Laura Bell Bundy and Kara Lindsay are such beloved fixtures of the musical theatre scene, you might think they've been friends for decades. Bundy had us rolling in the aisles creating iconic roles like Amber Von Tussle in Hairspray, or Elle Woods in Legally Blonde; while Lindsay has been giving us similar convulsions as Katherine in Newsies and Glinda in Wicked. But, somehow, the two had never worked together before co-starring in Romy & Michele: The Musical, which opened October 28 at Stage 42.

But, the comedy queens say, they certainly knew of each other. And once they met, the connection was instant—which is why they ended up being perfect casting for Romy (Bundy) and Michele (Lindsay), two best friends who scheme to roll into their 10-year high school reunion as Most Successful by making up that they invented Post-Its in the decade after they graduated. The cult-favorite film has gotten the stage musical treatment via its screenwriter, now-book writer Robin Schiff, with an original score of songs with music and lyrics by Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay.

While the new screen-to-stage musical was still in previews, Playbill sat down with both to talk all things Romy & Michele. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

I watched this movie just recently getting ready for this, and I was surprised at how good it is—and how sweet it is! I really hadn’t remembered that about it.
Laura Bell Bundy: Yeah, and the musical is even sweeter. I had seen it as a teen or a pre-teen, and then I went back and watched it with adult eyes, and I had the same experience, of like, this shit is funny. I watched it with my husband and we were laughing out loud. I didn’t have an obsession with the movie growing up. It was just a fun ‘90s movie, girl power, underdog, very silly that they’re lying about this thing and they’re covering up this lie which makes you feel so uncomfortable. You’re like, “don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it.”

Well yeah, I was also thinking this story has to pre-internet!
Kara Lindsay: When you see our show, the first think you say is “B.G., before Google.” So yeah, we set that precedent. And there is a giant Saved by the Bell phone, all of that.

What charmed me about the movie is it really seemed like more than just a buddy comedy. This story about these two best friends who are soul mates, something more than friendship but not quite romantic, which felt novel.
Bundy: I think we all have one. I think we all have that platonic friend that is our ride or die. The friend you can be silly with, serious with, deep with, your total self with—someone who sees you and understands you. I hope that everyone has that one person, because they don’t come around a lot. You have to cherish them. It’s a soulful thing, almost inexplainable when those connections happen.

Lindsay: And I think that’s the other thing the show is about. It’s about friendship, but it’s also about authenticity within that friendship, allowing each other to be authentic. That’s where their connection comes from. It’s like, "I see you, and I want to be you."

Bundy: They energize each other because they view the world so similarly.

Lindsay: I think what’s funny about Michele is, yes, she’s perceived as dumb, but I think she’s actually quite smart in a social aspect, or in her values. She values connection and her people and being herself, and that’s what’s important. That’s what she teaches Romy.

Did you two know each other before working on this together?
Bundy: We were teaching master classes in Midland, Texas, or something years ago. I was pregnant at the time, and Kara was wanting to be pregnant, and we talked about that. That was our point of connection. And we followed each other on Instagram, but that was it. And when I saw you had a kid, I was so happy because I knew how much that meant to you. And obviously I followed your journey with what you went through with health stuff. But this is the first time we’ve worked together.

Lindsay: And I told Laura Bell, I saw her in Legally Blonde. Sat in the front row and guffawed. Instant fan. And then when I got to work with her doing those master classes, I was geeking out. And then we both had boys, one year apart! They’ve gotten to hang out—we went apple picking!

So how do you develop this friendship and make us think it's decades in the making onstage?
Bundy: I’m gonna tell you something. It’s unexplainable, but this shit was instant. Instant connection, instant understanding. And on so many levels. As actors, yes. With instincts, yes. We’re in the same place in life and now doing this show together, approaching this material with fresh eyes together. And so then we just started to get silly and crack each other up. I think the first day or two of rehearsal we learned “The Coolest Person I Know,” and I couldn’t get through it without crying!

Lindsay: It was an instant connection, that deepened both working together and in life. We connected over our real life. Our career is also very important, but our babies are most important, and our life is most important.

Bundy: We’re both able to compartmentalize and help each other compartmentalize when it’s necessary, when it’s time to focus on family or time to focus on the show. And we’ve really had each other’s backs in this process.

Leading a company as a duo must be so different than when it’s a Legally Blonde and it’s really all you.
Lindsay: There are times that things happen and I get lost, and I always look up and Laura Bell knows what’s going on. This is my teammate—and I’m so grateful.

