Bailey's first without the 6 pages ragging on her Bio...- Page 3

[FrontRowFirst]

Posted: 7/30/08 at 10:40am

I saw the show this past Saturday night as well (with all the understudies), but I walked away very impressed with Autumn as were the people I was with. So I guess I have to respectfully disagree with Bwaylover86, as my review of her is that she was wonderful in the ensemble.

Bailey was okay. Not bad, not great. It was her dramatic moments that I just didn't feel as much as in the past.

Amber Efe as Paulette was very, very different. But I have to say by the end of the show she had totally grown on me and I enjoyed her. Her take on the role is ENTIRELY different. Once you get past that, she's lots of fun to watch.

[Grand Motel]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 10:03am

I saw the show last night. I was surprised by how much I liked Bailey. Her singing voice is a bit off and she gets very shrill at times but it's forgivable because she's surprisingly pleasant to watch. She's a sharp dancer and not all over the place which I always felt Bundy was. She does look considerably younger than the rest of the cast especially in relation to Borle but it wasn't something I couldn't get past. I also agree her scenes with Orfeh were some of her best moments in the show by and large.

Ven Daniel, to put it as nicely as I can, is terribly miscast. There was no applause, no laughter, nothing, he even seemed to knock Orfeh off her feet (not in the good way) as he went down himself at the end of Bend & Snap. I'm surprised he was cast for the tour but now and again, someone slips through the cracks and I think this is one of those times.

The Palace was packed, they loved Bailey and the show, which no doubt will put allmylife in an absolute state of euphoria.


*before anyone asks, I can't say much about Autumn because I didn't pay much attention to her, sorry.

Updated On: 7/31/08 at 10:03 AM

[DefyGravity777]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 10:27am

I was there too last night. I agree about Ven. I liked his UPS guy but didn't like his Grandmaster Chad or Dewey. Did he actually knock Orfeh down of did she slip and fall? I absolutely loved Bailey. She was very refreshing to me. Her dancing was great as was her acting IMO. She went off pitch a LiL bit but nothing big. The only person I thought she made look old was Richard. She made the Delta Nu's look tall...LOL. She's so small. Seeing her next to Kate Shindle was kinda funny since Kate is 5'11" and Bailey's 5'1". Autumn didn't leave an impression on me since I was sitting in the balcony and couldn't even tell who she was. I only knew it was her during her "Elle and Warner were meant to be" line. I stage doored and it wasn't that nuts or anything. There was alot of people there but they were very well behaved. I met Kate Shindle(who appologized for turbo signing),Rusty Mowry,Cara Massey,Barry Anderson,Ven Daniel(who was an absoulute sweetheart and made up for me not liking him that much on stage),Stephanie Fittro,Emily Padgett,Kevin Pariseau,Jody Reynard,Autumn Hurlburt(who is absolutely GORGEOUS and tiny herself) and Bailey Hanks. Bailey was a total sweetheart and so ADORABLE. They kept telling her no pics and what was she doing,taking pics with everyone. They also told her to stay in one spot so we could move up to her and she couldn't stand in one spot. The guard was like "Are we gonna have to tie you to the barricades?" She laughed and said "OK I'm staying right here"...LOL. All in all it was a great show and I'm gonna say that I enjoyed Bailey more than I did Laura Bell Bundy.

[ecsnyc22]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 2:21pm

I took in the show at the Sunday (7/27) matinee, and thought it was okay. Bailey was proficient in the part, seemed comfortable on stage, but didn't surprise me, or bring something new and different to the role, which is what I would have liked. There was an understudy on for Paulette, who had some great moments, but played the role so broad, I felt like it lost some of the surprising poignancy that Orfeh brings to it. Christian Borle was great...I have actually seen the show three times, and he seems to give the same performance every time - in a good way. His vocals sounded great, and I thought that he and Hanks worked well together. The ensemble seemed a little sloppy, not as clean as I have seen it in the past (the girls more so than the guys), and there were some very obvious scenes that didn't work, the one with Dewey at the trailer sticks out to me.

