Legally Blonde The Musical Will Debut at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts December 9-14, 2008
Hartford, CT (October 29, 2008) – LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL will play The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts December 9-14, 2008 as part of The Hartford Financial Services Group Broadway Series. Tickets can be purchased by visiting The Bushnell Box Office at 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, or by calling the Box Office at (860) 987-5900. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.bushnell.org. Groups of 20 or more can call (860) 987-5959. Tickets are priced from $25 - $75.
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.
In its first year on Broadway, LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL earned seven 2007 Tony Award nominations, ten 2007 Drama Desk Award Nominations, a 2007 Outer Critics Circle Award and the chorus of the musical was honored by Actors’ Equity Association’s Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA) with the first ever ACCA Award. The musical also ranked in the top ten list of the most requested Ticketmaster “Arts & Theatre Events” for 2007.
Becky Gulsvig, the Elle understudy in the original Broadway cast, is Elle Woods in the tour. Fans of the MTV reality show “Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods”, which premiered on June 2, 2008, will recognize two familiar faces in the tour casting: Third runner-up Rhiannon Hansen plays Elle’s best friend Margot and fourth runner-up Lauren Zakrin is an ensemble member and understudies the role of Elle. The reality show represented the musical’s second venture with MTV. In the fall of 2007, MTV aired Legally Blonde The Musical in its entirety to stellar ratings and was subsequently nominated for two 2007-2008 Daytime Emmy Awards.
The Original Broadway Cast Recording for “Legally Blonde The Musical,” was released on Ghostlight Records, an imprint of Sh-K-Boom Records, and captured the #1 slot on the Billboard Cast Album chart and charted at #86 on the Billboard Top 200. The album has continued its success, charting every week as one of the top-selling Broadway cast recordings and soared to the Top 10 albums (of any genre) on iTunes once the show premiered on MTV.
As on Broadway, Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell is the director and choreographer. Music and lyrics are by both Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, and the book is by Heather Hach. The production features scenic design by David Rockwell, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Kenneth Posner and Paul Miller, orchestrations by Christopher Jahnke and sound design by ACME Sound Partners
LEGALLY BLONDE is produced on Broadway by Hal Luftig, Fox Theatricals and Dori Berinstein, in association with MGM Onstage, Darcie Denkert and Dean Stolber.
www.LegallyBlondeTheMusical.com
Biographies
JERRY MITCHELL (Director/Choreographer) earned a 2007 Tony Award Nomination for his choreography and two Drama Desk Award Nominations for his direction and choreography of Legally Blonde The Musical. He has also received the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for choreographing the 2005 Tony Award-winning Best Revival of La Cage Aux Folles, having also been nominated for all such Awards in the same category for this production of Hairspray and the current smash hit musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Jerry also received Tony, Drama Desk and Astaire Award nominations for choreographing The Full Monty. Other Broadway choreography credits include Never Gonna Dance, Imaginary Friends and revivals of Gypsy, The Rocky Horror Show (Drama Desk nomination) and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Emmy-nominated for choreographing “The Drew Carey Show,” his memorable film work includes In and Out, Camp, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Scent of a Woman and Hedwig And the Angry Inch. Jerry proudly conceives, directs and choreographs Broadway Bares for Broadway Cares.
NELL BENJAMIN (Lyrics and Music) earned a 2007 Tony Award Nomination and two Drama Desk Award Nominations for the music & lyrics of Legally Blonde The Musical, which is her Broadway debut. She was nominated for a 2005 Drama Desk award for Best Book of a Musical for Cam Jansen and the Curse of the Emerald Elephant. Nell is also the recipient of the 2003 Kleban Foundation Award for lyrics and a 2003 Jonathan Larson Foundation Grant. She has written musicals, online games, TV shows and a corporate bond-trading manual. Nell wrote lyrics for the musical Sarah, Plain and Tall, produced in 2002 by TheatreworksUSA and re-mounted in 2006 at the Lucille Lortel. In 2003 Sarah was expanded into a full-length show at the O’Neill Festival. Prior to that, Nell was the lyricist on The Mice, which was produced by Harold Prince at The Prince Music Theater and at the Ahmanson. TV credits: “Unhappily Ever After” and “Whoa! Sunday with Mo Rocca.” She is a member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild of America.
LAURENCE O’KEEFE (Music and Lyrics), making his Broadway debut with Legally Blonde, is a composer, lyricist, pianist and writer. Awards: a 2007 Tony Award Nomination and two Drama Desk Award Nominations for the music & lyrics of Legally Blonde The Musical, 2004 Ed Kleban Award for lyrics, the 2001 ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, and a 2001 Jonathan Larson Award for his music and lyrics. NY credits: Bat Boy: The Musical (2001 Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Off-Broadway Musical) and has been produced in Boston, Tokyo, Seoul, and the West End, among others. He co-wrote book, music and lyrics with Nell Benjamin, for Cam Jansen and The Curse Of The Emerald Elephant (Drama Desk nom. for Best Book); the music for Sarah, Plain and Tall, which now tours the country for TheatreWorks USA. In 2003 Larry, Nell and book writer Julia Jordon expanded Sarah into a full-length show at the O’Neill Festival. Laurence composed The Mice, which was produced by Harold Prince at The Prince Music Theater and at the Ahmanson.
