Broadway’s Laura Bell Bundy on “Power of Friendship” in Romy & Michele

Omigod you guys, Laura Bell Bundy is going back to high school! The Broadway star beloved by generations of theater kids for originating roles like Hairspray’s Amber Von Tussle and Elle Woods in Legally Blonde The Musical is now starring as Romy White in the Off-Broadway premiere of Romy & Michele: The Musical.

Based on the cult 1997 comedy film starring Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow, the musical adaptation of Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion follows the titular duo of ditzy, blonde best friends as they head back to their hometown of Tucson, Arizona to attend their all-important 10-year high school reunion.

Desperate to impress their former classmates and feeling insecure about their floundering lives in L.A., the pair decide en route to concoct a lie about being “sophisticated, successful businesswomen” that sets off a chain reaction of deceit and ultimately tests the bonds of their friendship.

Stepping into the one-of-a-kind role made famous in the film by Sorvino, Bundy explains that her character is actually the mastermind behind building the flimsy house of, well, Post-Its that comes crashing down at the reunion.

“Romy is definitely the leader in terms of the ideas, of whether they should lie,” the Tony nominee tells Ticketmaster. “She’s the leader in the anxiety over the reunion. She’s the one who is most concerned about what others think. That drives her, energetically… my Romy has a little bit more spunk.”

As the Rhoda to Bundy’s Mary (or is it the other way around?), Romy & Michele also stars fellow Broadway mainstay Kara Lindsay as Michele Weinberger, with a book by the film’s original screenwriter, Robin Schiff, music and lyrics by Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay and direction by Kristin Hanggi.

Ahead of the musical’s opening night on Tuesday (October 28) at Stage 42, Bundy chatted exclusively with Ticketmaster about Romy and Michele’s iconic friendship, her own high school experience in Kentucky, and the parallels between Romy and Michele journey to the reunion and Elle Woods’ time at Harvard. She also shares the surprising picks on her high school-era mixtape (Tupac! The Notorious B.I.G.! Coolio!).

Congratulations on starting performances! How’s the show going so far?

Thank you! We’re cranking now. It’s always so intense during previews because you’re changing things during the day and then you’re trying to remember those changes that night. We set the show a few days ago, so now I’m feeling a lot more relaxed because I’m not like, “Oh! What am I missing?” or “There’s a new line here, what is it?” But cumulatively, I’m having to still remind myself of what’s going on.

This may seem like an odd question, but now that performances have started, are you following any of Romy’s famous special diets?

[Laughs] Oh! No, no. No, my diet is not strictly gummy bears, jelly beans and candy corn. But I do eat them in the show.

Romy and Michele are obviously such iconic characters — how would you describe your version of Romy?

Well, I’m definitely taking from what was iconic about Mira in terms of the sort of bizarre accent, you know? And I sort of asked myself [slips into Romy’s accent], “Why is this accent happening?” And some of her body movements in the film are leaning into, like, a masculinity. Between Michele and Romy, Michele’s more in her feminine and Romy is more in her masculine. The original costume designer even designed the costumes that way. And so I think I’ve sort of leaned in in the way that a musical theater performer can lean into those things.

The composer and lyricist, as they were writing the songs, also leaned into that. So my keys are always the low harmonies… a little lower than I would normally sing or than some people would know me for singing. In our show, Romy is definitely the leader in terms of the ideas, of whether they should lie. She’s the leader in the anxiety over the reunion. She’s the one who is most concerned about what others think. That drives her, energetically. And so I’d say that I have, like, a little bit of spunk. My Romy has a little bit more spunk.

Were you a big fan of the original movie?

I am a fan of that movie! It came out when I was in high school. And then my husband and I actually watched it again, and watching it as adults, we laughed out loud. We thought it was so funny. So it was so fun to go, “Oh my god, I’m so excited to be doing this.” But also doing this with Robin [Schiff], who actually wrote the film. She is writing the script so we get to have all these gems that are from the film. And it’s such a quirky film. I love that it’s written in a quirky way, these women are quirky, and we’re definitely leaning into their quirks.

From what I understand, the composers, Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay, have primarily worked in the world of TV on shows like Weeds and Orange is the New Black. How would you describe the music of the show?

I definitely think it’s musical theater. But they are going into the genre of ’80s music and ’90s music — they’re definitely leaning into that. Like, I sing a song called “Everybody Wants Somebody” and it’s an ’80s, female rock ballad, Debbie Gibson situation. And it’s really fun to sing that style. And then there’s some songs towards the end that are really giving you, like, late-’90s Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys vibes. So it’s very, very poppy. And that’s the kind of thing you want, right? Because the soundtrack for the film was so amazing.

It feels sort of like fate that Mira Sorvino is on Broadway right now too, as Roxie in Chicago! Have you had the chance to meet her? Did she give you any advice about playing Romy?

It’s so crazy! No, we haven’t met yet. We were hoping to make that happen, actually, while we were in rehearsals. We were hoping to go see Chicago and we had a whole thing planned. And then there was so much material for us to learn, and so much material for her to learn, that it ended up being so crazy for all of us to meet. But hopefully we can make that happen.

Since the show is all about Romy and Michele going to their high school reunion, what was Laura Bell Bundy like in high school?

