Master’s in Business Analytics and Data Science student, played the studious Emmett Forrest, the male lead who becomes Elle’s fiance in the musical’s finale.  

While pursuing data-driven degrees, Reuter and Frohock are as artistic as they are analytical, which works to their advantage. Successful business analysts must use data to tell stories, and these two students from Stillwater value the communication skills they sharpen with every on-stage appearance.

“A lot of people talk about left-brained people versus right-brained people, and I feel like I’ve never related to that,” Frohock said. “I need to scratch both itches.”

Renaissance man

In a roundabout way, theatre led Frohock to the MS BAnDS program.

After growing up in Stillwater, Frohock graduated from the University of North Texas, where he majored in theatre performance and psychology. 

This marked the beginning of a quirky adventure with a prehistoric twist. 

Frohock joined the cast of Jurassic World: The Exhibition, an immersive touring experience that features animatronic baby dinosaurs. Then, he worked with CAMP: A Family Experience, which blends retail and performance. Although Frohock ran events in the CAMP store, he paid close attention when the company hired a business intelligence analyst.

“I thought her work was super cool because everybody in the whole company, from the hourly workers to the CEO, had to listen to her,” Frohock said. “She had the data to back herself up.”

If Frohock wanted to follow in her footsteps, he didn’t have to travel far. Back in his hometown, he enrolled in the Watson Graduate School of Management’s MS BAnDS program, ranked No. 2 in the nation according to Fortune.com. Frohock has excelled, competing on OSU’s national champion team in the Data 4 Good Case Competition last fall at Purdue University.

Although Frohock enjoyed his new path, he wanted to perform again, this time for fun instead of work. He jumped on the opportunity when Town & Gown held auditions this summer for “Legally Blonde,” which he called “one of the most fun shows of all time.” 

His graduate studies weren’t slowing down, so Frohock had to be proactive.

“I knew it was going to be really difficult,” Frohock said. “Intentionally at the start of the semester, before rehearsals got intense, I tried to get ahead of all of my schoolwork so then when we were actually in the production, I was able to kind of fall back on that buffer I had created.”

This semester, Frohock’s schedule is a little unconventional because he’s doing an internship for credit. As a BI intern at InterWorks in Stillwater, he often had 10 a.m.-3 p.m. shifts before heading to musical rehearsals from 6:30-10 at night, fitting homework in between.  

You could call it method acting.

“Having seen the show a couple times before and reading the script, Emmett really embodies tired grad student vibes, so I immediately connected with that side of the character,” Frohock laughed. “He’s tired but determined, which I can relate to a lot, going through grad school and working.”

Frohock has bonded with a community of eclectic personalities at InterWorks, a global tech consultancy founded by Spears Business graduate and CEO Behfar Jahanshahi. In the office, Frohock works with musicians, 3D designers and even the director of Town & Gown’s “Legally Blonde” production, client manager Renae Perry. 

“People who are creative and charismatic can really excel in data analytics and consulting,” Frohock said. “I think it gives them an edge.”

In her Elle-ement

Reuter isn’t the first in her family to gravitate toward data analytics.

Her eldest sister, Hadley Vaca, is a senior solutions engineer at ThoughtSpot and a 2025 winner of the Cumulus Award, which honors young, outstanding graduates of OSU’s information systems programs. 

As a freshman in fall 2024, Reuter didn’t picture herself in a similar field. With theatre experience since age 7, she considered herself a storyteller, not a programmer or math whiz. 

When Reuter took a business analytics course with Dr. Evan Davis, an associate professor of professional practice and InterWorks Data Fellow, she realized her interests surprisingly aligned with the subject matter. 

“I really adored his class,” Reuter said. “It was really engaging, and I loved learning about visualizations and how they can help storytelling.” 

With the Spears Business Department of Management Science and Information Systems offering data analytics as a new standalone major, the timing was perfect for Reuter. She met with department head Dr. Rick Wilson and jumped into her degree program while participating in several student clubs and working. 

Acting, one of her greatest passions, had to fade into the background.

Then, heading into her sophomore year, Reuter heard about the “Legally Blonde” auditions and tried out under one condition. 

“I told myself, ‘You’re not going to miss any class for this,’” Reuter said. “‘Don’t let this production mess up your schoolwork.’”

Even after securing the lead role, Reuter upheld that promise to herself. 

This fall semester featured a whirlwind of exams, rehearsals, costume changes and naps. Reuter embraced the chaos, gaining confidence in her abilities to play Elle along the way.

Reuter needed not only comedic acting chops to deliver Elle’s famous quips, but also empathy to show the heart behind her character’s glamorous exterior. In the film-turned-musical, after Elle’s ex-boyfriend underestimates and embarrasses her, she grows from seeking his approval to pursuing her own goals as an attorney.

“She’s a very iconic character that a lot of people know and have expectations of who she is and how she’ll be, but it was really, really wonderful to take on that character,” Reuter said. “I relate to her in a lot of ways. She’s very bubbly and outgoing and driven, and she also aligns with me in the way that she’s a woman in a male-dominated field, so I really aspire to have her passion and her confidence while she’s still being herself and her bubbly, girly personality.” 

Reuter said she also enjoyed working with animals in the production. Elle famously carries her chihuahua, Bruiser, in a purse, but the canine actor — a spunky senior named Peanut — had other ideas. 

“He loved to jump out of the bag that he was supposed to be in, or jump out of people’s arms,” Reuter said. “One time, he ran outside of the theater, and we had to hold our rehearsal because we lost him. But we found him, thank goodness.”

Take a bow

After all of the memorable rehearsals, showtime arrived.

Opening night was Sept. 24, and for three weeks, Reuter and Frohock had a show every day from Wednesday-Sunday. 

On closing night, a familiar fan asked Reuter to sign her playbill.

Edwina Kersten, Reuter’s academic advisor in the Chesapeake Energy Business Student Success Center, came to the show. Earlier in the semester, Reuter mentioned the musical during their advising meeting, and Kersten remembered. 

Over the three-week performance run, several Spears Business classmates showed up, too. 

“It was great to have my theatre life and my business school life come together,” Reuter said. “It felt really supportive.” 

While Reuter’s triple-threat talent surprised several friends, Frohock’s MS BAnDS classmates mostly knew about his acting background. Still, they were impressed with the production’s quality, Frohock said. 

Performing in front of loved ones and strangers alike, Reuter and Frohock made sure to connect with their audience through funny dialogue and heartfelt duets. 

Whether interpreting data visualizations for a company or memorizing lines for a play, they find value in telling a story that resonates with people. 

“I definitely think it’s very important to foster that creativity,” Reuter said. “It’s easy for Bennett and I because we love it.”