Finally saw Bailey in LB tonight

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 12:09am

First..this evening's understudies:

Callahan- Kevin Pariseau
Warner- Matthew Risch
Courtney, Mom/ Whitney- Tiffany Engen
Winthrop/Reporter- Rusty Mowery
Lowell/Carlos- Jody Reynard
Dad- Jason Gillman

In short: I thought Bailey knocked it out of the park. I was very, very impressed with her this evening. Her singing has improved leaps and bounds since the television show- she can really belt out a song now. I enjoyed her entire performance, and never once felt she was imitating her predecessor. There are a number of things she does very differently, and she has definitely made the role her own. Her energy and enthusiasm (you can tell she really loves being onstage) is very infectious, and the rest of the cast's energy rises with her. Her Elle is instantly likable, which is essential if we're to root for this character for two and a half hours. Her dancing, as it was on the tv show, was fantastic. I only noticed the southern twang once this evening- she dipped into it when she said "sample sale." Nevertheless, I enjoyed her immensely tonight. It's a shame that some people won't give her her due because of the unorthodox way she ended up there. Had the producers just cast her in the role, people would be going bonkers over the "talented newcomer" they had found to play the role. She certainly deserves to be up there, and this will surely not be her only Broadway leading role, I'm certain of that.

So Much Better is indeed in the lower key, by the way. However, when LBB did it, the energy seemed to get sucked out of the song. The lower key is much better suited for Bailey's voice, and it sounds great.

Orfeh is still amazing. It's a shame she gets a horrible song to sing. My god, that voice. I was also very impressed with how Orfeh (more than anyone else in the cast) adjusted her performance to go with Bailey's interpretation of Elle. Paulette is now much more of a mentor to Elle.

Kate Shindle, over a year later, is still full on belting those notes in the Legally Blonde Remix. The scenes between she and Elle are great too, and Shindle absolutely towers over Bailey, which makes those confrontations work even better.

The most pleasant surprise tonight was Matthew Risch as Warner. Of the three Warners I've seen (Blake, Jason Gillman, and Risch), Risch is by far the best. THIS was how I always pictured Warner. He was really fantastic- completely nailed the role in every way.

The weak link was Christian Borle who needs to either leave the show or be fired, because he was on a completely different planet than the rest of the cast tonight. Totally phoning it in. It was quite clear he is just collecting a paycheck at this point. No energy at all. I used to enjoy him a lot, but now...ugh.

It was a fun, high energy show tonight, which makes this show much more enjoyable. The Palace was packed and loud tonight. Definitely one of my better Blonde experiences (I've seen a couple of dreadful, low-energy performances of this show).

Again, kudos to Bailey!

One last thing- why are they still using LBB's image in the logo and Playbill cover? Why not stick Bailey's face on there?

ETA...the guy who plays Mr. Moseby on The Suite Life was there tonight, and many of the younger audience members were going up to him asking for his autograph. He seemed VERY nice, and was chatting it up with them.

Updated On: 8/8/08 at 12:09 AM

[pli1018]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 12:25am

Strangely enough the "Elle" is apparently not Laura Bell but rather a graphic. I forgot where I read that but I promise it was credible!

[defyingravity07]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 12:28am

BUT, in a video of Laura watching put up the marquee she said it was weird seeing herself everyday. Anyway, I think the playbill should be changed to just the books now any way.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 12:40am

Wow, I would love to see Matt as Warner.

[defyingravity07]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 12:43am

I saw Matt as Kyle/Dewey. In my opinion he was better than Andy. Again about the playbill, if not the books how about cutting off Elle's head?

[zamedy]

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

Great review adamgreer.. thanks!

Just wondering though if you could be more specific as to Borle 'phoning it in.' Can you give a few examples? A few other posters have said the same thing. How can a leading man on Broadway get away with phoning it in night after night when people are paying big bucks to see the show? Although now that I say that, I've never heard of a lead being let go because they just didn't care anymore. Hmmm.. that might call for another thread.

