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NEED TO KNOW
- Laura Bell Bundy and Kara Lindsay are set to star as the two leads in Romy & Michele: The Musical Off-Broadway, PEOPLE can exclusively announce
- “I’m so excited to play this iconic role that all I’ve had for the past six days are gummy bears, jelly beans and candy corn,” Bundy, who will play Romy Wite, joked to PEOPLE
- Of getting to play Michele Weinberger, Lindsay tells PEOPLE, “Stepping into her wildly fun, unapologetically unique shoes is an honor”
Two businesswomen’s specials coming right up, for Laura Bell Bundy and Kara Lindsay!
PEOPLE can exclusively announce that the pair will take on the lead roles of Romy White and Michele Weinberger, respectively, in the upcoming Off-Broadway production of Romy & Michele: The Musical, based on the 1997 cult-classic comedy Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.
In the original friendship-celebrating film that follows “the blonde leading the blonde,” Mira Sorvino — who is making her own Broadway debut on Sept. 15, as Roxie Hart in Chicago — plays Romy, while Lisa Kudrow plays her goodhearted (albeit slightly ditzier) fashion-genius best friend Michele.
Of taking over the role of the leader of the two friends, Bundy (Hairspray, Legally Blonde), 44, nods to one of Romy’s most memorable lines: “I’m so excited to play this iconic role that all I’ve had for the past six days are gummy bears, jelly beans and candy corn.”
“It’s gonna be better than ‘OKAY … OKAY?’ ” she quips in another nod to the film, whose screenwriter Robin Schiff also penned the book for the Kristin Hanggi-directed musical.
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Lindsay, 40, tells PEOPLE that she is “absolutely thrilled to be bringing the iconic character of Michele to life for the New York stage debut of Romy & Michele: The Musical,” which will feature “an ’80s and ’90s pop-inspired score,” per a release.
Of Michele, the Newsies and Wicked alum adds, “Stepping into her wildly fun, unapologetically unique shoes is an honor, especially alongside the phenomenal Laura Bell Bundy! These characters have such a special place in so many hearts, thanks to Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow’s brilliance in creating this eccentric pair, and I just can’t wait to get started.”
Joining the “feel-good joyride” musical’s cast alongside Bundy and Lindsay are Michael Thomas Grant as Sandy Frink/ensemble, Jordan Kai Burnett as Heather Mooney/ensemble, Pascal Pastrana as Billy Christianson/ensemble, Je’Shaun Jackson as Toby Walters/ensemble, Lauren Ashley Zakrin as Christie Masters/ensemble, Erica Dorfler as Kelly Possenger/ensemble and DeMarius Copes and Ninako Donville as members of the ensemble.
Schiff’s book will be complemented by music and lyrics from Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay, while Karla Garcia will choreograph and Keith Harrison Dworkin will handle music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations.
Barry Kemp, Stephen Soucy, Peter Schneider and Laurence Mark are producing the project, with Showtown Productions serving as executive producer.
Valerie Terranova
Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion follows Romy (Sorvino, 57) and Michele (Kudrow, 62), two women in their late twenties living their dream life in Los Angeles — or so they thought, until they receive an invitation to their 10-year high-school reunion that causes them to reevaluate their existences from everything to their subpar employment to their lack of respective love lives.
After putting their heads together to try and better their situation to no avail, the best friends resolve to pretend they are successful businesswomen who invented Post-Its to impress their classmates (including the mean-girl “A-Group”) before they road trip to Tucson, Arizona, to attend the reunion — and end up learning a valuable lesson about friendship and self-worth in the process.
Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion costarred Janeane Garofalo as Heather, Alan Cumming as Sandy, Camryn Manheim as Toby, Julia Campbell as Christie, Vincent Ventresca as Billy, Elaine Hendrix as Lisa Luder, Kristin Bauer as Kelly and Jacob Vargas as Ramón — with a pre-fame appearance from Justin Theroux as Clarence the cowboy.
Following years of buzz about a follow-up film, a sequel to the original movie was officially greenlit at 20th Century Studios back in January, to fans’ delight. Schiff is back to write the screenplay for the new movie, which will be directed by Tim Federle.
Tickets for Romy & Michele: The Musical, which begins preview performances on Oct. 14 with an opening night of Oct. 28, are on sale now.