Bundy: And sometimes I don’t know what the dance moves are, and I give Kara a look—and then we’re all okay. It’s nice having a partner.

Lindsay: And it’s funny because it makes us start mirroring Romy and Michele. Like everything that Laura Bell is doing, I’m like, “Yeah, I’m going to do that too.” She’s decorating her dressing room, so I’m like I’ll do that too.

So—I want to know what your high school experiences were like.
Bundy: I lived in New York and was a theatre kid from the ages of nine to 14, like performed in my first gay pride parade at 10. It was interesting being a kid from Kentucky but living in New York and going to school with fellow professional children. And my mom and I had been living away from my dad for five years, which was tough on their marriage. And I think I was craving a real high school experience versus what I was experiencing, and I think my mom wanted to give me that too. So I went back to Kentucky. I went to the high school that my mother went to. My mom ran track, I ran track and cross country. I loved learning—I love school. I did do the school play every year. I dated the linebacker on the school football team—which is to say I never had a clique. I was offended when people got made fun of. I was a floater, from group to group. I had friends in all of my classes, across all the groups.

Lindsay: I was not a professional child. I was a child in Rochester, New York, and I went to public school. I did grow up doing show choir, and I did competition dance. But I also played soccer and basketball. I had a few different friend groups. Like, I’m still on a text chain with my show choir group from high school, middle school. Eight friends from that long ago and we’re still in touch, which is so amazing. There’s something about doing theatre with people—you have to go into your deep self and you’re learning how to do that for the first time in high school and middle school, doing these shows together. So we’re really tight.

What was it like going to your 10-year high school reunion? I think both of you would definitely have already been known entities by then.
Bundy: Well, it was weird because I had kept in touch with people, so it was pretty casual. A lot of them knew what I was up to. My hometown paper wrote about me being in these shows, so they knew what was going on. For me, it was just fun to get a sense of where everybody was living. Our generation doesn’t get married as early. Maybe one or two already had kids, but… yeah, it’s different than Romy & Michele.

Lindsay: I actually couldn’t go to my 10-year reunion because I was doing Newsies. I really wanted to go, but I couldn’t.

Laura Bell, what is the secret to that iconic Romy voice that you do so very well.
Bundy: It’s like… It’s like Keanu Reeves meets Philadelphia. I didn’t have to work on it. I heard her and just knew what it is. It was like an immediate thing, which helped me know the role was right. But also, if you heard our writer, Robin [Schiff], talk, it’s her. She has a lighter version that is more whispery and she takes her time more. But that’s her voice.

See and it’s funny to me because while this role totally is right for you, it does also seem like a more sedate style of comedy than we’re used to seeing from you.
Bundy: Yeah, the voice takes it down, which is new for me. But I also feel like my version of Romy is slightly more energized and is more focused on discovery. And it’s for the stage, so it’s definitely different than having a camera right there in your face. It has to be bigger.

Lindsay: You’ve also locked into an athleticism. Your Romy is a force, and has this strength about her that I think you’ve locked into.

What makes being themselves so easy for Romy and Michele when so many of us spend our entire lives trying to be that free?
Bundy: They’re a lesson in it not being about where you go,it’s about who you’re with. And when you learn that in life, you just start to move towards those people. You start spending time with the people that see you and understand you and value you, that you can be yourself with. Romy and Michele already have that. When they lose it, they feel that loss.

Lindsay: And they lose it because of the lie! They’re being the opposite of their authentic selves. I know in my own personal life, I strive to be my authentic self. And I have to say, being met with your own mortality with cancer, being of a certain age, when you become a parent—these big life things you go through, your priorities are set in place. Perspective is immediate. For them in their sweet little life, losing each other is the thing that puts perspective into place for them.

Bundy: They have to lose it, take it apart, to value what they have.

What do you think this musical version brings us that’s unique from the movie?
Lindsay: It’s fun to experience those iconic moments live, and with live people. And I’ll say there’s certain moments in our show that are different than the movie. We’ve tied up certain relationships in a different way than the movie did, which is fun. And the music… we’ve got an original score of ‘80s-, ‘90s-style music, and I love that.

Bundy: I also think these writers went deeper into the emotional bond between Romy and Michele. We see that even stronger. And into what differentiates them. It helps us find these characters and add a little bit of new life to it. And the songs are funny, and you see us dancing—and how weird we dance!

Lindsay: We dance weird!

Buy tickets to Romy & Michele: The Musical here.

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Photos: Romy & Michele: The Musical Off-Broadway

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