Bailey Hanks Finds Her Voice

When Bailey Hanks trampolines from Broadway onto the Lesher Stage in Diablo Theatre Company’s Legally Blonde, The Musical, you’d never guess she has a Tim Tebow fetish and at the age of 12 had never worn a drop of make-up.

“I’m a huge Denver Broncos fan. I live close to the Titans stadium (in Nashville), so whenever the Broncos come, I’m there,” she admits.

But for the past several months, there has been here, where she has been commuting from a guest house in Danville to DTC’s Pleasant Hill rehearsal studios.

The upcoming show, directed by Gia Solari with musical direction by Sean Kana, opens Friday and runs through March 3 at the Lesher Center for the Arts.

It offers Hanks a repeat reincarnation as Elle Woods, the high-heeled Harvard Law School knockout who packs her punch with smarts after being dumped by a boyfriend. Hanks won the chance to succeed Tony nominee Laura Bell Bundy on Broadway in a 2008 MTV reality competition. The prize came with a price.

“I had to play the role like she did,” Hanks explains. “There were beats, where you pause or stop in a line, that I was made to do. When I got here, it was a huge challenge to tear down the foundation of the Broadway version. Once I grasped that, I liked the role a lot.”

Her portrayal, she believes, is more “Bailey,” which means her Elle is Southern and touts a more mature singing voice.

“I put my own little flair in it,” she hints, avoiding a spoiler by politely refusing to detail her performance.

Hanks has also met her man, which wasn’t true when she first stepped onto the stage as Elle.

“His name is Jason Weidman and he’s not an actor,” she emphasizes, dropping another clue to the surprising package hidden behind her attractive and very blond exterior. She’s happy to have met a man she respects, but isn’t defined by the partnership.

The strength pushes even closer to the surface when Hanks recounts her most potent “dumped” experience. A serious relationship was turned on its two-timing head with her then-boyfriend’s announcement that he had proposed to another woman.

“That’s a man: They always want to keep their options open,” she says. “Women too—we’re all the same, but I found the one, so I don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

She’s not worried, but she is working hard to prepare for the demanding role.

“I’ve been working out because there’s not a stop sign in the show until I take my final curtain call,” she laughs.

Although most of her time has been at the gym or the rehearsal studio, Hanks has found extracurricular activities in Walnut Creek.

“Last night, we had a girls night and went to Maria Maria,” she begins, sounding stereotypically girly for the first time. “And if ever I go by the Tiffany store, I have to go in there.”

Did she leave with a little blue box?

“Not yet,” she confides, “but there’s a heart-shaped ring and earrings to match….”

Abruptly, her actor's sense of when she’s gotten off topic snaps on and the real Bailey Hanks is back in the room.

“I know how hard it was to be true to myself when I was in middle school. I hate when famous people say they were bullied and no, I was not bullied. But I was picked on because of doing theater, especially by boys.”

Hanks loves the show because it has a powerful female lead who doesn’t demean women and uses intelligence to make things happen.

“When she gets knocked down, she doesn’t come up with fists. It’s not only encouraging to women, but to teens especially. They think they have to dress or act a certain way, but [Elle shows] it’s not dirty dances that get her boyfriend back, it’s being smart. We should be preaching that to kids these days.”