Sheridan Smith, rumoured to be playing the lead

Directed by Stephen Daldry (The Hours, Billy Elliot) and choreographed by Peter Darling (Billy Elliot), the show will feature numbers by Lily Allen and Greg Kurstin, and a script by the author of the original books, Helen Fielding.

Sheridan Smith, recent star of Trevor Nunn’s Flare Path at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre, is tipped to play Bridget.

The musical is being developed by Working Title, who are currently in development on a third Bridget Jones movie.

2012 will be a big year for Daldry, who is producing the London Olympics opening ceremony with Danny Boyle, and directing Disney’s Dumbo on Broadway.

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Sheridan Smith

Confirming the date via her Twitter page, Smith will leave the show on 23 October 2010. Producers of the show are auditioning a number of actresses for the lead part of Elle Woods in the stage adaptation of the hit movie Legally Blonde.

Sheridan Smith is best known for her TV roles including Two Pints of Lager & A Packet of Crisps, Grown Ups, Love Soup, Benidorm, The Royle Family and Gavin and Stacey.

She has recently been filming a one-act Chekhov play for Sky Arts alongside Gavin and Stacey cast mate Matthew Horne. The play, The Proposal, is part of a short series celebrating the 150th anniversary of the playrwight, to be broadcast this November.

Sheridan also performed recently in a workshop version of a new musical based on Helen Fielding’s book Bridget Jones’s Diary, with music by Lily Allen. Stephen Daldry, director of the film and stage version of  Billy Elliot, will helm the project if it goes ahead. The show would also reunite Daldry with producers of the Bridget Jones and Billy Elliot films and stage shows Working Title Films, plus choreographer Peter Darling.

Book tickets to Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre in London