Bailey - and just be analytical

I am in Los Angeles and can't get back any time soon to see Bailey Hanks as Elle Woods, but I have a question:

I have seen her perform "OhmyGod" with the cast members on the MTV series and I was very impressed. Up close, she actually added some nice flurishes to the performance. It seems like she's a very good actor and knew how Elle Woods would react.

And yet... I saw the youtube footage of "So Much Better" from a live performance at the Palace and I must admit, she seemed to miss half the marks, have little or no choreography (everyone does the twirls after pulling the note off the bullitenboard: LBB, Becky, Haven and I'm sure Annaleigh) and yet Bailey? Nothing?

My opinion is, we're seeing an excellent example of why you really can't give starring roles in Broadway shows to actors who have never worked Broadway before.

LBB came into the role having spent literally years on Broadway and she knows how to emphasize the lines, deliver the jokes and put a button on her movements that Bailey seems to lack.

Up close, she seems to be giving a real performance, but it seems to me as if she lacks the knowledge and experience to project this performance to 1700 audience members. Up close on the MTV show, LBB and Orfeh seem like denizens of Dogpatch, but from a seat in The Palace, that cartoonishness seems to have helped get the character across.

That's not to say I hated Bailey's performance - what I have seen of it - she brings some nice changes and nuance to the part, but she just seems to not yet know how to sell the role on Broadway.

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Updated On: 8/5/08 at 03:58 PM

You can't really fairly judge Bailey on one youtube clip.

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I sat in the last row of the mezz and loved her.

I'm sure I'm the last person you want to hear from allmylife but are you suddenly going to go off a YOU TUBE clip? I suggest you see for yourself and not worry too much about the lack of "twirl". Bailey is much younger and less experienced than Bundy but she's already giving (IMO) a more nuanced performance. Is she incredible, no, not yet but she's off to a surprisingly decent start.

To the person who said the note was a whole step lower, the key to "the hardest song ever to be sung on Broadway" was lowered long ago *for* Bundy.

I saw her first show and I really think she is imitating LBB quite a bit. She might have cooled it recently but I also don't really think she's acting. She thinks she IS Elle and so she's just being Bailey up there.

I'm really not the type to give her any special treatment since she was on a reality show. I paid for my ticket. It's a broadway show. I'm expecting excellence.

I know the key was lowered for Bundy too. What does that have to do with Bailey being able to hit it. If they were comfortable with Bailey hitting it in the original key 8x a week, I'm sure they would have tried it. Unless the key change is permanent for the show.

Brochtakid. We aren't allowed to post links to bootleg clips. It's not hard to find at all.

Yes. They all start somewhere but people don't usually start as the lead in a broadway show. She is starting in a position that will afford her more possibilities (I'm sure Jerry would cast her as Amber Von Tussle in Hairspray) than others but that also comes with more criticism. If you're going to be at the top then you take the good and the bad.

Search her name and the song title.

Thanks. I found it. I guess I didn't scroll down enough before.

She sounds pretty good...better than she used to, I think. (I still like Autumn better. Oh well.) I think the problem is the recording mostly.

I saw Bailey this past Saturday night and was quite impressed. Her singing was great and the character was definitely there. Her comedic timing seemed just a tad off in some places but I'm sure that will tighten with a few more weeks of performances.

One thing I did notice is the age of the sorority girls. Since Bailey is the correct age for the character it really made the age of the older sorority girls stand out to me. How often do they recast Broadway shows?

All in all - I think Bailey was the right pick for Elle.

can some one past the link to the youtube clip?

oh that was a leg slapper.