OMIGOD! A World Premiere (Legally Blonde SF Video)- Page 7

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 1/31/07 at 8:20pm

I really think shows like this should open in london,we seen to enjoy and appreciate the fun out going shows more than the broadway crowd,
Whilst shows like Cabaret,Sunday in the park with george,Moustrap,woman in black,All the RSC shows etc etc etc do very well here we also know that its the friday and saturday crowds who will flock to Fame( 10 year run) Footloose(hit show),grease(always around) etc etc

Its the big fun campy shows that are giving London record breakking attendence figures,and london knows it needs them.

Shows like LB are there to serve a purpose,ive seen LB(i wont say how) and its well written,has some great choreography(im a dancer) and is well acted.The show still has some kinks to work out but no more than other shows do on there try-outs.

You cab watch a movie trailer and think "wow that looks awfull" but see the film and love it(as has happened many times)but untill you have seen the finshed product i dont think you can pass judgment.

What makes me sad is that the producers,actors etc in theese shows look on theese sites and see what people are saying during try outs(belive me i know) and some of the things been said are just awfull(by people who havent seen the show)

It could flop,it could be a hit,there is no point trying to guess(look at les mis ,people diddn't think that would run and people thought Wicked would crash and burn)

Give them a chance and your support

ps sorry about spelling and grammar its not my strong point hehe

[carymetorent2]

Posted: 1/31/07 at 8:41pm

First of all, the voices in this show are incredible. I am not a big fan of Christian Borle's voice (although he has a nice voice), but besides that, everyone sings their hearts out. They definitely don't sound squeaky, except for Annaleigh who is playing Margot and I definitely think it's a character trait.

Second of all, I went to the show three nights in a row and all three nights, I was not surrounded by teenybopper girls. It was about 50 percent people who seemed to be in the 40-60 age group and then the other half was a mixture of people from their teens to tweens all the way up to their mid twenties. I remember, on Sunday night, I was sitting behind a row of elderly couples who all laughed their butts off and got up at intermission and started raving about the show and how "cute" it was.

It's fun. It is a fun show. A lot of the jokes and better songs were left out of the clips and I don't really understand what they were trying to accomplish with those clips. If they were trying to tease people, they failed.

I adore "Bend and Snap" but my favorite part actually belongs to Leslie Kritzer and her rapping in the beginning.

The choreography is reminiscent of a cheerleading squad, but it suits the Delta Nus who do most of the dancing. And while some of them aren't realistically appearing the age of sorority girls, a lot of them pull it off quite well. Annaleigh as Margot was COMPLETELY believable and she is also amazing. The dog is not used that much in the show. They don't overdo the animal factor, they use it just enough so that it is cute.

[kim1061]

Posted: 1/31/07 at 9:35pm

Thanks for the link to the article. It was pretty interesting. I can only imagine how nervous people must be because having any type of animal in a show is very nerve-wrecking.

[bella cantato]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 12:46am

I adore Christian Borle but his song sounds like someone sat on a piano! Ugh! Here's to hoping there are some revisions before it heads to New York!

Everything else, though, I really enjoyed! The dog was soooooooooooooooo cuuuuuuuuuuuteeeeeeeee!!!!!

[HumATune]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 12:52am

I'm a few years past what I imagine the demographic for this show is, but I enjoyed it. I just find it good escapism for 2.5 hours. But I do think it may have a problem because it’s not a “family” show; therefore, it may not have a wide enough audience it’ll appeal to. I’ve seen Lion King and Mamma Mia over here on the West Coast, and while I find both shows worse than Blonde, they have a wider demographic they appeal to.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 1:00am

I'm curious.
How exactly do you guys suggest they make the show appeal to a broader demographic? After I thought about it, I think that in choosing the film to adapt, they inadvertantly decreased the possible audience who would most likely want to go see it. I'm not really sure it's possible. Prove me wrong and you get a cookie.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 1:14am

It just has to do with marketing. Making it come off as a fun, fluffy, girly-girl show isn't going to get many people in the seats. Look at "Movin' Out." If they had advertised that show as a ballet instead of a show with Billy Joel's music, I don't think most people would have gone to see it, but it managed to become very successful.

