Copious Notes

So, if you’re a Central Kentucky Laura Bell Bundy fan who never got to New York to see her Tony-nominated turn as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde — The Musical, you have another chance, much closer to home.

Laura Bell Bundy as Elle Woods with Legally Blonde director Jerry Mitchell the opening night of Legally Blonde on Broadway. Photo by Aaron Lee Fineman.

Bundy is going to reprise the role when the national tour of Legally Blonde lands at Nashville’s Tennessee Performing Arts Center June 23-28. Bundy will play Elle in all evening performances, stepping in for vacationing Becky Gulsvig. Bundy, a Lexington native and Lexington Catholic graduate, relocated to Nashville last year after leaving the Broadway production of Legally Blonde in July.

Bundy also reprised the role on tour earlier this year in Washington D.C. and East Lansing, Mich., when Gulsvig was out with an injury.

Laura Bell Bundy as Elle Woods and director Jerry Mitchell during the curtain call on the opening night of Legally Blonde -- The Musical on Broadway, April 27, 2007. Photo by Aaron Lee Fineman.

Legally Blonde — The Musical may be done on Broadway, but that doesn’t mean its Tony-nominated star is done with the show.

Becky Gulsvig, who has been playing the leading role of Elle Woods on tour, has a broken toe, which makes it a little hard to do things like bending and snapping. So, Laura Bell Bundy, the Lexington native who originated the role in 2007 and received a Tony Award nomination for it, has joined the Blonde tour in Washington D.C. and will follow it to East Lansing, Mich. First national tours are often cast with Broadway talent, but it is not nearly as common for the originator of a role to hit the road with a show, so the next few Blonde audiences will get a bit of a treat.

Bundy will be sharing the role with understudy Lauren Zakrin, the fourth-place finalist in the MTV reality-competition series The Search for Elle Woods. Accoring to Playbill, she’ll be with the show through Feb. 22. Bundy is also slated to be one of the judges for the Miss America Pageant Jan. 24. Bundy now lives in Nashville, where she is concentrating on her country music career.