Sorority girl hits the big time

Bailey Hanks has yet to stage her Broadway debut, but already she’s got an entourage worthy of Patti LuPone.

Surrounded by a team of publicists, family members and plates of sandwiches, the 20-year-old sorority girl from Anderson, S.C., was preparing Tuesday to take over the role of Elle Woods in the musical “Legally Blonde” at the Palace Theater.

Last month, Hanks was a nobody. Tonight, she becomes a leading lady, playing the pink-loving heroine in a show beloved by teen and ‘tween girls who, like, seriously know all the words to the songs.

Hanks was hand-picked by director Jerry Mitchell out of a group of 10 aspiring Elles on the MTV reality show “Legally Blonde the Musical: The Search for Elle Woods,” which premiered in early June. The finale aired Monday night. Hanks replaces Tony-nominated Laura Bell Bundy.

In a life-imitates-art moment, a bunch of girls from Hanks’ real-life sorority -- the Gamma Phi Beta chapter of Coastal Carolina University, where she studied musical theater until her big break -- will show their support from the audience.