Creative marketing saved Chicago-bound 'Legally Blonde'
It seems you can't keep a blonde like Elle Woods down.
The fictional fashionista first triumphed in Amanda Brown's 2001 novel "Legally Blonde," which was all about a bubbly sorority girl defying expectations by succeeding at Harvard Law School.
More accolades came when actress Reese Witherspoon embodied Elle in the 2001 blockbuster film "Legally Blonde" and its 2003 sequel, "Legally Blonde: Red, White and Blonde."
Still, it wasn't all smooth sailing when Elle took to singing. Featuring a score by Broadway newcomers Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and a script by Heather Hatch, "Legally Blonde The Musical" opened on Broadway in April of 2007 to mixed-to-positive reviews.
"Legally Blonde" was then nominated for seven Tony Awards, but it failed to get a crucial Best Musical nomination. The show closed in October 2008, failing to fully recoup its original investment of $13 million.
But like Elle, the theater producers of "Legally Blonde" weren't giving up. And like their "think pink" heroine, the producers have raised eyebrows both inside and outside the industry for some unconventional publicity.
Chicago area residents will get a chance to judge "Legally Blonde The Musical" for themselves starting Tuesday, May 12, when the national tour plays a four-week run at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre.
Two "Legally Blonde" producers with local ties - former Glenview resident Kristin Caskey and Deerfield resident Douglas L. Meyer - are happy to see the show being embraced more heartily by audiences on the road than in New York.
Caskey points out that the "Legally Blonde" tour "is performing exceptionally well and likely to make back its money very shortly." She credits this in large part to a partnership developed with MTV during its Broadway run.
In October of 2007, a taping of "Legally Blonde The Musical" was broadcast on MTV, pulling in 2.5 million viewers (there was also a contest for teenagers conducted via texting and cell phones). The musical was later broadcast five subsequent times, sometimes with singalong lyrics.
"What that did for us was to give the show a national visibility," Caskey said, adding that after the broadcast, iTunes music downloads of the cast album skyrocketed.
The MTV broadcasts shocked people in the industry. It was long thought that showing a Broadway musical on TV would cannibalize live ticket sales. But in this case, the producers felt it was beneficial by creating awareness with a younger generation.
"I think with this particular show, it did create a lot of interest for people to go and see the show live," Meyer said.
Based upon the success of the MTV broadcasts, the producers teamed again with the network to create the reality TV series "Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods" to cast the replacement for original star Laura Bell Bundy once her contract was up.
But unlike other theater-related reality shows where the audience helps pick the winner (namely NBC's "Grease: You're the One That I Want"), the winning contestant, Bailey Hanks, was chosen by the show's original creative team.
Two runners-up from the series are currently touring in the show. Both Meyer and Caskey point out that third runner-up Rhiannon Hansen (who plays best-friend Margot) and fourth runner-up Lauren Ashley Zakrin (an ensemble member and understudy for Elle) get mobbed at the stage door by fans of the TV series.
While many producers would have been happy to let a film-adapted musical coast on fans who already love the source material, both Caskey, Meyer and other "Legally Blonde" producers are keen to use unconventional ways to promote Broadway shows.
And in terms of recognition, things seem to be paying off nationwide. "Legally Blonde" recently won three 2009 Touring Broadway Awards (Best New Musical, Best Production Design and Best Choreography). The show is headed to London this fall and the tour is currently booked through summer of 2010.
"We are finally getting to those hometowns of people who saw the broadcast and reality TV show," Caskey said. "('Legally Blonde') has been a great journey for us in discovering unorthodox marketing."
"Legally Blonde The Musical"
Where: Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago
Times: 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, and 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13; otherwise 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays (and on May 17), 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays and Wednesdays (no matinee May 13); May 12 through June 7
Tickets: $32-$95
Info: (312) 902-1400 or broadwayinchicago.com