Laura Bell Bundy, the
Tony and Drama Desk nominated actress of Legally
Blonde, celebrates the release of her debut country album entitled "Longing
for a Place Already Gone" with concerts at the legendary Birdland on Mondays July 23 & 30 and August 20 at 7PM.
BroadwayWorld.com's
own Eugene Lovendusky, based in San Francisco, had the opportunity to chat with
Bundy between shows this Saturday, to discuss her original music, her new
record label (The Lab) and to recount some of her Broadway experience…
Eugene Lovendusky:
Thanks for taking a moment out of your busy Saturday schedule to chat with
BroadwayWorld.com and congratulations on your debut album! You'll be at
Birdland Monday night celebrating your CD release. What can the concert audiences expect to hear?
Laura Bell Bundy:
They can expect to hear country music! [laughs] It's my first time ever
performing my music live, so it's going to be a virginal experience
for me as well as for everybody there.
It's going to be really fun.
There's tunes for fun and crazy and rocky and it's probably
not what Charlie Parker intended for Birdland! [laughs] It's probably a little
crazier and wilder in terms of the country edge. And there's some sort of
really sad, sweet ballads. I'm hoping
that people will be entertained and feel moved at some point and think that
they want to go hang out in the South for a while. [southern accent] It's "southern" without the
prejudice, lemme tell you! I'm an open-minded southern girl.
Eugene: [laughs] I know you are! Your
childhood music inspirations included country singers like Dolly Parton, Patsy
Cline, Johnny Cash… how do you tribute these legends in "Longing For A Place
Already Gone"?
Laura Bell: Even
in the title itself; it's longing for music already gone or longing for a place
in my past already gone or memories. The
album is very much a "throw-back," influenced by Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline,
Elvis, Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard.
Every decade from the 1940s and up is somehow represented on the album. "Just Me" is Merle Haggard, deep south. "I'll Make The Money" is essentially a really
rockabilly tune, which is very Elvis. All the songs are original tunes.
I wrote or co-wrote most of them. A few my producer wrote; and the ones he wrote were from almost 25 years
ago! It was what was appealing to me, the old stuff. "Dancing With Myself,"
which is the Billy Idol tune, is the only song I covered on the album.
Eugene: I was just going to ask about him
(your co-producer), Larson Paine. How
did he come into the picture?
Laura Bell: I actually met Larson on Larchmont in Los
Angeles. He was eating and he stopped me because I
was massaging my larynx. I was doing a show and trying to loosen up my throat. He had sort of this southern vibe about
eating alone and talking to people. And it was funny because I had just having
eaten with Larry O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin. I had just eaten Greek with them
and we were talking about Legally Blonde…
but it wasn't official, this was before I did the workshop. Then I walk out onto the street and that's
where I met Larson. I ended up sitting
down and talking with him… and he came to see the show I was doing and he said:
"Oh my god! I want to write for you!" Then we started writing together and we totally
hit it off. We had the same sense… I said: "I don't want to do commercial
country. I don't want to do that pop country.
I want to do more of a throw-back because that's what I like to write
and that's what I feel connected to." If
it happens to get on the radio? Great. But I'm not going play to making it a
hit. If it is, it is. I just want the
songs to be appealing and fun and heart-wrenching. 
Eugene: That's so faithful.
Laura Bell: If
I'm going do this, I'm going to do it right and I want it to be a
representation of me. And the next album
I do is going to be different because I'm going to change. I already did that thing where I had a band –
and I had a great time with a band – but it was almost like pandering to get a
record label deal. This way, if I did
the album myself, and I produced it myself with my own label, it was going to
be done the way I wanted to do it. If
people like it or don't like it, it doesn't matter; I got something that means
something to me. I feel like that's a
way people can change the way music is – to be guided by someone they believe
in and trust. Larson and I really
believed in each other. It was like
brother/sister, father/daughter, we were laughing and yelling, that's how it is
when you make an album! Essentially the trust was there and I got something
great.
Eugene: You say this music means a lot to
you... what side of Laura Bell is revealed on the album?
Laura Bell:
There's lots of sides. The CD doesn't
really create a mood. It creates more of
a journey. It starts out with a simple
bluegrass tune, sort of melancholy and sad, like "Lovin' and Lyin'," then it's
sexy and there's some funny songs in there where I'm talking, like "Designated
Drunk." There's a humor side, a sexy
side, but there's also a pretty sad side, the country side. It's the backwards side of me!
Eugene: It sounds like it's going to be quite
a treat and congratulations on putting it all together! Switching gears to your Broadway career, I watched an old video of you from the Broadway
Beat archives, where you're discussing your role in Ruthless! You had such poise
at a young age. Where did you get that
"show business etiquette"?
