Jacobsnchz14 @ Legally Blonde 8/6 in Ft Worth! (Long w/ Pics)

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 1:28am

Just got back from seeing Legally Blonde at the Bass Hall tonight and let me tell you, I had a blast! I smiled the whole way through: 1) I experienced my first official B'Way nat'l tour and 2) I got to stagedoor for the first time ever! Yes I am a dork for that (not that some of you are dorks, lol) but this was one of the greatest nights of my life! I will never forget it.

The entire company went on tonight which I was glad about. We don't get our Playbills until they open house 30 minutes before curtain but I noticed their cast board before anything else.

Becky was fabulous! Our newspaper's review was mixed to positive and said Becky was good but at sometimes was nasily and was being compared to Cheno.... IDK. She was great, IMO. There were some times where that was true but I ignored it.

D.B. Bonds was a great Emmett. In my opinion better than Christian Borle. The only thing that bothered me though was when he would say "driven as hell", he would sound odd... I don't know how to really explain it but he said it like "drive in" really fast. Like I said, I can't explain it.

Natalie as Paulette was hilarious! She was so charming and sweet in that role. Alot of people who were in the audience didn't believe that she originated Enid on BWay because she fit the "Jennifer Coolidge" picture from the film and believed she could have originated Paulette. However, she made the role her own and I totally forgot about the way Orfeh did it on MTV and the OBCR. She was great as well.

Megan Lewis and Jeff McLean as Vivienne and Warner are a great match... with all due respect to Elle. They really had a chemistry going on and I really believed it. There is only one thing that I didn't like about Jeff, he seems to "upstage" with his voice alot of the time and his voice is louder and over-annunciated (sp?) than the other actors.

Everytime the Delta Nus came out, I always stared at Rhiannon and Lauren! They are obviously growing since what we've seen since the reality show. Speaking of "growing", Lauren is taller in person! lol.

Coleen Sexton was a hit! She really nailed "Whipped into Shape" and the crowd loved it. I guess they have never seen an actress sing and jumprope at the same time! haha. Ven Daniel as Kyle was one of the audience's favorites! Basically the audience reacted the same way the audience on the MTV recording did... but louder.

Ken Land does all he can do with Callahan. The role in the show is somewhat bland and he doesn't have alot to work with, IMO. He did a hilarious job with "Blood in the Water", though.

I got used to the sets pretty early in the show. Once "What You Want" ended, it all seemed to be similar if not the exact same to the Broadway version. I really liked how Jerry Mitchell's choreography worked around the new sets, especially in the opening. The lighted borders on the stage move unlike the ones on Broadway to kind of give the audience a focus spot. Stuff like the trial and "So Much Better" took the entire stage, but little scenes like "Blood in the Water" was focused lower... kind of like a widescreen if you will. If you have seen the tour you know what I mean. Loved the curtain!!!

The souvenirs booth was small. I expected it to be as big as the Ozdust Boutique was in pictures. It was just like a table and stand with a cabinet behind. The sold the stuff from PlaybillStore.com and more.

They sold the OBCR, the Show Business DVD for $30, the sweatshirt as seen on the reality show for $60, the hat and shirt for $25 each, the program and bag (which has no fornt zipper) for $20, and the keychains and magnets were $5 each. The windowcard they had is not as "extravagant" when compared to the Broadway one. It is the entire logo picture (Elle and Bruiser) and all there is at the bottom is the show's website address. Not enough for $20. But I felt I should have bought it when I stagedoor-ed.

The house was 95% full and about 75% were women. There were guys there, too. Me being one of them. lol. They gave standing ovations throughout the entire finale and curtain call and really seemed to enjoy themselves. There were little "adlibs" and "tidbits" that I did not see from the MTV recording and they were great! The cast really made their own to, I guess, get the MTV version with OBC out of people's expectations and visions. We al loved it!

After the show, everyone seemed to come out of the stagedoor but Natalie. Tiffany Engen came out first but left too quick for anyone to ask her to sign. It felt odd because some of the ensemble would come out and nobody asked them to sign or take pics... they were waiting for the "stars"! lol. "Stagedoor" started at about 10:15pm and we were still there about 11pm because people were waiting for Natalie. I got most of the main actors' signatures and I gave Becky a gift I made for her and the company: a mini-version of Elle's good luck card with a note from me on the back. Everyone was so friendly and Ken Land an D.B. were talking with people for along time after everyone left! haha.

I just got back from Disneyland/California at 2am this morning and went to the box office at 5pm! lol. Quick trips! :) This was one of the greatest times of my life!!


Cast board


Curtain


Stagedoor


Jeff McLean @ Stagedoor


Crystal Joy @ Stagedoor


Megan Lewis @ Stagedoor*


Colleen Sexton @ Stagedoor*

*It's like they switched hair from the show! lol


Rhiannon Hansen & Lauren Zakrin @ Stagedoor


Stupid camera cut out the Lauren!


