LEGALLY BLONDE: Best Movie Musical since Hairspray

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 7:55pm

Well, it seems like the Palace Theatre finally has a real, big hit. LEGALLY BLONDE is an entertaining and charming story of female empowerment in a male dominated world. Pink-clad Elle Woods goes to Harvard Law School to show up her ex-boyfriend. She succeeds and gets put on a trial, but of course, it's never THAT easy. Another movie musical, but, go figure, it's the best one since HAIRSPRAY. Omigod!

The fact that it's so enjoyable and crowd pleasing is thanks to the very lively production, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, mostly melodic score by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin, and like, really hot technical elements by David Rockwell, Gregg Barnes, and Kenneth Posner.

And another plus! The cast is, like, really good, too!
Richard H. Blake possibly has one of the most fully realized performances this season as Warner, Elle's ****ex-boyfriend. He's had the chance to hone his nastyness through the years, playing the ****boyfriend in pretty much everything he's done, so it's like, great!

Christian Borle is very cute and charming as Emmett, but I still can't get his rendition of I'm Not Dead Yet out of my head. He's not a traditional leading man and, for the first time, that casting idea succeeds.

Michael Rupert is good but ultimately underwhelming as Professor Callahan (especially when I'm sure Victor Garber is available). Kate Shindle and Nikki Snelson are delights as Vivienne and Brooke Wyndham, respectively. Natalie Joy Johnson, Leslie Kritzer (somebody please give her a lead in a show), and DeQuina Moore are scene-stealing as Enid, and 2/3 Greek choir members. Go figure, that device really does work!

Orfeh as Paulette and Andy Karl in a variety of roles win the "best in show" award. Their chemistry is natural (well, they are married!) and everyone else in the company should be taking lessons. Orfeh is powerful, as usual, and could very well be runner up to Mary Louise Wilson this Tony season.

And then there's Laura Bell Bundy....Laura Bell Bundy.
What can I say? Christine Ebersole has no reason to worry, I'll say that. Bundy's an ideal person for a producer to hire to sell a show - she sing's great, dances well, is a looker (her face is a combination of Elizabeth Hasselbeck from The View and Caroline Rhea), and has a great body, to boot. She's not a terrible actor, either, but sadly, she's the most underwhelming of the bunch. The show rests on her shoulders, but she just can't carry it the same way someone like Kristin Chenoweth (10 years ago), Tina Maddigan, or Kerry Butler could. She severely lacks the charisma needed for the role, something that the aforementioned performers ooze with.

Heather Hach's book is where the biggest problem lies. The show, as it stands now, could benefit from more dialogue - more development, more exposition. We learn nothing about the characters, we barely get to find out who the heck they are before they start singing. But the songs they sing? A lot of fun!

Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin's score is a pleasant mix of Broadway and rock. Some stick out more than others - Omigod You Guys, So Much Better, and There! Right There!, are significantly more memorable than Positive, Blood in the Water, and Harvard Variations. Incidentally, T!RT! gets the award for best new showtune of the season...a laugh riot that, of course, nobody got. I'd call it a mixed bag, at best, as there are as many good songs as there are ****ty ones.

Jerry Mitchell's staging and choreography is fun and high energy. We get exactly what we want and expect from one of the best working choreographers today.

Inevitably, LEGALLY BLONDE will be compared with THE PIRATE QUEEN. Both are about female empowerment in the male dominated world, yet LB actually succeeds. It even does Riverdance better than Pirate Queen, and PQ is actually authentic!

I had the chance to speak with Jerry Mitchell during the intermission - you can tell he's very excited. Of course, the cast was very friendly at the stage door. Leslie Kritzer told me that she's done doing Patti LuPone (Ms. Diva had the show shut down).

Overall, I can safely say that while it's not the best new musical of the season, it's certainly up there. The crowd went while, as expected. It'll definitely win Best Musical if nominated - it's a touring producer's dream come true.
Updated On: 4/7/07 at 07:55 PM

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 7:58pm

You seriously think that this could win Best Musical?

[gumbo2]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:01pm

Wow, thanks for the review. I thought you were kidding at first, with all the "like"s, but I'm like, glad you like, liked it.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:04pm

Omigod. I wanna see this.
the end.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:05pm

Neddy - I think, if nominated, it has a great chance of winning. It's a charming show with a built-in audience. It's a touring producer's dream, as I said.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:06pm

If it's nominated, it could definitely win.

It's the most tourable show of the bunch.

