Show History

History

Inspiration

Legally Blonde is based on the 2001 film, which, in turn, is based on the novel, Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown. The novel is a compilation of funny letters and stories from Brown's time in Stanford Law School. Producers had a desire to bring the film's story to Broadway. They brought together composer, Laurence O'Keefe, and his wife and lyricist, Nell Benjamin, screenwriter, Heather Hach, and renowned choreographer/director, Jerry Mitchell, to work on the project.

Productions

Legally Blonde, based on the hit movie of the same name, premiered at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre in February of 2007. The show then transferred to Broadway, where it opened at the Palace Theatre on April 29, 2007. The original production starred Laura Bell Bundy and Christian Borle. It ran for 595 regular performances before closing on October 19, 2008.

Shortly before the Broadway production closed, a national tour opened on September 21, 2008. It ended on August 15, 2010. A non-Equity tour opened just a month later. It started on September 21, 2010, in Jackson, Mississippi, and ended on May 15, 2011, in New Haven, Connecticut.

The West End premiere of Legally Blonde opened on January 13, 2010, at the Savoy Theatre. It became one of the most popular shows on the West End, but eventually closed on April 7, 2012, after 974 performances. A UK national tour ran from July 8, 2011, to October 6, 2012. Outside of the UK, the musical has also enjoyed significant success. An Australian production opened in October 2012, and there have been international productions from South Korea to Sweden, Austria to the Philippines and France to Panama.

Cultural Influence

  • Legally Blonde was filmed for television and broadcast on MTV in late 2007.
  • With the popularity of the televised musical, a reality program entitled Legally Blonde – The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods aired on MTV. It aimed to cast the next actress to play Elle Woods on Broadway.
  • The musical was translated to German for its Austrian premiere, and made its French-Canadian premiere in Montreal in May 2014.

Trivia

  • The Broadway production was nominated for a significant amount of major awards: seven Tony Awards, ten Drama Desk Awards and two Daytime Emmy Awards for the televised version of the filmed performances.
  • During the week that ended on June 24, 2007, the Broadway production joined the "millionaire's club," having grossed more than $1,000,000 in ticket sales.