Laura Bell Bundy is a Tony\u00ae Award-nominee. She\u2019s been a leading lady in the kind of shows that even people who don\u2019t go to musicals will recognize as big deals. She was the original Elle in the musical version of Legally Blonde. She\u2019s also played Glinda in Wicked on Broadway.<\/p>\n
But when she thought about going on tour, pulling together some of her favorite songs along with some behind the scenes stories that audiences love to be let in on, she decided she didn\u2019t want to do that by herself at least not this time around. \u00a0<\/p>\n
She and two other Broadway and Hairspray veterans \u2014 Tony\u00ae-nominee Kerry Butler and Tony\u00ae-winner Marissa Jaret Winokur \u2013 will be at the Hobby Center this Saturday in Mama, I\u2019m a Big Girl Now<\/strong>, singing any number of well-known songs. All three were in the original cast of Hairspray. Butler also originated Broadway roles in Beetlejuice, Mean Girls, Xanadu, and Little Shop of Horrors, just to name a few. Winokur won the Tony\u00ae-Award for portraying Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray.<\/p>\n Included in their review is music from Hairspray, Legally Blonde, Wicked, Beetlejuice, Xanadu, Gypsy, Sound of Music, Grease, Tina Turner, Little Shop of Horrors, Titanique, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Gloria Gaynor, There\u2019s No Business Like Show Business, Once Upon A Mattress, Annie, Ruthless, and Merrily We Roll Along.<\/p>\n \u201cThe show sort of charts our origin stories from getting into the business, to Hairspray, the things about Hairspray you might be surprised to find out. And then the rest of our careers, our lives, finding loves, becoming mamas ourselves,\u201d Bundy says.<\/p>\n \u201cTogether, we all came up with it together,\u201d says Bundy. \u201cWe wrote it, we directed it, we co-produced it when it was in New York.\u201d Initially, they didn\u2019t have projections but now they\u2019re a regular part of the show, giving audiences glimpses of them as kids and in their various Broadway roles.<\/p>\n In addition to the two shows they\u2019ll be putting on the same day in Houston, all three have to report for a morning sound check and rehearsal with the band \u2013 which Bundy readily admits makes for a very long day.<\/p>\n \u201cThe show is also very much about a 20-plus year friendship. We have supported one another. We\u2019ve been there for each other in our lives. We laugh at each other. We tease each other. You can feel that in the show. \u201c<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a review in the sense we\u2019re using popular songs, songs that you know us for singing. \u00a0We tell the stories of our lives using the songs. \u201c<\/p>\n Do audiences join in on their songs sometimes? Yes and they don\u2019t mind. In fact, they count on most everyone joining in on their final song: \u201cYou Can\u2019t Stop the Beat.\u201d<\/p>\n Performances are scheduled for Saturday, December 13 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Hobby Center, 800 Bagby. For more information, call 713-315-2525 or visit thehobbycenter.org. $40-$85.<\/p>\n