Harvard, here she comes: Laura Bell Bundy will star as Elle Woods in the Broadway-bound musical Legally Blonde. It's a big step forward for Bundy, who created the supporting role of Amber Von Tussle in Hairspray and played Glinda in Wicked. After a pre-Broadway engagement at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre January 23-February 24, 2007, Legally Blonde begins previews at Broadway's Palace Theatre on April 3. Opening night has been set for April 29, 2007.
In Legally Blonde, sorority star Elle Woods doesn't take "no" for an answer. So when her boyfriend dumps her for someone more "serious," Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books and sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before: Harvard Law. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style. Reese Witherspoon created the role in a pair of hugely popular feature films based on the novel by Amanda Brown. The Broadway musical features music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin, with a book by Heather Hach. Tony Award-winning choreographer Jerry Mitchell La Cage aux Folles, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hairspray will make his Broadway directorial debut with Legally Blonde.
In addition to her recent work in Hairspray and Wicked, Bundy originated the role of Tina Denmark in Ruthless, The Musical!, for which she received Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award nominations for Best Actress. She played Dainty June opposite Betty Buckley in Gypsy at the Paper Mill Playhouse and toured with Marie Osmond in The Sound of Music. Most recently, she starred as Sherrie Christian in the musical Rock of Ages in Los Angeles. Bundy's TV credits include Modern Men, Cold Case, Veronica Mars, Strangers with Candy and Guiding Light. She appears in the forthcoming film version of Dreamgirls; other big-screen credits include Jumanji, Life with Mikey and The Adventures of Huck Finn.
