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Broadway Blonde

Tops in Lex Publisher Keith Yarber caught up with Lexington native Laura Bell Bundy as she was walking through Times Square in New York City. About 30 seconds into the conversation, Bundy turned the corner and saw, for the first time, the marquee promoting her new Broadway show Legally Blonde.

Bundy: Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I'm sorry to say that to you right now. I'm walking down Times Square, and they've put up all the pictures and marquee up for our show!
TOPS: Oh yeah?
Bundy: Yeah! And I haven't seen it yet and you're on the phone with me right now with me as I'm experiencing this.

TOPS: What does it feel like to look up and see that?
Bundy: Well, I already saw the billboard and that really was a thrill. And now, seeing the marquee up … There was nothing in the theatre at all. It said "theatre closed," and now it's up and going. It's like "oh my God." This is really happening…

TOPS: You have made everyone around here so proud. So what does it feel like to represent Lexington and the state of Kentucky?
Bundy: I've gotta say it was really important for me to go home this (past) summer. I spent a lot of time with my family because when it comes down to it, my family really is the most important thing to me. It's nice to be at home, and when I realized is how much I truly love being there. Also, I truly love performing. It's kinda like I have two lives. I have this life that is my Kentucky life, and then I come to New York and do this here. The show has a great message. It's such a great role for me, and I think that it's the type of character and the type of show that has a very positive message. To me, that's really nice.

TOPS: Do you have a couple of favorite scenes that you really look forward to performing?
Bundy: Yes, I do. We have a scene called "What You Want." Her ex-boyfriend wants her to be serious so she's going to go to Harvard. There is this whole process of her studying and trying to go to Harvard, make that decision to go and finally getting a 175 on her LSAT … getting a personal recommendation from Oprah Winfrey and then showing up at Harvard with an entire … drum like and a drill team into the Harvard Law admissions office.

TOPS: That's got to be fun.
Bundy: It is hilarious. People have drums on. I am doing these cheerleading moves. (A cheerleading school) in Paris, Kentucky, helped me with all my cheerleading moves. Now, I am totally comfortable and not scared at all. Like I am standing on top of two guys hands and they are throwing me down. Actually, I can't believe how easy it feels for me. I just love that scene because I get to dance a lot. It's high energy, and it's a lot of fun. We do our form of crunking, if you know what that is. It's very culturally popular at the moment.
There are songs that are my favorites. "So Much Better" is like a huge song. It's a long song for me, and it's a song that naturally builds. It starts with the boy who she followed to Harvard proposing to another girl and she is distraught. Then, all of the sudden, she finds out her name has been selected to be one of the four interns with a huge law firm and she's like "Oh, my God. Maybe I am more than him"… It's just a great, great song. Then there is the song "Legally Blonde," which is the title song. It's a sang about leaving, realizing what has just happened and then saying goodbye to the guy that has helped her that she realizes she is falling for. It's a really sad song. It moves me emotionally because it goes through a series of emotions. I'm disgusted at first - shocked, disgusted, angry, hurt - trying to keep my emotions pinned up and then sort of like toward the end of the number, there is no way to keep the emotions under control. It's a really beautiful song.
We have such an incredible creative team on the show. Our writer, Heather Hach, wrote the book, and she's fantastic. Larry O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin, who wrote the music and the lyrics, are total geniuses and they went to Harvard. They met at Harvard.

TOPS: This sounds like it's very physically demanding and emotionally demanding play. Is that right?
Bundy: Yes. I am never off the stage really but maybe 30 seconds. I think a minute and a half is the longest time I'm off stage during the show.

TOPS: Wow!
Bundy: We did a run through the first act and I was trying to change my shoes, and I could not change my shoes between the scenes I was in. I didn't have enough time. I have two dressers to change me, but it's very physically demanding. It's kinda like walking for two hours and occasionally sprinting while you're on your two-hour walk. It's like a marathon when you do show. For me emotionally, this show covers all of it - happiness, sadness, joy, hurt, anger, almost like a depression. The main thing about Elle though is that no matter what else, she is a problem solver. She wants to find a solution. She's going to solve the problem. She's going to make it work and in that optimism, she becomes a truly positive, happy person.

TOPS: It sounds like you really love the message in this play.
Bundy: I love it. I really honestly have to say I've never been happier in my life.

TOPS: That's great to hear. Are you rehearsing? How many days a week?
Bundy: Six days a week - 10 to 6.

TOPS: That must be keeping you in great shape.
Bundy: Yeah. My clothes don't fit me anymore.

TOPS: How do you think Elle would do in Lexington?
Bundy: I think Elle would do OK. Any woman in all pink is kinda shocking, but women in Kentucky and southern women in general have a charm about them. They like to dress up. It's not a big deal if a woman has luxurious hair and a luxurious outfit - a girl that goes to Keeneland dressed to the nines. It's almost like the southern girl meets the California girl. But I think Elle Woods, with her positive outlook and her charm and her fully manicured self, would fit right in.

