Legally Blonde on Broadway: The Search for Elle Woods???

Question

Does anyone know why the original "Elle", Laura Bell Bundy, is no longer doing the show??? Is she doing other things or did they want a new Elle???

Answer 1

There are lots of reasons.  There are different types of contracts for the leads; some are ongoing and some come with an end date.  Sometimes the lead chooses not to renew a contract and sometimes they don't have a choice, but most of the time it is mutual.  In this case, Laura wants to continue to evolve as an artist.  Elle is a very demanding role and she can't play her forever.  She is moving back to Nashville to work on her album and there are some future television projects in discussion.  Also, sometimes the producers want diversity in the roles and like to keep things in motion to boost ticket sales once all the initial hype dies down.  For example, putting a well known non-Broadway name in the lead to make it interesting; or a reality show like this MTV one.