#1
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.
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
