Smith to Depart West End's LEGALLY BLONDE 10/23

Actress Sheridan Smith will depart the West End's LEGALLY BLONDE on October 23, whatsonstage.com reports.  Smith, who plays Elle Woods, made the announcement via her twitter account. As previously reported on BroadwayWorld, Jennifer Ellison is being considered to replacEd Smith; however, no official announcement has been made.

In addition, actress Jill Halfpenny, who plays Paulette, is departing the show.  Director Jerry Mitchell will return to audition replacements for the departing cast members.  With Smith's departure, LEGALLY BLONDE will no longer hold Sunday performances.  In LEGALLY BLONDE, college sweetheart and homecoming queen Elle Woods doesn't take no for an answer. So when her boyfriend Warner (Richard Fleeshman) dumps her for someone serious, Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and heads for Harvard Law! Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style.

Directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winning Jerry Mitchell, LEGALLY BLONDE has music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin, book by Heather Hach, set design by David Rockwell, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Kenneth Posner and Paul Miller, sound design by ACME Sound Partners, and orchestrations by Christopher Jahnke.

The full cast since 16 June is Sheridan Smith (Elle Woods), Richard Fleeshman (Warner Huntington II), Jill Halfpenny (Paulette), Peter Davison (Professor Callahan) and Alex Gaumond (Emmett) who are joined by Emma Bateman (Stenographer), Dan Burton (Padamadan, Nikos), Darren Carnall (Kiki), Chris Ellis-Stanton (Grandmaster Chad, Dewey, Kyle), Nadine Higgin (Judge, Saleswoman), Ibinabo Jack (Pilar), Caroline Keiff (Vivienne Kensington), Amy Lennox (Margot), Suzie McAdam (Enid), Andy Mace (Dad, Winthrop, Reporter), Susan McFadden (Serena), Matthew McKenna (Aaron), Sorelle Marsh (Courtney, Mom, Whitney), Aoife Mulholland (Brooke), Sean Mulligan (Pforzheimer), Roxanne Palmer (Kate, Chutney), Sergio Priftis (Carlos), Tamara Wall (District Attorney) and Ed White (Lowell), as well as Fabian Aloise, Francis Haugen, Jane McMurtrie, Sherrie Pennington and Lucy Miller as swings.

Legally Blonde The Musical is produced in the West End by Sonia Friedman Productions, Robert G. Bartner, Ambassador Theatre Group, Bud Martin, Adam Zotovich, Jamie Hendry Productions, Matthew Byam Shaw and ACT Productions.

For tickets and more information, visit www.legallyblondethemusical.co.uk.

Photo Credit: Ellie Kurttz