THE TIMES LEADER – Laura Bell Bundy Concert Preview
Laura Bell Bundy:
Bundy brings tunes and croons to JITH
By MIKE PALMER, The Ticket
July 8, 2010
Laura Bell Bundy is a Tony Award-nominated actress and singer who has been seen in a number of Broadway roles, both starring and supporting, as well as in television and film. For most people on the planet that sort of fame would be satisfying, however, this Broadway baby burned with another passion, country music.
Her biography states she was born April 10, 1981 in Lexington, Kentucky, "I was actually born in Euclid, Ohio," the country artist confessed she was born a Buckeye, "Although we were only there for a short time before we moved to Kentucky."
"Did a couple of shows in New York as a kid," Bundy stated all too modestly, as the actress made her stage debut at age 9, "My first job was in the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall," then moving on to originate the role of Tina Denmark in the Off-Broadway show Ruthless! "I'm not bragging, but Britney Spears and Natalie Portman were my understudies."
She returned to Kentucky at age 14 so that she could have a normal high school experience. All of this success was frustrating for the country girl from Lexington Catholic High School. Explaining that she had returned to New York in 1999 to attend NYU where she planned to run track. "I lived in New York with my best friend from Kentucky and we began writing music and formed a band," Bundy recalled. "Can you imagine, two young blonde Southern girls, playing country music in clubs in New York City that we were too young to get into."
To pay the bills Bundy was also seen on the CBS soap opera The Guiding Light as Marah Lewis for two years while in New York, (October 14, 1999 - October 29, 2001). Her agent kept her auditioning and Bundy was back on Broadway in 2002, in the Tony Award-winning musical Hairspray, originating the role of Amber Von Tussle. She was next seen in Wicked, then landed the lead role of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde: The Musical, for which she received her first Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.
Offstage, Bundy has appeared in films including The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993), Life with Mikey (1993), and Jumanji (1995) as Young Sarah Whittle. She appeared in the 2006 film adaptation of Dreamgirls as a member of the fictitious pop group Dave & the Sweethearts, as well as in television shows such as Veronica Mars, Happy Hour, Modern Men, Cold Case, and Strangers with Candy.
"People can look at that and go, 'You went from Broadway to doing country,'" she says. "I actually went from the country to Broadway. I'm from Kentucky and I always listened to country music. When I started writing songs, it all came out country."
Still, Bundy was torn, "My true passion has always been country music." The young actress decided to turn away from the Broadway lights and headed back to her roots.
Not unlike the comedy and tragedy masks that represent the theatre, her daring Mercury Records debut release, Achin' and Shakin' is a non-traditional mix of her two styles bundled into one album.
"I have two different sides of my personality," she explains. "On the one side I am a goof ball, I have a crazy, wild, humorous, outspoken personality, and then on the other I have a depth that only opens up when I am alone or with one other person, and that is captured within this album."
The aching side features smoky sultry ballads, "That old soul influence comes from my father, who is from Muscle Shoals, Alabama," Bundy said of slow and bluesy country songs, "It's a 1970's Country-Politan feel," including such laments as Cigarette and Drop On By."
The Shaking side is a group of sassy songs that are equal parts humor, confidence and attitude. The debut single, "Giddy On Up," is an irresistibly upbeat and saucy kiss-off to a cheating lover. The video for this release revels the comedic side of Bundy who stated that two entertainers who influenced her are Carol Burnett and Tracey Ullman.
While videos have been produced for many of the songs on the album, the country songstress explains that the visual that fans can expect at her live performance is a quite different and unique experience that is not to be missed.
Fans wishing to see the rising country star live can catch Laura Bell Bundy Saturday, July 17 at 4:15 pm when she is scheduled to perform at Jamboree In The Hills.
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