‘Legally Blonde’ Sets Sail with Norwegian Cruise Lines

“Legally Blonde,” the Tony-nominated musical, will set sail on a new liner from Norwegian Cruise Lines early next year.

The Getaway, a 4,000-passenger ocean liner, will sail out of Miami in January 2014, and “Legally Blonde” will be performed in the Gateway Theater on the ship, which houses 787 fans.

“Legally Blonde” is based on the 2001 Reese Witherspoon movie of the same name, and opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre in April of 2007. When the run ended in October of the following year, it had performed 30 previews and 595 regular performances. That production gathered seven Tony nominations, including Best Original Score, Best Book, Best Actress (for Laura Bell Bundy) and Best Choreography.

The musical contains music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin. Heather Hach wrote the book.

The musical recently went on a UK national tour, and here’s how the story was described in notes for that production:

Elle Woods can handle anything. So when her boyfriend, Warner, dumps her she decides to follow him to Harvard Law School and win him back. With some help from new-found friends Paulette, Emmett and her chihuahua Bruiser, she learns that it’s so much better to be smart.

On previous musical cruises (which have presented “Hairspray” and “Chicago” on certain voyages on the Royal Caribbean company), the original productions were shortened, but there’s been no word yet if this production will follow suit.

Throughout the seven-day cruise, the Gateway Theater also will host productions of the ballroom dance spectacle “Burn the Floor.” The Broadway version of that show was directed and choreographed by Jason Gilkison and featured 32 champion ball room dancers.

The original film starred Luke Wilson and Selma Blair in addition to Witherspoon. It was written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, and directed by Robert Luketic.