Curve’s Legally Blonde finds its Elle

Amber Davies has been cast as Elle Woods in the Legally Blonde UK and Ireland tour. Picture: Matt Crockett

Amber Davies will star as Elle Woods in next year’s new Made at Curve UK and Ireland touring production of Legally Blonde The Musical.

As previously announced following an opening run at Leicester’s Curve Theatre on 7 February 2026, the production which will play venues across the UK and Ireland up to 7 January 2027, will be directed by Curve’s artistic director Nikolai Foster.

Commenting on her latest leading role, Davies (The Great Gatsby, London Coliseum, 9 to 5 The Musical, Savoy Theatre), the former reality TV personality turned musical theatre star said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be playing the iconic role of Elle Woods in ROYO and Curve’s new production of Legally Blonde. As a huge fan of the film and the musical, this part is the role of a lifetime, and I am honoured to be stepping into Elle’s perfect heels. I have always wanted to work with the incredible theatrical mind that is Nikolai Foster, and I am so excited to hit the road again and bring Laurence O’Keefe’s incredible score back to the UK! Get ready Harvard… This is gonna be just like senior year except for funner!”

Further casting and creatives will be announced at a later date.

Based on the much-loved Reese Witherspoon film which in turn was based on the novel by Amanda Brown, the musical version of Legally Blonde features music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin and a book by Heather Hach.

Co-produced by Curve and ROYO, Legally Blonde The Musical will be choreographed by Leah Hill (Kinky Boots, UK and Ireland tour, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Curve/UK tour, The Wiz, Hope Mill Theatre) with musical supervision by Matt Spencer-Smith (Here & Now, Birmingham Alexandra/UK and Ireland tour, Dear Evan Hansen, UK tour), set design by Colin Richmond (The Little Big Things, Soho Place, The Wizard of Oz, UK tour), lighting design by Ben Cracknell (Clueless, Trafalgar Theatre, The Wizard of Oz, London Palladium) and sound design by Adam Fisher (Here & Now, UK & Ireland tour, Evita, London Palladium).

Announcing the production earlier this year, Foster and Curve’s chief executive Chris Stafford said: “Legally Blonde is firmly established in the musical theatre repertoire as a contemporary classic and it’s a pleasure to be reunited with ‘Little Miss Woods – comma – Elle’ in the 2020s. Laurence O’Keefe, Nell Benjamin and Heather Hach’s electrifying musical about empowerment, equality and the folly of judging a book by its cover remains pitch perfect and as relevant as ever.

“We have assembled a ‘mad props’ creative team and together we are looking forward to creating a fresh, fun and sunny SoCal production of this great musical. And following the incredible success of Kinky Boots, it’s a thrill to collaborate again with our friends at ROYO. We can’t wait to share the show with audiences across the UK and Europe after Elle takes over Curve early 2026. Whoever said orange is the new pink was seriously disturbed.”

The confirmed tour dates include a Christmas season at Brighton Theatre Royal from 14 December 2026 until 2 January 2027.

Presented by Curve and ROYO, the co-production follows on from the successful current co-production of Kinky Boots which is also directed by Foster.

Legally Blonde The Musical debuted on Broadway in 2007 and earned seven Tony nominations and 10 Drama Desk Award nominations during its Broadway run. Arriving in the West End two years later, it was nominated for five Olivier Awards – winning three including Best New Musical.

Angela Thomas