TOPS: Do you think Elle is a little naïve but goes through the world with her own positive charm?
Bundy: She just assumes people have good ethics and morals and are going to be nice to each other. So, she thinks everyone is going to be nice and do the right thing. You have to feel that too. She is a beacon of being positive, and people may say that's naïve. People say I'm naïve because I'm very trusting. I feel people are innately good, and that's the way Elle feels too.

TOPS: I read a study once that optimistic people tend to be happier, healthier, and more trusting and those kinds of things. Elle, like yourself, seems to be an incredibly optimistic person.
Bundy: Yes. Right.

TOPS: You have a co-star Bruiser the Chihuahua? Tell us about Bruiser.
Bundy: Bruiser is played by Chico, and Chico is a Chihuahua that was rescued about a year ago now. He was basically abandoned and not treated very well and then adopted by the Humane Society and our dog trainer Bill Burloni, he trains a lot of dogs for Broadway, only trains dogs that are rescued. Chico is so great. Chico has two understudies - Teddy and Boo. They are both adorable…

TOPS: Tell me about your love of cashews.
Bundy: I love cashews. They are like a main snack for me - cashews and dark chocolate. Good chocolate is like a main vice for me - my biggest vice and biggest pleasure.

TOPS: You've put together something called Kreative Kids charity?
Bundy: Yeah, The Kreative Kids Foundation is a foundation that promotes creative performing arts in young people and helps people who can no longer afford their studies or schools that are in need of a program.
We are working on creating programs that we establish around Kentucky and in New York because I am here. A lot of the Broadway professionals that I work with are getting on board and going to cities to do talkbacks and workshops and things like that.
There will be young people who will be eligible to go for free. It's a thing I always wanted to do. I've always looked at what I really want to do. What is my main goal? And that is to provide people with a way to expand themselves creatively and to understand themselves through the creative pursuits and to recognize talent and help them pursue their dreams.
I was able to recognize my talent because my family was always very supportive, but not everyone has that, not every parent is able to do that. To have something that could actually help the parent and the kid is like wow! There really isn't anything better than that because the greatest pleasure I have in the world is what comes from my artistic endeavors.

TOPS: Tell the folks back home what it's like to live in New York City and what celebrities do you run into that have made a positive impression on you?
Bundy: I love living in New York City. I lived here from when I was 9 to 14 and again from 18 to 23 and now, being back is nice because I spent a lot of my adulthood in New York. The city is very alive to me. I absolutely love it. In terms of celebrities, I am running into a lot of people who do theatre, but I recently did this Broadway meets country event.
I met a lot of people who couldn't have been nicer and one of those people was Ben Vereen who is such an incredible, positive person. Peter Gallagher was quite amazing. Barbara Mandrell was just out of control, the nicest celebrity I have ever met. I was nice to see people who are gracious. If I see them regularly and they're a friend of mine, I forget they are famous. I'm good friends with Kristin Chenoweth and Harvey Fierstein. These are people I've worked with, and it's hard for me to go, "oh, they are a celebrity."

TOPS: Well, that's because you are quite the celebrity yourself now, and we are so proud of you.
Bundy: It's so weird. I don't feel it yet, but I am starting to notice things changing. The first time I was ever recognized from the billboard in Times Square, I was like "Wow. That is a first. That is crazy."

TOPS: So people are starting to recognize you and stop you on the street?
Bundy: No, there is no stopping on the street. It's more like "Are you that? Wait, didn't I just see you." It's like a double-take thing.

TOPS: Are there things that would surprise people about you?
Bundy: My favorite thing to do when I go out is dance. I love to go out and dance. I met my boyfriend at a bar because he challenged me to a dance-off.

TOPS: Wow. Who won?
Bundy: I don't know. I think we both ended up winning. I love walking. I love listening to my ipod, and I love walking in New York. I am a bit of a night owl. If I had my choice, I would go to bed at 3 a.m. everyday.

TOPS: What's your favorite movie?
Bundy: I love Doctor Zhivago. I love Gone With The Wind. I absolutely love the movie Big Business. It's totally random. There are so many movies (I love).

TOPS: Do you have a mentor or someone you look up to?
Bundy: My mom has been a great role model for me in a lot of ways - my grandfather is a performer, and he has had this silent role in just being there. There was so much influence he had on me as a kid that it has kind of made me who I am.

TOPS: Is that Wayne Bell?
Bundy: Yes. And Lou Ann Franklin and Pat Bell from Town and Village School of Dance in Lexington had a lot to do with allowing me to express my talents and excel at them. I owe a lot to them.
Kim Zimmer, who played my mom on Guiding Light, taught me a tremendous amount. There is a woman I am working with now. She is a brilliant comedian, and her name is Leslie Kritzer. She is in my cast. She plays my best friend, and she's overwhelmingly fantastic.
My director right now, Jerry Mitchell, is kind of a mentor for me. This is something you really have to think about before you answer.

TOPS: You've been fortunate enough to surround yourself with some great people.
Bundy: I have mostly learned from my experiences. I never went to acting school. I never went to school for acting or dancing. I went to classes when I was a little kid, but I never went to college for it. And what did I learn is I took advantage of the experiences I had and the work experience I got in a huge way.

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