smith was originally supposed to leave "legally blonde" on 23 october 2010, but she extended her run to 8 january 2011, when susan mcfadden took over the role. for her role in "legally blonde", smith won the whatsonstage.com theatregoers' choice award for best actress in a musical. she was also nominated for the natasha richardson award for best actress and was the winner of the laurence olivier award for best actress in a musical.