I was, like, the good little Catholic girl… who definitely wore midriffs and short skirts. But I was a floater. I never really had a clique. I had my friends that I was in classes with, my friends that I ran track and cross country with, friends from my other school who I’d known since first grade. And then I had kids that I did the play with. When I did the school play, the director of the school play was the mom of one of the football players. And she convinced a number of the football players to be in the play. So Glee, you know what I mean? So he was my high school boyfriend. And then I became really good friends with the football team. So, I was kinda friends with everybody.

I went to school in Kentucky. I was raised in Kentucky, but I spent a number of years in New York — from when I was 9 to 14 — and I did my first gay Pride parade at 10. So I had been exposed to so much, and then I moved back to Kentucky for high school. So I think that’s some of the reason why I was a floater, because I was kind of aware that, you know, people could think in a small way. Once your mind has been opened, you can’t squish it back in. But I loved high school, actually, and I had a great experience and a normal experience for someone who had been a child actor.

Have you gone to any of your own high school reunions?

I have, yes! I did go to my 10-year reunion and it felt really uneventful. I think people had kind of kept in touch… but, you know, we had Facebook. So nobody was really like, “What is this person doing?” Anybody can look up what anybody is doing these days. Now, I unfriend people for political reasons, but I see what everybody’s doing on Facebook. And I have kept in touch with a few folks. Most of those folks are the people that I had also gone to elementary school with. Those are the ones I really stay in touch with.

Do you understand the pressure Romy and Michele put on themselves to impress their classmates at the reunion?

I understand it, but I don’t have it. And I think that’s because I actually really was working and doing s–t. At my 10-year reunion, I had just done Legally Blonde, so I was like, “I ain’t got nothin’ to worry about when I walk back in.” Do you know what I mean?

But I’m more interested in what [my classmates are] doing. My most recent reunion was fun because everybody had kids. Like, the 10-year, nobody was married. This generation, they didn’t get married until they were in their 30s, and so everybody kind of came back alone for a 10-year. But for the next one, everybody had spouses and kids and that was more interesting. And this one person… I thought one person would be out by now, but no.

In the movie, Michele makes a mixtape for the trip back to Tucson of all of her and Romy’s favorite songs from high school. What would be on your high school mixtape?

Okay, my mixtape was The Chicks, like “Earl Had to Die.” Jo Dee Messina, “Bye-Bye.” Shania Twain. Clearly I was listening to a lot of country music. Garth Brooks. That was the country side. Then Tupac. Biggie. E-40. Wu-Tang Clan. “No Scrubs,” that was on there. “Don’t go chasing waterfalls,” TLC. And Salt-N-Pepa. It was just like hip-hop and country. The pop of my time was like, “Kiss Me” [by Sixpence Non The Richer] and I didn’t really like that stuff very much. So I didn’t put that on a mixtape. I just liked the country and the hip-hop.

Here’s a question I didn’t think I’d be asking today: Laura Bell Bundy, do you have a favorite Tupac or Biggie song?

Yeah! I mean, “Big Poppa.” “I love it when you call me big poppa/ Throw your hands if you’s a true playa!” Coolio. What else do we have? “1, 2, 3, 4, get your woman on the floor.” [Laughs]

So many theater kids love you for playing Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. I wondered if you had any thoughts about the parallel journeys that Elle and Romy and Michele take in their respective shows.

Yeah! They’re definitely both underdog stories, right? Elle goes on a mission to get her one true love and finds herself in the process. Everybody’s doubting her along the way, and she’s proving them wrong and proving herself wrong! But she has her own unique way of doing things that’s different than everyone else. And she finds success in doing those things in her way.

With Romy and Michele, they’re out to prove themselves, and they change themselves to try to get acceptance. And when they change themselves, they break up their friendship, and then realize, “Oh my gosh, this is what matters.” So when they move away from who they really are, that’s when they lose.

But when they find themselves again at the end and they’re like, “We’re gonna wear these crazy outfits and we’re gonna walk back into the reunion,” they’re being true to themselves. So both of those plots are about these people being okay with doing things their own quirky way and being their authentic selves. And they both have that “eff you” moment — where Elle tells Callahan to piss off and Romy and Michele tell Christie Masters to piss off. So there’s an interesting trajectory there.

Speaking of Christie Masters, I was so thrilled when I saw that Lauren Zakrin was playing her in the show. Did you ever think when you met her as a contestant on Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods that she’d be bullying you on stage all these years later?

No! No, I didn’t. I had no idea, but I love it. It’s great and she’s so good at it. She’s so hilarious. And her voice is just incredible. She’s really blossomed in this timeframe. It’s really fun.

What lessons do you hope fans take away from the show for when they go to their own high school reunions?

Hopefully people feel joy from the show. And if they’re going to their high school reunions, hopefully they don’t make up a story about their job, right? That they can just go in and feel comfortable to be who they are. Because I think that probably everybody thought they’d be further along than they are in their lives. Like, in some area of their life, you know what I mean? And who cares about the expectations of others? As long as you feel happy and you’re happy with where you are, that’s all that matters. Just go in and be curious about everybody else. I mean, I hope that’s what they think, unless they want to take revenge on somebody and they want to have their girl power moment that Romy and Michele do.

But I really think it’s all about the power of friendship. So many people that I’ve talked to who’ve either seen the show or are in the show have said, “This show has made me call my high school best friend and reconnect with them.” So I kinda hope that maybe it inspires that. But ultimately, I just hope it inspires joy and a bit of escape during these days — to come and see something and laugh and appreciate friendship.

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