NYBT TOP 30 BROADWAY AT MACY’S COUNTDOWN – #23: LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL
OMIGOD BROADWAY FANS!! Live Theater back along with fans gathering around to experience New York’s MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET is just 23 DAYS AWAY. The 95th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is almost here. To get us in the mood of how amazing this parade has continued to give the Theater community so much love, we just want to give super SNAPS to our friends at New York Broadway Tours as they continue their TOP 30 TONY AWARDS COUNTDOWN. They got an iconic Broadway number that we can ALL relate to bursting into song and dance.
At # 23 on the countdown, we get to know the life of a certain popular UCLA fashion icon and Sorority President who follows her Harvard Law School boyfriend just to win him back by becoming a fellow lawyer. On the way, she discovers more about herself and learns to be true to the way she is no matter what people think. This is Legally Blonde. Based on the book by Amanda Brown and the 2001 film of the same name, the musical features a score by husband and wife composing duo Nell Benjamin and Laurence O’Keefe along with a book by Heather Hach.
From the 2007 NBC Telecast, Tony Award nominee Laura Bell Bundy as “Elle Woods” and the cast stalk Dean of Harvard Law in Herald Square to show the world that “Elle” is SERIOUS and the right material for the Law School in the show stopping number…. Very appropriate for a parade since there’s a Marching Band and a cheerleading squad in it…… WHAT YOU WANT.
FUN FACT ABOUT THIS PERFORMANCE: As you might notice, the cast are wearing their show T-Shirts instead of their usual costumes they wear in the show 8 times a week. Around that time of the parade, Broadway shows were actually shut down but very briefly due to that year’s Stagehands Union Strike.
LEGALLY BLONDE was developed through early readings and workshops labs around 2004 and 2005. It would have its world premiere out-of-town run in San Francisco, LEGALLY BLONDE arrived at Broadway’s Palace Theatre in 2007 running for 30 previews and 595 regular performances. Under the direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell, the cast was led by….
Tony nominee Laura Bell Bundy (later Bailey Hanks) as “Elle Woods”,
2 time Tony winner Christian Borle as “Emmett Forrest”,
Richard H. Blake as “Warner Huntington III”,
Tony nominee Orfeh as “Paulette”
Actors’ Equity Association President Kate Shindle as “Vivienne”,
Tony winner Michael Rupert as “Professor Callahan”,
Nikki Snelson (later Nicolette Hart) as “Brooke Wyndham”,
future Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford (later Haven Burton and Kate Rockwell) as “Margot”,
DeQuina Moore (later Asmeret Ghebremichael) as “Pilar”,
Leslie Kritzer (later Tracy Jai Edwards) as “Serena”,
and
Olivier winner and 2 time Tony nominee Andy Karl as “Kyle”.
The show earned mixed reviews but still went on to be nominated for 7 Tony Awards in 2007 including BEST LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL (for Laura Bell Bundy) and BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (for Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin). But it lost all it’s categories.
Following its Broadway run, the show went on to become an International hit across North America, London’s West End (where it took home glory at the Olivier Awards for BEST NEW MUSICAL), Australia, and more.
During its run on Broadway, LEGALLY BLONDE made history as the first Broadway show ever filmed for MTV. It featured a whole performance of the show filmed in front of an invited audience all dressed in pink and hosted by Lauren Conrad, Audrina Patridge, and Whitney Eve Port from the MTV show The Hills. It featured an entire performance of the show plus behind the scenes footage.
Following the success of the MTV performance, the channel continued to support the show by presenting a reality casting TV show to help search for a newcomer leading lady to replace Laura Bell Bundy as “Elle Woods”. It was called perfectly enough LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL: THE SEARCH FOR ELLE WOODS. The winner was Bailey Hanks who played the role for the remainder of the run. The series was hosted by Haylie Duff (who also served as mentor of the aspiring “Elle’s”). In addition, they were judged and critiqued by the show’s casting director Bernard Telsey of Telsey & Company Casting, the show’s book writer Heather Hach, and LEGALLY BLONDE Ensemble member Paul Canaan. Each episode featured the girls in an intense callback boot camp learning material from the show, acting exercises, being mentored, and performing with members of the cast. At the end of each episode, the 3 weakest “Elle Woods” wannabes were sent to the casting office where the panel would determine who would continue and be eliminated. Some of the runner-up’s for the role of “Elle” who were eliminated went on to even better Broadway successes including…
Autumn Hurlbert (who ended up appearing in the Ensemble and understudied “Elle” and recently seen as “Portia” on the tour of Something Rotten),
Lauren Zakrin (Broadway’s Rock of Ages and The Great Comet),
Cassie Okenka (currently in Broadway’s School of Rock),
and more.
Today, LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL continues to be performed in schools, regional, and community theaters everywhere.
How fabulous was that performance?
