<Tr> <Th> Awards </Th> <Td> Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical </Td> </Tr> <P> Legally Blonde is a musical with music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach . The story is based on the novel Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown and the 2001 film of the same name . It tells the story of Elle Woods, a sorority girl who enrolls at Harvard Law School to win back her ex-boyfriend Warner . She discovers how her knowledge of the law can help others, and successfully defends exercise queen Brooke Wyndham in a murder trial . Throughout the show, no one has faith in Elle Woods, but she manages to surprise them when she defies expectations while staying true to herself . </P> <P> Legally Blonde premiered in pre-Broadway tryouts in San Francisco, California . In April 2007 the show moved to Broadway, opening to mostly positive reviews and grossed more than $1,000,000 a week on several occasions . Jerry Mitchell directed and choreographed . The original cast starred Laura Bell Bundy as Elle, Christian Borle as Emmett and Richard H. Blake as Warner . It received seven Tony nominations and ten Drama Desk nominations but did not win any . The West End production opened in January 2010 at the Savoy Theatre . The West End production was nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards and won three, including the Best New Musical award . </P> <P> The musical was recorded in September 2007 and aired on MTV in October 2007 . Following this, a reality television program was aired showing the audition process for the next person to play Elle Woods on Broadway . The winner was Bailey Hanks, who played the role from July 23, 2008 until the production closed on October 19, 2008 . The runner - up, Autumn Hurlbert, was Hanks' understudy . </P>

When did legally blonde the musical come out