[artsed123]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 1:25am

awesome review, adamgreer! Did you have a chance to go to the stage door after the show? If you did, did Bailey and other actors come out?

I agree with zamedy. It's uncool for a TONY nominee actor to let down a show like that. It's really unfair for the people who come from far away (like me xD) just to see the show.

Go Bailey!! I can't wait to see her in two weeks!!

Oh and btw, how do you know [in advance] that an understudy is going to play a role for the performance? I tried broadwayunderstudies.com but it's not big of a help. Thanks!

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 1:42am

Updated On: 5/2/09 at 01:42 AM

[Just_John]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 1:46am

I got to go backstage after seeing Legally Blonde on Sunday and was told that Bailey is singing So Much Better in the original key, that Laura Bell sang at the beginning of the run and on the recording, which was lowered for Bundy before she extended her contract before the last 6 months of her run. This is because Bailey's a soprano while Laura is an Alto. I was told this by one of the cast members in the show.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 1:46am

"I saw Matt as Kyle/Dewey. In my opinion he was better than Andy."

I know they say opinions can't be wrong, but um...wtf?

Matt's Kyle has got a big pink secret of his own...

"Laura is an alto."

Another wtf. I'd love to know who told you that, because it's not true. Bailey's "So Much Better" key is transposed down one step from the original that Laura Bell Bundy sang when the show opened. Laura sung the song in the key Bailey does currently for the last month or two of her run, but that's it. And no, she's not an alto.

Updated On: 8/8/08 at 01:46 AM

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 2:10am

Ummm, being a soprano doesn't mean that one can belt high notes. If anything, it's usually the opposite because sopranos tend to focus on strengthening the upper register by itself rather than mixing.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 2:19am

Did you have a chance to go to the stage door after the show? If you did, did Bailey and other actors come out?

No, I never go to the stage door. However, based on other threads I've read, Bailey apparently does come out and sign for people.

I got to go backstage after seeing Legally Blonde on Sunday and was told that Bailey is singing So Much Better in the original key, that Laura Bell sang at the beginning of the run and on the recording, which was lowered for Bundy before she extended her contract before the last 6 months of her run.

Talk about a run-on sentence. Anyway, the key was most certainly lowered. I've seen the show enough times (and heard the score umpteen more times) to be able to tell. However, the lower key sounds a lot better with Bailey singing it than it did with LBB. It seems to sit in a better area of Bailey's range than LBB's.

Laura is an Alto.

Haha, but no. Laura played Glinda in Wicked and did the soprano notes. She's no alto.

how do you know [in advance] that an understudy is going to play a role for the performance

I had no idea that these understudies would be on until I arrived at the theater and read the understudy board. Actors who have a facebook or myspace may update if they're going to be out, or if it's an understudy's page, they may write when they're going to go on.

Just wondering though if you could be more specific as to Borle 'phoning it in.' Can you give a few examples?

Sure. His big note at the end of Chip on Your Shoulder sounded awful. It wasn't off-key but it wasn't supported and sounded incredibly lazy. During the first Legally Blonde number, he acted as if he could care less that Elle was leaving. There was no sense of desperation in his singing. During There Right There, he barely shook his ass at all when trying to get Nikos' attention. When Elle asks him to marry her, his "Oh my..." didn't sound the least bit excited.

He just seemed to lack the energy his cast mates had.

Matt's Kyle has got a big pink secret of his own...

What? If the comment means what I think it means, it seems completely unnecessary.
Updated On: 8/8/08 at 02:19 AM

[Janki]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 3:21am

"Orfeh is still amazing. It's a shame she gets a horrible song to sing."

WTF??? I honestly think "Ireland" and "Ireland (Reprise)" are two amazing numbers. Along with Orfehs amazing voice they are the best things about the show. Oh, by the way, I still love the show and would never compare Bailey to LBB, they are great in two different ways!

