The show tells the story of Elle Woods, a sorority girl who enrolls at Harvard Law School to win back her ex-boyfriend Warner.

Throughout the show, very few characters have faith in Elle, with the exception of her aesthetician Paulette, but she manages to surprise them when she defies expectations while staying true to herself.

The original cast starred Laura Bell Bundy as Elle, Christian Borle as Emmett, and Richard H. Blake as Warner.

Following this, a reality television program aired showing the audition process for the next person to play Elle Woods on Broadway.

Elle is devastated and stays in her room for twelve days ("Daughter of Delta Nu"), but decides to follow Warner to Harvard Law School to prove that she can be serious.

Instead of writing a personal essay, Elle bursts into the Harvard admission offices backed up by a squad of cheerleaders and frat boys.

Paulette tells Elle that all bad hair decisions are motivated by love and reveals her dreams of meeting a handsome Irishman.

Paulette says that Enid practices family law, Vivienne is training for the Peace Corps, and Warner dropped out to pursue a modeling career.

The original Broadway cast included Laura Bell Bundy in the lead role of Elle Woods and featured Christian Borle, Orfeh, and Michael Rupert.

[7] The show received mixed reviews and was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Original Score and Best Leading Actress in a Musical, but did not win any.

[11] The runner-up, Autumn Hurlbert, also debuted on Broadway in this show as a sorority sister in Delta Nu, as well as serving as Hanks's understudy.

[19][20] The original London cast included Sheridan Smith in the lead role of Elle Woods, with Duncan James, Alex Gaumond, Jill Halfpenny and Peter Davison.

[23] The West End cast of Legally Blonde performed a medley from the show at the BBC Television Centre on November 19, 2009, during the Children in Need telethon.

Other notable replacements included Richard Fleeshman and Ben Freeman as Warner, Denise van Outen and Natalie Casey as Paulette, Lee Mead and Stephen Ashfield as Emmett, Carley Stenson as Margot, and Siobhan Dillon as Vivienne.

Amy Lennox covered as Elle for the Aberdeen run of the tour, with Stephen Ashfield briefly reprising his role as Emmett just weeks after leaving the show in London.

The cast included Lucie Jones as Elle Woods, David Barret as Emmet, Liam Doyle as Warner, Rita Simons as Paulette, Helen Petrovna as Brooke, and Laura Harrison as Vivienne.

[31] A production directed by Lucy Moss and choreographed by Ellen Kane ran at London's Regent's Park Open Air Theatre from 13 May to 2 July 2022, [32] starring Courtney Bowman as Elle, Michael Ahomka-Lindsay as Emmett, Lauren Drew as Brooke, Vanessa Fisher as Vivienne, Iz Hesketh as Margot, Nadine Higgin as Paulette, Alžbeta Matyšáková as Enid, Eugene McCoy as Callahan, Grace Mouat as Pilar, Alistair Toovey as Warner, and Hannah Yun Chamberlain as Serena.

This production received mixed to negative reviews, with The Times awarding just two stars out of five and Quentin Letts remarking that "Moss’s direction fails to create a contrast" between variety and condescension.

Legally Blonde has had international productions in South Korea,[34] China, Malaysia, Japan, the Netherlands,[35] the Philippines,[36] Sweden, Finland, Austria,[37] Dominican Republic,[38][39] Panama,[citation needed] New Zealand,[40] Germany,[41] Indonesia[42] and Belgium.

[49] The cast included Ania Bukstein as Elle Woods, Oz Zehavi as Emmett, Sassi Keshet as Professor Callahan, Hana Laszlo as Paulette, and Mei Finegold as Brooke.

The cast included Lucía Ambrossi as Elle Woods, Íñigo Etayo as Emmett, Maia Contreras as Paulette, and Ricky Merino as Wagner.

Ben Brantley, reviewing the musical in The New York Times, wrote that the show was a "high-energy, empty-calories, and expensive-looking hymn to the glories of girlishness".

"[62] Clive Barnes, in his New York Post review, praised Heather Hach's book but criticized the "amorphous, synthetic, and maniacally empty-headed music", summarizing the show as "a pleasant if noisy night out".

[63] Elysa Gardner for USA Today wrote that the musical was an "ingratiating trifle", and the "game cast ensure that the proceedings, however patronizing, aren't irritating.

"[64] Jeremy McCarter in New York Magazine lamented that the musical "doesn’t summon memories of Tracy Flick, the steely student-council campaigner that Reese Witherspoon played in Election before starring in Legally Blonde", writing that the "Flickish manic drive" in Witherspoon's Legally Blonde performance had been his favorite part of the film.

Benedict Nightingale in The Times wrote, "Let's overlook some forgettable tunes and welcome dance that embraces everything from skipping with ropes to spoof Riverdance.

Tim Walker wrote in The Sunday Telegraph: "It is a great big empty vessel of a show that makes a lot of noise and not much else, and would have been better entitled 'Irredeemably Bland'.

[68] Before previews, a promotional sampler CD was released including "Omigod You Guys", "So Much Better", and "Take It Like a Man", featuring a slightly divergent cast, arrangement and lyrics of that of the final show's.

(labelled on the sampler as "Gay or European"), "Blood in the Water", "Omigod You Guys", "Serious", "What You Want", "Legally Blonde", "Legally Blonde Remix", "So Much Better", and "Take It Like a Man", in addition to two songs not present in the finalized version of the show: "Beacon of Positivity" (which became "Love and War" for the previews and eventually "Positive" for the finalized version of the show) and "Good Boy", a song in the place of "Ireland".

[70] Bailey Hanks, who won the reality show The Search for Elle Woods, recorded the song "So Much Better", which was released as a single on July 22, 2008.