It was by no means an unenjoyable experience, it was just sort of...average. Oh, Shindle was fine, and the new Enid had some really funny moments.

[SpellRENT777]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 3:32pm

I saw the Legally Blonde matinee this past Wednesday. I am going to start off by saying that I went into the show being a Bailey fan. I watched the reality show and although Bailey was never my favorite, I was rooting for her after her finale performances. She was so watchable and likable in my opinion. Once she won, two of my friends and I bought tickets to see her.

Let's start off with the general things.
Bailey, overall, was decent. Her first act was relatively flat (energy-wise and note-wise) but her second act SCREAMED Elle. So, if you average those two things out, it makes for a good performance.
Autumn. Oh lord, Autumn. She did well with her one-liner, but other than that, she wasnt good. She almost acted like she had something wrong with her the first act. And she messed up a few dance moves as well as the human delta nu sign. BIG waste of time in my opinion.
Ven Daniel was Ok at best. Physically, he was built but really white and it made it weird to look at him on stage. He needs a tan or something. His Dewey was completely forgettable. It got a lukewarm response. But, the audience seemed to enjoy his UPS guy. I didn't think it was anything special. A bit too cheesy for my taste though. And when he fell back when Paulette hit him picking up the pen, it was too comical and off that it didn't get a laugh or most of a response.
The biggest problem with the show that day was the lack of energy. The entire cast wasn't even trying. None of the first act numbers were electric. There wasnt even a spark. Christian Borle wasn't trying. His little dance move at the end of Chip on your Shoulder was nothing and during the ballad Legally Blonde he was just talking through the song. Annoying. Orfeh was good I guess, but a lot of her jokes she just threw away. Micheal Rupert? He basically missed her mouth when he tried to kiss Elle and was never really mean to anyone. Richard Blake, again wasnt trying much. Kate Shindle's legally blond remix dance moves were almost like she was mocking the whole show, worse than normal. And some of her big notes werent loud and you could barely tell they were there. Nicolette Hart didnt hit much of her jokes but did well overall. Tracy Jai Edwards lost SO much comic moments, she didnt even care. Pilar was SHRIEKING through some of the songs and almost laughing during legally blonde remix. Kate Rockwell wasn't that horrible, but again, she threw away most of her jokes. The ensemble on a whole was low energy and were just making it through the show. It was really disappointing. But, I would like to single out one person in particular. Manuel Herrara was terrible. His dance moves were half-assed, his acting was uninspired, and it read all over his face. He looked like he would have rathered being somewhere else. It was so frustrating that at one time, i screamed out "are you kidding me?!" during legally blonde remix. Overall, it was an uninspired and relatively bad performance by all.
The crowd was obviously a MTV crowd. The screamed for Bailey when she made her entrance (so did I) and hooted and hollered when Elle and Warner kissed. They were loud and didn't realize this was a real Broadway show. The audience erupted in yelling with the male on male kiss. It was so immature.

As for the numbers: Omigod You Guys was decent, Serious was nice, What you Want was a let down because of Manuel Herrera, Positive wasn't electric (it was funny because during the dance break, one of the girls just screams "YOU GO GIRL!" and no one else said anything)Ireland was good, Chip on your shoulder wasn't great(during one part, Bailey went too slow and then sped up. She messed up but recovered nicely)So Much Better was relatively flat, Take it Like a Man was heavenly (sung beautifully and really acted well) Legally Blonde was completely heartbreaking (so good), the remix was the first time in the entire show that I saw a spark in the cast, and the finale was really great.

Stage door was bad. We got there right after Bailey bowed and there for already girls who didn't see the show there. The barricades werent all set up so groups of little girls and there mothers squeezed in front of us. After a while, I just started screaming "THERES A LINE" and pointed behind me. It was ridiculous. Rusty Mowery, Ven Daniel (very nice guy), Cara Massey , Nicolette Hart(clad in a very small jogging sports bra and shorts), Kevin Pariseau, Nick Kenkel, and Barry Anderson all came out. The cast had a Q&A after the show and bailey had an interview so she didn't come out. Oh, and I think Enid came out too. Also, I saw Max Crumm come out of the stage door (maybe for Kate Rockwell?). It was really dissapointing that Bailey and the rest of the leads didn't come out but oh well.

