Legally Blonde – The Musical is a lively production based on the 2001 movie of the same name starring Reese Witherspoon. The production officially opened on Broadway April 29, 2007 at the Palace Theatre to a generous dose of positive reviews.
David Finkle of TheatreMania.com says of the play, “…a boisterous adaptation of the smart and saucy Reese Witherspoon chick-flick. The show, which marks the directing debut of veteran choreographer Jerry Mitchell, is as meticulously groomed as its level-headed-despite-being-blonde protagonist, Elle Woods, played just about perfectly by Laura Bell Bundy (who starred in both Hairspray and Wicked).”
The Production
Legally Blonde is a confectionary delight which the stubborn cynic would fine utterly distasteful. Contrast this with anyone female, between the ages of 16-30, helplessly optimistic, and a lover of pink. This demographic need forget Les Miz and rush to the Palace Theater instead. In its opening number, “Omigod you Guys!”, sorority sisters give Elle and her boyfriend “mad props”, declaring them a perfect match because of their similar taste in clothes. It only goes more deep-fried Twinkie from there.
Even the basic plot is an Ivy League Cinderella story. Elle Woods a bubbly California princess at the fictitious California University of Los Angeles. When her boyfriend, the ambitious Warner Huntington III, breaks up with her declaring his need for someone “serious” Elle decides to win him back by abandoning the coast and buckling down at Harvard Law School. Hilarity ensues.
The Reality Competition
In June 2008 MTV aired a reality competition for the role of Elle Woods. The winner would replace the originator of the role Laura Bell Bundy and instant-access to a plush role on the Great White Way. Fifteen girls were whittled from a group of candidates who performed for a judge’s panel of three. Paul Canaan, ensemble member of Legally Blonde – the Musical, Bernard Telsey, the plays casting director, and Heather Hach, librettist of Legally Blonde – the Musical.
Over the course of nine weeks were girls were given rigorous vocal coaching and dance and acting training. From dance on the street in pink stiletto boots to singing big numbers on exercise bikes and dealing with a rigged auction where their fellow actor was instructed to drop a line, the girls were introduced to the industry and endurance required for the Broadway role.
Bailey Hanks, a twenty-year-old talented southerner from South Carolina was chosen from all the hopefuls and made her Broadway debut July 23, 2008.
