CLO nets 'Blonde' as season opener
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Pittsburgh CLO will announce today that it will open its 2009 summer season at Benedum Center with the national tour of the Broadway hit "Legally Blonde: The Musical" (June 9-14). The tour begins in September. It would usually play in Pittsburgh as part of the PNC Broadway Series, but the CLO gets the Pittsburgh rights because it is part of the Independent Producers Network, which backed it on Broadway.
The musical is based on the 2001 movie comedy about the apparently bubble-headed California blonde who follows her former boyfriend to Harvard Law School, where she upsets preconceptions.
The stage musical opened on Broadway April 29, 2007, where it scored seven Tony nominations but no awards. It was televised nationally on MTV and spawned a TV reality show, "The Search for Elle Woods," which sought a replacement for star Laura Bell Bundy.
The winner, 20-year-old Bailey Hanks, is already performing on Broadway. Two runners-up are cast in the tour: Lauren Zakrin will understudy Becky Gulsvig, who stars as Elle, and Rhiannon Hansen will play her best friend, Margot.
"We are excited to have 'Legally Blonde The Musical' headline our 2009 summer season," said Pittsburgh CLO executive producer Van Kaplan.
CLO subscribers will get first call on tickets; nonsubscribers can call 412-281-2822 to get on the priority subscription list for 2009. The remainder of the CLO's 2009 summer schedule will be announced in early fall.
-- Christopher Rawson, Post-Gazette theater editor
First Published August 1, 2008 12:00 am