Sorry for the long review, just wanted to say everything I could! Hope you enjoyed! haha

[winter_sky]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 6:01pm

Um, you screamed "Are you kidding me?" DURING the show? That seems pretty immature and makes your anger at others seem really hypocritical.

Also you "loved" the ballad but you also felt that Borle was just talking through the song?

Kyle is supposed to be Irish...he doesn't need to have a tan.

It's odd that you pick out Manuel for being the worst since his part is pretty insignificant, especially during What You Want.

Was anyone else there that day? This seems to be a particularly negative and biased review.

[DefyGravity777]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 6:25pm

WoW I'm glad I went to the 8pm show then or I would have slapped SpellRENT777 silly if I would have heard them say 'ARE YOU KIDDING ME" during the show.

[SpellRENT777]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 7:47pm

haha sorry, i didnt screamed that, i said it under my breath. I just said that for emphasis, sorry.

I loved Bailey's emotion in the song. Borle wasnt doing much in the song.

I understand he is supposed to be Irish and doesn't need a tan, it was just weird to watch, for me at least.

I picked him out because he was sticking out like a sore thumb. Although everyones energy wasnt at the top, he was basically just going through the motions.

For the record, the first time I saw the show, i loved it. This time, I just thought the entire cast's energy level wasn't that high, so sue me. Bailey overall was good, and so were the other cast members. The energy level and enthusiasm of the cast just wasnt perfect.

[DefyGravity777]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 8:16pm

Maybe they were saving up for the evening show. I thought there energy was great and the dancing(especially Bailey's) was incredible.
I agree about Ven. He has a farmers tan. He needs to tan the rest of his body not only his face,neck and arms...LOL. He was definately fit though.

Updated On: 8/1/08 at 08:16 PM

[cglaid]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 11:47pm

I saw the Wednesday evening show and although I was pleasantly surprised by Bailey, I didn't love it. I think that she really dumbed down the character as Elle. I know Elle wasn't written as witty/smart in the show as in the movie (I've seen Legally Blonde twice before this) but I felt like Bailey came across as extra dumb. Maybe it was the shrieky bits, or maybe it was that southern twang that came out but that's my take on it. Also, her emotional bits were painful to watch. They seemed too forced and unnatural. Her singing was crap during them as well.

I noticed that Orfeh wiped out during Bend and Snap... what happened there? She had her feet taken from under her.

Also, during the Serious reprise, Richard Blake sang "walking against common men" rather than among. It was weird.

And, during one of the numbers, sorry I cannot remember which, Bailey is in between Kate Rockwell (I believe, maybe Tracy) and Asmeret, Bailey looked over at Asmeret and gave her a huge smile and what did Asmeret do? Turned her head. Haha. It was a bit awkward.

Overall, the show was good, and I think in time Bailey will get it down. Her voice was a lot stronger than in the show, so I am assuming she has only upwards to go.

[OhSoWicked]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 11:50pm

What character is "Grandmaster Chad"? What song is he in??

[winter_sky]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 12:13am

It's one of the roles that Andy Karl played in the original cast. He's only in the song What You Want. It's the rapping part.
Updated On: 8/1/08 at 12:13 AM

[HometownGlory]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 1:19am

Slightly OT, there were a bunch of pictures (seriously, around 90) of Bailey in her put-in rehearsal around the time she opened. I only clicked through a few, and now I'm more curious. They were on JAMD (JAMT?) I believe...they don't work there anymore. Anywhere I could see those again?

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 1:55am

What is the "Dewey" role? I don't recall that part.

[DefyGravity777]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 7:28am

The guy in the trailer that was Paulette's boyfriend for 10 years. He has Rufus(the bulldog) also.

