She, believing that the blonde is the problem, decides to become a brunette. She goes to the Hair Affair salon, where she meets beautician Paulette, who, after advising Elle that all bad hair choices are motivated by love, tells Elle about her dreams of meeting a handsome Irishman (“Ireland”), and encourages her not to give up or minimize her personal qualities. In the living room, Vivienne, who is talking about a party planned for next Friday, gives Elle an unexpected invitation and tells her that it is a costume party. Paulette sends Elle dressed in a costume for the party with encouraging words (“Ireland (Reprise)”). During the development phase of the musical, a demo recording of twelve songs featuring Kerry Butler and others under the name Elle was released. The demo included workbench versions of “There! Right there! ” (called on the sampler “Gay or European”), “Blood in the Water”, “Omigod You Guys”, “Serious”, “What You Want”, “Legally Blonde”, “Legally Blonde Remix”, “So Much Better” and “Take It Like a Man”, in addition to two songs that were not present in the final version of the show: “Beacon of Positivity” (which became “Love and War” for the previews and finally “Positive” for the final version of the show) and “Good Boy”, a song instead of “Ireland”. The musical was filmed on September 18, 2007 in front of a live television audience, as well as on two other dates when it was filmed without an audience.[63] All three edited performances aired on MTV on October 13 and 14, 2007, with additional airing dates on November 3 and 14, 2007. MTV`s involvement in the musical continued with a reality show called Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Woods, which aimed to hire the next actress to play Elle Woods on Broadway to replace Laura Bell Bundy.[9] The show was hosted by Haylie Duff and premiered on MTV on June 2, 2008. The show ran for eight episodes.[10] The focus was on the preparation and coaching of the participants, as well as on the auditions themselves.

The competition was won by Bailey Hanks, 20, of Anderson, South Carolina. The results premiered on MTV on July 21, 2008,[12] and Hanks` debut as Elle Woods took place on July 23.[11] The finalist, Autumn Hurlbert, also made her Broadway debut in this show as sister of the sorority in Delta Nu and served as an understudy to Hanks.[11] [13] Legally Blonde is a 2007 musical with music and lyrics by Laurence O`Keefe and Nell Benjamin, and a book by Heather Hach. The film is based on Amanda Brown`s novel Legally Blonde and the 2001 film of the same name. During its broadcast in San Francisco, the musical featured a song called “Love and War,” but when it aired on Broadway, the song was replaced by what is now “Positive.” [3] Another predecessor of “Positive” was “Beacon of Positivity”. During the workshop phase of the musical, the song “Good Boy” existed in what would later become “Ireland” in the musical.[4] [5] In the song, Paulette and Elle connect on the idea that men are like dogs and should therefore be treated as such. The musical was recorded in September 2007 and aired on MTV in October 2007. After that, a reality show aired that showed the audition for the next person to play Elle Woods on Broadway. The winner was Bailey Hanks, who starred from July 23, 2008 until the end of production on October 19, 2008. The finalist, Autumn Hurlbert, was Hanks` understudy.

The musical received mixed reviews, but was hailed as a fun and upbeat production. Ben Brantley, who reviewed the musical in the New York Times, wrote that the show was an “energetic, empty and expensive hymn to the glory of femininity.” He praised Laura Bell Bundy, saying, “She sings and dances perfectly, and she delivers silly lines as if she meant them.” [55] Clive Barnes, in his review in the New York Post, praised Heather Hach`s book, but criticized the “amorphous, synthetic, and incredibly empty music” and summed up the show as “an enjoyable, albeit noisy, night.” [56] Elysa Gardner wrote for USA Today that the musical was a “flattering trifle” and that the “cast ensures that events, no matter how condescending, are not irritating.” [57] Jeremy McCarter lamented in New York Magazine that the musical “evokes no memory of Tracy Flick, the student council activist who played Reese Witherspoon in Election before starring in Legally Blonde,” and wrote that the “manic drive” in Witherspoon`s performance in Legally Blonde was her favorite part of the film. [58] The show also received negative reviews. Tim Walker wrote in the Sunday Telegraph: “It`s a big, empty ship in a series that makes a lot of noise and not much else, and would have been better called `Irredeemably bland`. I was aware that for the two hours and 25 minutes he ran, I was sitting in the middle of a group of people, with a blank smile on faces that otherwise seemed completely numb. This is what I looked like. This is the expression that registers when what you see doesn`t quite match what`s going on in the brain. The West End production debuted at the Savoy Theatre on January 13, 2010, after premieres on December 5, 2009.[59] [19] [20] The original London cast included Sheridan Smith in the lead role of Elle Woods starring Duncan James, Alex Gaumond, Jill Halfpenny and Peter Davison. [21] In the London production, the text of “Ireland” was changed. [22] In April and May 2016, a production was staged at the Curve Theatre in Leicester.