Becky Gulsvig signing Playbills @ Stagedoor


Becky Gulsvig @ Stagedoor


Me & Becky Gulsvig @ Stagedoor (She reminds me of Jennie Garth in this pic! lol)


Nick Dalton @ Stagedoor


Nick Dalton @ Stagedoor


Brian Patrick Murphy @ Stagedoor *Thanks Broadwayguy2


Ken Land @ Stagedoor


D.B. Bonds @ Stagedoor


Hopefully what I am gonna see next month!


Poster outside theatre


Keychain on my keys!


My ticket!


My autographed Playbill (sorry sideways)


Flyers given out at the show (again, sorry sideways)


My Playbills (yes, I grabbed that many!), flyers, and ticket!


Updated On: 8/7/09 at 01:28 AM

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 2:14am

hey,
The picture that you have captioned as Ven Daniel is actually a picture of Brian Patrick Murphy.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 2:16am

Whoops. I wasn't so sure. lol. I think I got Ven's signature... that's probably why I thought that. haha. So many peeps!

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 5:04pm

Forgot to put this in my original post, but an hour before the show I was at Barnes & Noble across the street from the theatre and I was sitting in the cafe. When I turn around there is a guy on his laptop on his Facebook profile sending a comment to Becky Gulsvig. I didn't realize who it was until after I saw the Playbill... but it was Nick Dalton. I was all, like, wow! Then after I walked out I saw two blondes walking to the theatre and I heard one joking around saying "yeah, we should have our own book club Becky!" When she turned to the side it was Lauren! During stagedoor, I was all dorky saying stuff like like "I walked behind you" and "I sat behind you" and I told them how I regretted not taking pics then that's when I got some when they came out! haha. So weird. If you try to see the show in Fort Worth and wanna hang out before, try going to the Barnes & Noble and seeing who from the cast is there. Becky said that she and some other cast members were there for the past couple of days. lol.

Updated On: 8/7/09 at 05:04 PM

[sgv123]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 5:09pm

Sounds like you had a great time. Also, the photos you have labeled as Nick Dalton is actually Kyle Brown... I am pretty sure.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 5:14pm

Like I said before, I am so not sure. But it was either one of them. I bet it is Kyle because one of the fans asked if he was in the courtroom scene (rather than saying the gay guy) and he said yeah. But the guy next to him responded. I only heard voices and didn't see the face. lol. BTW, big audience reaction when Carlos and Nikos kissed! haha.
Updated On: 8/7/09 at 05:14 PM

[philly03]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 5:16pm

Nice review - COLEEN Sexton was my favourite part of the show when I saw it, but I am certainly biased towards her Haha. Speaking of her and a slew of others, Becky and DB Bonds were the ONLY ones to come to the stagedoor on their freewill when I saw it - had to track down Coleen (who like you said, looks entirely different on stage!) and a few others!

Rhiannon is VERY funny, btw on stage, glad to see you agreed!

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 7:47pm

"75% were women. There were guys there, too"

Wait, wait... what else could the other 25% have been?

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 7:49pm

You know what I meant. lol. You are getting me confused now. Most of them were women; that was my point.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 8:10pm

Philly-
Coleen doesn't get much option at Bass Hall, the only way for the actors to leave is through the stage door, as they lock the lobby doors pretty quickly.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 8:18pm

Yeah. Some people were saying that Becky went into the lobby for a while, then went to the stagedoor. I was thinking since Natalie wasn't at the stagedoor if she might have left through the lobby.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 9:13pm

Thanks for sharing your fun experience!
I guess this show was mean't for the road,
and is entertaining the provinces.
Sorry you didn't meet Natalie, she is a Joy.
I'd like to hear your opinion on her IRELAND:

[philly03]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 9:22pm

"Philly-
Coleen doesn't get much option at Bass Hall, the only way for the actors to leave is through the stage door, as they lock the lobby doors pretty quickly. "

Coleen left through the stagedoor in Philly too..but both times just walked right past the entire line. I had forgotten what she looked like the first time around, but caught her the second time. SEVERAL of the actors, if someone called them by name would then sign for everyone, otherwise they'd just walk right on by; save for Rhiannon, Becky and DB!

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 10:04pm

CurtainPullDowner, as soon as NJJ entered as Paulette I threw all of my Orfeh expectations away and went with what she had. I admit I was one of those who felt she looked more like Jennifer Coolidge's version like others in the audience, but she was WAY better. I liked and disliked the accent she used, though. It was a little odd but after the reprise I forgot all about it. Her Ireland and its reprise were well received by the audience. Some (little) even gave her a standing ovation after. She really nailed it!