'Legally Blonde' To Open On Broadway On April 26, 2007
By: BWW News Desk Apr. 25, 2006
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Hal Luftig, Fox Theatricals and Dori Berinstein, in association with MGM Onstage, Darcie Denkert and Dean Stolber, are psyched to announce LEGALLY BLONDE, the musical, based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture. Previews begin on March 30, 2007 and opening night is set for April 26, 2007 at a Broadway theatre to be announced.LEGALLY BLONDE will play a world premiere, pre-Broadway
engagement in San Francisco at The Orpheum Theatre January 2007.Leading the creative team of LEGALLY BLONDE is Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell, who makes his Broadway directorial debut and will also choreograph. Music and lyrics are by both Nell Benjamin and Laurence O'Keefe, 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, sound design by ACME Sound Partners and musical direction by Alex Lacamoire.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. Casting will be announced shortly.Biographies
JERRY MITCHELL (Director/Choreographer) 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) makes her Broadway debut with Legally Blonde. 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: 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) makes her Broadway debut with Legally Blonde. 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) 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). Broadway: Drowsy Chaperone, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Side Show, Flower Drum Song (Tony Award nomination). New York: Sinatra (Radio City), The Kathy and Mo Show, Pageant: New York's Nightly Beauty Pageant, The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, The Wizard of Oz, Madison Square Garden. New York City Opera: Cinderella, The Merry Widow. National tours: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, South Pacific, Disney's Princess Classics on Ice, Dora the Explorer Live. Also, nine seasons as resident designer for Paper Mill Playhouse. 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: The Light in the Piazza, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Spamalot, 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. New York Shakespeare Festival: Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, Twelfth Night, The Seagull, Measure for Measure. The partners are Tom Clark, Mark Menard and Nevin Steinberg.ALEX LACAMOIRE (Musical Director) was most recently the music director of Wicked on Broadway. He served as music director and co-arranger/orchestrator of Bat Boy: The Musical off-Broadway with Laurence O'Keefe. Other credits as arranger/orchestrator include the 2001 National Tour of Godspell, and the off-Broadway production of Captain Louie. As pianist, Alex has performed with Lou Rawls, The Funk Brothers, and Idina Menzel. Upcoming projects include High Fidelity and In The Heights.
engagement in San Francisco at The Orpheum Theatre January 2007.Leading the creative team of LEGALLY BLONDE is Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell, who makes his Broadway directorial debut and will also choreograph. Music and lyrics are by both Nell Benjamin and Laurence O'Keefe, 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, sound design by ACME Sound Partners and musical direction by Alex Lacamoire.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. Casting will be announced shortly.Biographies
JERRY MITCHELL (Director/Choreographer) 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) makes her Broadway debut with Legally Blonde. 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: 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) makes her Broadway debut with Legally Blonde. 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) 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). Broadway: Drowsy Chaperone, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Side Show, Flower Drum Song (Tony Award nomination). New York: Sinatra (Radio City), The Kathy and Mo Show, Pageant: New York's Nightly Beauty Pageant, The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, The Wizard of Oz, Madison Square Garden. New York City Opera: Cinderella, The Merry Widow. National tours: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, South Pacific, Disney's Princess Classics on Ice, Dora the Explorer Live. Also, nine seasons as resident designer for Paper Mill Playhouse. 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: The Light in the Piazza, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Spamalot, 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. New York Shakespeare Festival: Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, Twelfth Night, The Seagull, Measure for Measure. The partners are Tom Clark, Mark Menard and Nevin Steinberg.ALEX LACAMOIRE (Musical Director) was most recently the music director of Wicked on Broadway. He served as music director and co-arranger/orchestrator of Bat Boy: The Musical off-Broadway with Laurence O'Keefe. Other credits as arranger/orchestrator include the 2001 National Tour of Godspell, and the off-Broadway production of Captain Louie. As pianist, Alex has performed with Lou Rawls, The Funk Brothers, and Idina Menzel. Upcoming projects include High Fidelity and In The Heights.
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