[ruprecht]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 9:35am

Orfeh's never not incredible and judging from the number of people doing Ireland on the forbidden site, obviously she makes people love the song. I credit that more to Orfeh than to Ireland itself. There will never be a better Kyle than Andy Karl anywhere but Matt Risch and Jason Gillman were both AMAZING compared to Ven Daniel who is pretty unwatchable IMO!

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 10:32am

What about this one?



I made this one earlier.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 10:47am

"There will never be a better Kyle than Andy Karl anywhere but Matt Risch and Jason Gillman were both AMAZING compared to Ven Daniel who is pretty unwatchable IMO!"

Rupecht is right on, at least about Andy Karl. I haven't seen Ven to comment on whether or not he's any good.

"What? If the comment means what I think it means, it seems completely unnecessary."

It was a joke, but what I mean by it is that I never believe that he is genuinely interested in Orfeh, there's no chemistry there on his end. Kinda ruins the point, imo.

Updated On: 8/8/08 at 10:47 AM

[Danielle87]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 10:52am

Could the reason Christian is phoning it in is because Laura is gone? Not to mention, he was supposedly really against the reality show since he never appeared in it. Either way, that's pretty unprofessional of him, and this is coming from someone who really likes him in this role.
Updated On: 8/8/08 at 10:52 AM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 11:00am

It was a joke, but what I mean by it is that I never believe that he is genuinely interested in Orfeh, there's no chemistry there on his end. Kinda ruins the point, imo.

Interesting. I've never seen his Dewey/Kyle (when I saw Andy as Emmet, Jason played the role), but the thing I liked about his Warner is that it oozed sexuality. I have no idea what his sexual preference is, but his Warner didn't come across the least bit gay. In fact, I thought he played it "straighter" than Richard H. Blake.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 11:28am

Matt is actually dating Denis Jones lol. A very hot couple. I think they met in the ensemble of CHICAGO, which is where I first saw Matt.

[JP2]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 11:41am

"WTF??? I honestly think "Ireland" and "Ireland (Reprise)" are two amazing numbers. Along with Orfehs amazing voice they are the best things about the show. Oh, by the way, I still love the show and would never compare Bailey to LBB, they are great in two different ways!"


Thank you!

[Vanessa2]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 11:45am

"Could the reason Christian is phoning it in is because Laura is gone? Not to mention, he was supposedly really against the reality show since he never appeared in it."

I don't know if that's the reason, but I just wanted to say that I saw the show last Sunday and I didn't get that sense at all. I thought he was fantastic, his chemistry with Bailey was great and he wasn't lacking energy or anything. So, it might just have been an off night for him... I don't know.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 12:52pm

As bad as the description of Christian "Phoning it in" (I'm assuming he was having an off night) is, it could have been far worse, need i remind you all of Steve Blanchard as the beast near the end of his very very long run

[zamedy]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 2:03pm

Care to elaborate jonartdesigns? Examples? I had heard about that too but don't recall any specific examples

[JP2]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 2:08pm

I didn't find any problem with Christians performance when I saw it 2 weeks ago.

[finney2]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 3:13pm

Wow ruprecht, it seems like me and the audience at the Palace Theatre seem to disagree with you about Ven Daniel. I read a few posts on here about him and it seems like only a small handfull of people agree with you. I saw the show a week ago and he stood out to me because he stole the 2nd act as the UPS guy! The audience cheered when during all of his entrances!! He was funny, he cracked up the audience when he started his Irish Dance, and all the ladies were hooting and yelling for him! So.. I went back again and saw the show again last night, and what a surprise... The audience loved him!!!!! I decided to wait for an autograph, and came out and signed... IN THE RAIN!!! Everyone around me kept talking about how good he was and how nice he was.... So basically.... yes, we are all entitled to our opinion... but it seems that most people who see the show don't agree with yours. AND, after seeing that your profile picture is a pic of ANDY KARL and ORFEH... it doesn't surprise me that you find Ven unwatchable. The show was great and so was he!