And the fact that I feel dumber by just watching the clip is not a good sign. It seems like the show has an IQ of 2. The jokes seem very obvious. What ever happend to go ol' wit and understated humor?

[B3TA07]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 1:22am

^Lestat sucked it dry. And by sucked I don't mean blood.

Updated On: 2/1/07 at 01:22 AM

[B3TA07]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 1:22am

Double Post 8(

Updated On: 2/1/07 at 01:22 AM

[lindas13]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 6:48am

Freedom of opinion and speech is of course what this board and life is about...but was that really a correct thing to say about Laura? First off I clearly disagree, I think she is beautiful. But criticize or critique the musical, the parts the songs the girls the guys, the dancing etc...but to say someone is unattractive sounds like someone is jealous. I think you need to improve your manners.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 8:36am

(Carymetorent)- In my years of theatergoing, I now realize that when someone says a show is "cute" isn't the greatest compliment you can give. Same with "it's a fun show." "It's a fun show" has that undercurrent of "well, it's fun, but...."

Granted, I haven't seen LB yet so I can't make ANY judgement whatsoever.

Just something I've noticed through the years.
Updated On: 2/1/07 at 08:36 AM

[carymetorent2]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 12:06pm

Yankeefan, I understand what you're saying, but I can't think of a better word to describe it. Perhaps heartwarming. There are bright colors and Lifetime story messages along with very modern choreography and to me that equals fun fluff, which I have always enjoyed.

Fun flufff with a very talented cast.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 12:20pm

Cute = death sentence.

I actually just watched that entire segment...and it's absolutely horrible.

It will flop. Mark my words. HORRIBLE.

[lindas13]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 1:01pm

Maybe I am just an old gal with young thoughts, maybe somewhat longing for my youth and to feel that giddy again,when is the last time any of you were in a college sorority house(gag)? but it is kinda fun and frivilous heck I like that I have grown old but my heart remembers. Heaven help me I watched HANNA MONTANA(television not art) a couple of weeks ago, all day...lol... and I loved it.Sometimes it doesn't hurt to have fluff and fun and laughter... wish there was more of it. I will be honest I am sick to death of all the stern reality stuff and I am 55 years old.
and in my non professional opinion....Miley Cyrus (of Hanna Montana can sing her backside off)and I did not mind watching Billy Ray play her dad...

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 1:29pm

People are really getting confused on this thread. Those of us who are criticizing the clips are not trying to be "snobs." I personally do not have any trouble with fluff as long as it is witty, well-executed, and respects my intelligence.
One of the major purposes of art is to entertain. There are shows like The Drowsy Chaperone, Hairspray, Avenue Q that manage to be unabashedly entertaining without providing anyone with headache-inducing songs (such as that horrific OMIGOD song and its reprises) and they even manage to make a point at the end of the evening. Those clips from Legally Blonde show a whole lot of fluff but nothing else, the choreography seems pedestrian, the stage always looks too crowded, the cutesy voices could be part of a Soviet Union torture chamber, and the songs are forgettable and unremarkable.
Now, even if the show is actually good, Rentboy has a point. They have a marketing problem. The show will not survive with 15 year-old girls and gay boys. One of the reasons Little Women flopped was because it was advertised as a mother-daughter show, guess what? That's not enough. Notice the musical hits from the past two seasons: Jersey Boys, Drowsy Chaperone, Spamalot, Pajama Game et al. Legally Blonde is in GREAT need of a show doctor like Tommy Tune.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 3:07pm

I don't have high hopes for this show either - but not becasue i think it looks lousy. I actually think it looks very adorable, fun, the music is stupid but catchy, and i think the cast seems to be very talented.

The problem here is that all of these shows come off as major "Hairspray" ripoffs, in my opinion. The formula was done, it worked, but it's time to move on. Packing sugar and rock-pop belting into any comedy movie could very conceivably work as a musical (and I'm sure "Legally Blonde" does) but it's been done, and since "Hairspray" was so perfect in that respect, it makes it very difficult to top it without unanimously awesome songs and real star power behind it, two things "Legally Blonde" does not have.