Laura Bell: Oh my
god! [laughs] I guess it's more from the people around me. It's freaky to watch those videos… I recently saw something…You know, it was on your
website! And I was like: "I am a freaky 35 year-old woman stuck in a
10 year-old body!" It was really, really trippy. One thing I can say is that as I've gotten
older, I've gotten younger. I've grown
up but I've kind of immatured (but matured!) but I've allowed myself to be a
kid. When I was a kid, I was so much of
a professional and carried myself that way. It was crazy.
Eugene: It was funny.
Laura Bell: It's hilarious! [laughs]
Eugene: [laughs] Tell me what its like to
create an original role, like Amber (Hairspray)
and Elle (Legally Blonde)…
Laura Bell: For
me, it's the best part. Being a creative
person. It's so much more rewarding when
you find things on your own, to live whatever the writers are writing or to
display what the director is looking for.
You are the thing that everybody uses to get the story out. There's a responsibility to the story, but
there's also the sense of fun you have. When everybody else leaves, you get to
continue to create. For me, there's no other way! I really like creating from
the ground up.
Eugene: On that subject, you were the original understudy for
the role of Glinda in Wicked. Would
you ever like to ride the bubble again?
Laura Bell: Sure!
Sure! I think I would rather want to
create something new, but I really did enjoy doing that show. It was a really fun show to do.
Eugene: You kept some very fine company in
the 2007 Best Actress in a Musical category.
What zipped through your mind when the Tony nominations were read?
Laura Bell: I
literally was like, Oh my god… Oh my god… "Oh my god, oh my god you guys!"
Really I swear I was shocked and excited and that little 10 year-old in me went
crazy. I was jumping around my house screaming. I was really surprised because
it was such a big year for women on Broadway and I thought for sure: "Oh, maybe
another time I'll get my chance." But
it's amazing the work that I did was actually acknowledged in that way. I think, ultimately you know in your heart
how much work you've done. You know what
you're doing, if you're being honest on stage or not. That's all you being you. But when you acknowledges it – especially
with a Tony Award nomination – you just can't help with the guilty pleasure!
Eugene: I hope you get the pleasure
again. Describe one of your most
unforgettable on-stage moments.
Laura Bell: When
I lost my shoe in San Francisco during "So Much Better!" [laughs] I
kicked my leg up and my shoe flew out into the audience. And I was like: "Well, I got one shoe on!" 
So
I took off the other shoe, threw it off-stage, and I finished the number in
bare feet. It was hair-raising, it was
so much fun. Oh! And when I lost my wig
during "The Bend and Snap." I had to put
it back on: "So much for being legally blonde, I'm legally bald!" Orfeh was
trying to help – it was so funny – Leslie Kritzer looked at me like she
had seen the Ghost of Elle Woods. We
couldn't speak! Each time I had to bend and snap, I had to hold my hair. I always tend to remember the funny
moments. When I lost my shoe (even
though it was funny) there was something motivating about it, I just ended in
this spastic emotional way. I tend to
remember the more extreme moments.
Eugene: It's been a great asset for your
success today, but was there ever a time you wished you weren't blonde? Were
you bullied or were you ever a victim of "blonde abuse"?
Laura Bell: I
don't think I was bullied. If I was
bullied, I fought back or turned the other cheek. I have been put in a box, I guess: "Oh you're
blonde, you can't play brunette." And
I'm always like: "You know what? I'm going to prove you wrong, I'm going to
make my hair brown." And there's been
occasions where I've gone brown and got parts! I'm not above doing that! I hope
after this, I can get a role where it won't be: "Oh, you can't play any role
other than a blonde." I'm proud of being
a blonde. I'd be proud of being a brunette or a red-head. I don't think it matters.
Eugene: How much longer are you strutting
your stuff at the Palace Theatre?
Laura Bell: I'm
here through February. [southern accent]
I gotta file, thank you.
Eugene: Well congratulations on your album
and your musical endeavors and your concert coming up. Have yourself a great
summer!
Laura Bell Bundy
makes her Birdland debut celebrating the release of her debut country album
entitled "Longing for a Place Already Gone" on Mondays July 23 & 30 and August
20. There is a $25 cover/$10 food/drink
minimum. The concert series at Birdland
(315 West 44th Street,
NYC) is presented by Jim Caruso's Cast Party and TheaterMania.com. For reservations call Birdland at
212-581-3080 or BirdlandJazz.com. For more information on Bundy, visit LauraBellBundy.com.
Photos: "Longing for a Place Already Gone" (courtesy LauraBellBundy.com); Laura Bell Bundy (2007) by Walter McBride; Laura Bell Bundy as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde (2007) by Joan Marcus; Laura Bell Bundy at BroadwayWorld.com's On Ice Holiday Concert (2006) by Walter McBride
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