[Grand Motel]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 9:06am

Ven Daniel's knocked Orfeh off her feet in bend & Snap but it was during the evening show and Spellrent777, tell us what you really think.
Updated On: 8/1/08 at 09:06 AM

[cglaid]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 10:04am

Unfortunately, the Dewey joke was removed, during the trailer scene. The new Dewey doesn't have a puffed out stomach, in fact he has a six pack, so that whole joke was lost on him.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 10:36am

Slightly OT, there were a bunch of pictures (seriously, around 90) of Bailey in her put-in rehearsal around the time she opened. I only clicked through a few, and now I'm more curious. They were on JAMD (JAMT?) I believe...they don't work there anymore. Anywhere I could see those again?

You can go to JAMD and search them under Elle Woods or Bailey Hanks.

[OhSoWicked]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 11:21am

I saw Legally Blonde last night. I had student rush tickets so we were all the way on the end but super close, like I felt like we were on the stage. Bailey was much better than she was on the MTV show...and I didn't want her to win, I'm an Autumn fan, so for me to say Bailey was great is saying quite a lot. Her acting got a lot better - much less talking to the audience and more focus on the cast. A little fake during the emotional parts but leaps and bounds better than on the TV show. Thank goodness. She still had a southern drawl every now and then which was a bit jarring. She was fantastic in Act 1 and I think my favorite part of Act 2 was "Take it Like a Man".

Autumn was ADORABLE. My eye kept going right to her during the ensemble numbers; she was so cute and looked like she was having a great time, although some members here think she had a pissed off look about her. I don't doubt its a little bittersweet performing in the ensemble behind Bailey but hopefully she'll get to go on as Elle a few times.

Orfeh was such a highlight. I know Ireland seems really random but she sings the heck out of it. And I agree with whoever said that she looks much more like a mentor to Elle now. Anyone know how much longer she's going to be in it? Im disappointed I didnt get to see Andy Karl before he left.

I loved the show. It was really an entertaining night. I'm so happy that Bailey is doing well. It would've sucked if she, well, sucked. ha.

The playbills still say "MTV Winner" hahahaha.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 5:44pm

People seem to forget that Autumn actually has double the work load of Bailey. In addition to learning her own track, she is also the understudy so also has to learn Elle. So that would explain why she may still be a bit shaky in her own track. Of course, anybody who was not a fan of hers before is always going to be looking for the bad aspects of her performance rather than anything positive.

[winter_sky]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 8:50pm

She also has to learn Margot and Serena's tracks.

[artsed123]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 10:59pm

Wow. Your review is very thorough, SpellRENT777
Whendid you see the performance? Was it on the day of Bailey's debut? (July 23?)

[louisamayfoster]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 11:24pm

I saw LB 7/25 on a trip to NYC to see a few shows. I really didn't even know about the MTV competition until my daughter clued me in right before the show. I thought Bailey was totally entertaining - you go girl!! Keep learning, and I hope you have a long and happy career. We've seen the movie a few times and know the story well so I think it takes a person with sparkle like Bailey to keep the show fresh and fun.

[SpellRENT777]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 11:41pm

I saw the show on July 30th. It was a matinee.

FYI, my friends and I went back to the show yesterday night to meet the cast. Both Autumn and Bailey came out, as well as Ven, Kate Shindle, Nicolette Hart, Kate Rockwell, as well as a bunch of other cast members. Bailey was genuinely nice. She signed for absolutely everyone and took pictures towards the end. I was the first person on line and got her signature, then hopped back in line to get a picture (in the beginning they werent allowing her to take pictures but in the middle of the line she started). She was just as nice as the first time we saw her lol. Autumn was just devine as well. She signed for us and then when I asked for a picture, she said as long as we got it when she was walking down the line, then sure. But, when I took the camera out, she stopped and smiled (actually, her tongue was out a bit! haha). So sweet. Kate Shindle and Kate Rockwell were both very nice. Ven recognized us from the day before so we told him we came back haha and we chatted a bit. Nicolette was nice too. It was a great stage door experience!

[artsed123]

Posted: 8/2/08 at 1:40am

How was the energy of the show this time? Did Christian & Orpheh come out? Is it best to get in line first or towards the end? Was barricade there (when you got autograph & took the pictures)?