Also, marketing is a mess. If you're going to have a hit on Broadway, it needs to appeal to everyone in the family. The reason shows like "Wicked" survive is because you buy five tickets when you go see it, one for every member of the family, and with the way this show has been marketed (although i have no idea how else you would market it) I guarantee that Dad and little Johnny aren't going to want to walk within fifteen feet. It's great if older people have seen it in San Fran and liked it, but that doesn't mean that older people on the opposite side of the country are going to want to get up and go see it.

[questeclectic]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 6:07pm

For what it's worth, I went to the preview of LB on Sunday. I must admit this was never a show I would have chosen for myself. Didn't see the movie to begin with, and I'd been given a 3-song preview CD that was being passed out at some local shows recently. My reaction to the CD was that the music was a rehash of every show you've seen for the past 20 years.

So I did not go expecting anything, but I had a 12-year old niece with a birthday, and there I was.

Two words: pleasantly surprised. The show is well cast, the actors sing their hearts out, there's some great dancing, and the story while slight has more to hang a show on then many hit shows. Sure the opening is right out of Bye Bye Birdie for staging, and the songs are certainly not Kander and Ebb, but it's catchy and enjoyable if you give it a chance.

The buzz in the rest room line at intermission was that the show was stronger in previews than Wicked, which also previewed in SF, and folks seemed pleased overall. There were some grumbly ladies next to us who thought it was "not sufficiently rehearsed" but really, don't go to see an early preview if you don't understand the tradeoff between the incredible energy of a work in progress and the polish you'll find further into a run.

Did everything work? Of course not. It's a preview. Do the video clips serve this show well. No, not really. Their marketing campaign is weak....I don't know if they've figured out how to sell the show other than going for the movie audience. And the clips - which are of rehearsals naturally - don't segue well.

Net: I'm going back again this Saturday and taking a friend. It's a fun show with potential, and I want to see what they've been able to tune over the last week.

All shows are not for all people. The night I saw Cats was the longest night I've ever spent in the theater...and not in a good way. (No, I take that back. The Seattle premiere of "In the Penal Colony" - a Philip Glass opera of a Franz Kafka work - was even longer.)


Updated On: 2/1/07 at 06:07 PM

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 6:18pm

Thanks for that.

[legallyblondemusical]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 6:45pm

Have you noticed the trend emerging in feedback from people who haven't seen the show vs. the ones who have? Having someone who hasn't even see it say that it's in GREAT need of a show doctor is just laughable. Yes, better decisions need to made about publicity and marketing but really...

[teh_pretty]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 7:25pm

Says the person with "Legally Blonde" in their screen name.

They are judging the clips, NOT the show.

[TWSFan4Ever]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 7:30pm

Nope, sorry, they've been judging the show way before the clips were here.

[legallyblondemusical]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 8:03pm

"They are judging the clips, NOT the show."

Exactly that's why the comments about the show being in need of a doctor and it's imminent demise are just ridiculous.

"Says the person with "Legally Blonde" in their screen name."

Legally Blonde is in my name but that doesn't mean I haven't provided an equitable distribution of opinions about the show. Just check my posts.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 8:14pm

Munkustrap178, we'll mark your words.

And what will you do as penetence if you are wrong?

Just wondering.....?

Updated On: 2/1/07 at 08:14 PM

[teh_pretty]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 9:41pm

"Exactly that's why the comments about the show being in need of a doctor and it's imminent demise are just ridiculous."

Gross generalization, no? Not everybody has said things to that effect. Yes, some people have been drama queens about the whole thing. Not everybody.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/1/07 at 9:47pm

"Exactly that's why the comments about the show being in need of a doctor and it's imminent demise are just ridiculous."


The producers put the clips out there for people to watch. People are going to judge the show based on the 3 minutes of clips. If the audience doesn't like the clips, they're not going to buy tickets. We have every right to scrutinize the clips and judge what we saw. Chances are, the show is in need of doctoring. Chances are, if the advance isn't enough to sustain the show, it will close quickly.

That's just the way things go.