[jv92]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:07pm

LoveMusik will get this show's spot. The Wing can't say no to Hal Prince. Frankly, I'm surprised people have been so positivie about this. Friends of mine have came out of this and hated it.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:09pm

But the touring producers only make up 20-30% of the voters, that would mean that a lot of the voters that actually vote for the best would have to vote for this show. So you think that enough of the voters other that aren't touring producers will vote for this show so that it could win?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:11pm

Hey, it's not the greatest show ever written, far from it...it's just a lot of mindless fun. I'd give it to this or Curtains over Grey Gardens and Spring Awakening. I love me some artsy shows, but I have a softer spot for good, clean fun.

[jv92]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:11pm

I honestly think the critics and NY theatregoers will be fairly underwhelemed with this. The commercial hit that has a bigger chance is Curtain. Think of the tour for that! People know Cabaret and Cabaret. It's fairly fluffy, though in a good way. If the Tonys are looking for giving something more commerical the award this year, which I hope they don't, Curtains is the way to go.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:13pm

Look at what happened with SPAMALOT.

Didn't exactly garner raves. Everyone thought it would go to PIAZZA.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:14pm

Yankee, I always love your reviews and agree with your opinions, and this post sealed the deal of putting this on my "to see" list.

[jv92]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:15pm

Really? As much as I and most people (with the exception of two gentleman from The Post) thought Spamalot was a piece of **** (Okay, that's exagerating- lousy), I thought everyone thought it would win.

[withoutlovewithoutU]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:16pm

I won't be at all surprised if this gets nominated for best musical. I'm looking forward to seeing this in June.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:16pm

I think SPAMALOT was expected to win. I think more people thought it would go to Spelling Bee and that would be a possible upset.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:18pm

How is CURTAINS more tourable?

Yes, people recognize CABARET and CHICAGO, but when you're out-of-town, the minority of people who see tours could probably tell you who Kander and Ebb are.

LEGALLY BLONDE is practically a brand. Plus, if that's not enough, think of every Disney channel blonde they can throw into the lead role.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:23pm

Great review, Yankee. I agree that LEGALLY BLONDE is easily the best new movie musical since HAIRSPRAY. I'm so glad that they took a risk on hiring Christian Borle for Emmett, because it's a complete breakthrough performance for him. While his performance in SPAMALOT gave him the opportunity to exercise his comedic chops as a supporting player, he really gets to show off his stuff here as a leading man. The supporting players really do sell the show here, and it's a testament to them that the show succeeds as well as it does with a leading lady that ultimately doesn't have what it takes.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:25pm

They'd both do very well on tour, though the difference is that this show doesn't need a "name" to succeed. Curtains doesn't necessarily either, but it doesn't have name recognition. It would need "someone" to make Sally Mae in Florida say "Oh look, honey! That guy from How I Met Your Mother is in some new show at the Broward Center. Let's see it!"

As Foa said, Legally Blonde can sell on title alone.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:31pm

Well after it wins Best Musical the title of the show can sell it. Look at Jersey Boys nobody knew what that was and now that it won Best Musical the name Jersey Boys will sell the show.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:33pm

Jersey Boys was selling out long before it won the Tony.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:33pm

I think that SPRING AWAKENING would ultimately live longer on tour than CURTAINS. CURTAINS would tour for one year then close up shop. Hyde Pierce will have left the Broadway production by then, it will close, and the show will be history. SPRING AWAKENING's cast album has been at the top of the Billboard Chart from the week it was released. It will tour for years, much like RENT has and continues to. LEGALLY BLONDE, though, is the quick fix that touring voters will absolutely cling onto if it's nominated for Best Musical. It will tour VERY well, without much effort. Would it last on tour for longer than a few years? Well, HAIRSPRAY still tours to this day, so I say it's possible. Though I wouldn't call LEGALLY BLONDE as good as HAIRSPRAY, the film is more recent and the title sells itself.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:50pm

If Legally Blonde is nominated which spot do you think it will take?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:52pm

Too early to call.

[Show Off2]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 8:52pm

I agree that SPRING AWAKENING would most likely have a longer tour than CURTAINS. I think the show, once it loses most of the original cast, will flounder. As somebody mentioned before, LEGALLY BLONDE has a great chance of doing well not only because it has a name that is well recognized and the movie itself was quite popular, there are tons of actresses who could be factored into the lead role. So whoever mentioned that, I completely agree.

[James2]

Posted: 4/7/07 at 9:02pm

I envy you for meeting Jerry Mitchell.