HEATHER HACH (Book) earned a 2007 Tony Award Nomination and a Drama Desk Award Nomination for the book of Legally Blonde The Musical, which is her Broadway debut. Her screenwriting credits include Disney’s Freaky Friday starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, In The Pink, Cheer Up, There’s A Pop Diva Loose in the Cafeteria, The Governor’s Wife and In The Drink, a book adaptation. She is currently working on the screenplay for Oh Happy Day, for Disney. For Television, she sold the pilot “Live Better” to Sony. Her other TV credits include: “Dilbert” and “Caroline in the City.” Heather was a member of Comedy Sports, a Denver-based improv troop. She has also worked at The New York Times as a research assistant to the Denver Bureau Chief and was as Associate Editor at InLine: The Skate Magazine. Heather is the recipient of The 1999 Disney Screenwriting Fellowship.
DAVID ROCKWELL (Set Design) earned a 2007 Drama Desk Award Nomination for the set design of Legally Blonde The Musical. He has also designed the sets for Hairspray (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations), The Rocky Horror Show (Drama Desk Nomination), All Shook Up (Drama Desk Nomination), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Omnium Gatherum and, for film, Team America. He is the founder of Rockwell Group, the New York-based architecture and design firm. Projects include the Kodak Theatre (home of the Academy Awards), W New York and W Union Square, Nobu, Nobu Fifty Seven, Cirque du Soleil, Café Gray and JFK's Jet Blue terminal. David has been honored with a lifetime achievement award from Interiors Magazine, is included in the Interior Design magazine's Hall of Fame, and was the recipient of the Presidential Design Award for his work for the Grand Central Terminal renovation.
GREGG BARNES (Costume Design) received 2007 Tony and Drama Desk nominations for his work on Legally Blonde. Broadway: The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Flower Drum Song (Tony nomination), Side Show. New York: Sinatra (Radio City), Follies (Encores!), The Kathy and Mo Show, Pageant, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. NYC Opera: Cinderella, The Merry Widow. West End: Pageant (Olivier nomination). National tours: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, On the Record, Ringling Bros. Circus. Regional: Mame (Kennedy Center), Flower Drum Song (Mark Taper, L.A. Drama Critics Award), Allegro (Signature Theatre, Helen Hayes Award), Lucky Duck (Old Globe, San Diego Critics Award) and nine years as resident costume designer for the Paper Mill Playhouse. TDF Young Master Award.
KENNETH POSNER (Lighting Design) Broadway: Wicked, Hairspray, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Nominations), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Little Women, The Frogs, The Goat, Imaginary Friends, Swing, The Man Who Had All The Luck, Uncle Vanya, Side Man, (Lortel Award), You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, The Lion in Winter, Little Me, A View From The Bridge, (Drama Desk Nomination), The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Getting Away with Murder, The Little Foxes, The Rose Tattoo, The Father, and The Rehearsal. Off-Broadway: Valhalla, The Wild Party, (Lortel Award, Drama Desk, and Outer Circle Critics Nominations), The Play About The Baby, Tick-Tick-BOOM, The Waverly Gallery, That Championship Season, Pride’s Crossing (Lortel Award), As Bees in Homey Drown, Cowgirls, The Food Chain, SuBurbia and numerous productions for Playwrights Horizons, The Public, Manhattan Theatre Club, Second Stage, The Vineyard, and Classic Stage Company. Opera credits include designs for the New York City Opera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. OBIE for Sustained excellence in lighting design.
ACME SOUND PARTNERS (Sound Design). Broadway: Coram Boy, High Fidelity, A Chorus Line(2006), How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Drowsy Chaperone, Hot Feet, The Light in the Piazza, Spamalot, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dracula the Musical, Twentieth Century, Fiddler on the Roof, Never Gonna Dance, The Boy From Oz, Avenue Q, Gypsy, La Bohème (Drama Desk Award), Flower Drum Song, Elaine Stritch At Liberty, Bells Are Ringing, A Class Act, Jane Eyre, The Full Monty. National: Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. The partners are: Tom Clark, Mark Menard and Nevin Steinberg.
BECKY GULSVIG (Elle Woods) is tickled pink to be here!! Broadway: Legally Blonde The Musical original cast (Elle u/s), Hairspray (Amber Von Tussle). Nat’l Tour: Peter Pan (Wendy). Regional includes: Grease (Patty Simcox), …Forum (Philia), Lawyers, Lovers And Lunatics (Eve), Baby Case (Studio Sister/Ginger Rogers). TV: “All My Children”, MTV’s “Legally Blonde The Musical”. www.beckygulsvig.com