Chattanooga’s reputation for launching national tours of Broadway musicals continues today and Saturday when “Legally Blonde, the Musical” opens at Memorial Auditorium.
The show, which is based on the 2001 Reese Witherspoon film comedy and the 2007 Tony Award-nominated Broadway play, leaves here for an eight-month tour. Its Chattanooga run is the opening production of the TAPA Broadway Series.
David Johnson, president of the Tivoli Auditorium Promotion Association, said there are a number of reasons companies repeatedly choose to begin shows in the Scenic City.
“It’s a past relationship where they know if they run into a technical problem, we can address it here,” he said. “We can help them resolve it.
“In the past, they have found we have a very good labor pool of union workers who are understanding about theatrics,” he said. “They know what needs to be done. Our pricing is also very competitive. And in the use of the facility, whether it’s the Tivoli [Theatre] or Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium, there’s a lot more room to spread out and see how to put the show together. They’re not in a tight theater where they don’t have a lot of room.”