Disney is perhaps the most well-known member of the film industry who transforms their movie musicals into Broadway musicals. Other companies, however, are taking notice, and stepping into the fray. Legally Blonde: The Musical is produced by Hal Luftig, Fox Theatricals, and Dori Bernstein in association with MGM Onstage, Darcie Denkert, and Dean Stolber (notice - no Disney!), but broke new ground in Broadway’s continuing challenge of reaching new audiences.

In September of 2007, MTV recorded the musical in its entirety, and aired it the next month, with the stars of their hit show The Hills as hosts. Other musicals have also been recorded and aired on television, but only after their Broadway runs already closed. Legally Blonde was well into its run, having opened in April of 2007, and is still listed with no closing date on the Internet Broadway Database. In addition to the oddity of a recorded performance airing while the Broadway run was ongoing, few recorded musicals are picked up by cable television. They tend to be aired by the bastion of arts and public education on television, PBS, and interrupted by public service announcements and donation requests, instead of ads for cars, fast food, reality shows, and Vegas vacations. Musicals that are adapted into a film version, such as The Sound of Music or South Pacific, travel more easily to cable than recorded versions of the stage productions. »Read More

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