THE touring cast for Legally Blonde The Musical at the Grand Opera House will be led by Faye Brookes as Elle, former Atomic Kitten singer Liz McClarnon as Paulette and stalwart man of the musicals Dave Willetts as Professor Callaghan.

They will be joined in the first British tour of the West End and Broadway hit by Iwan Lewis as Emmett and Neil Toon as Warner, playing in York from August 9 to 20 in its Yorkshire debut.

Legally Blonde The Musical won Best New Musical in the Whatsonstage.com Awards 2011 and was nominated for five Olivier Awards this year, going on to win Best New Musical, Best New Actress for Sheridan Smith and Best Supporting Role in a Musical for co-star Jill Halfpenny. Based on the Reese Witherspoon film, the musical finds college sweetheart and homecoming queen Elle Woods refusing to take No for an answer. When boyfriend Warner dumps her for someone serious, Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books and heads for Harvard Law School, accompanied by her loveable Chihuahua, Bruiser.

Brookes appeared in Grease in the West End; Lewis starred in Fame in the West End and Passion at the Donmar Warehouse, London; McClarnon performed in the arena tour of Jeff Wayne’s The War Of The Worlds; and Toon’s credits include Channel 4’s Hollyoaks and Les Misérables in the West End.

Willetts last performed on the Grand Opera House stage as runaway French plantation owner Emile de Becque in South Pacific in March 2008. The creative team is led by Tony Award-winning director and Olivier Award-nominated choreographer Jerry Mitchell.

Tickets for the August run can be booked on 0844 871 3024 or online at grandoperahouseyork.org.uk