LBB. So Much Better, ending note problem has been solved

[Mactor327]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 8:26pm

I saw Legally Blonde on sunday at 2:00. It was great! i was pleasently surprised. and yes, there were about 8 understudies. However, out of the leads, Paulette(orfeh) and Prof. Callahan (Rupert) were out. The rest of the people out were speaking role character. I wasn't crazy about the Paulette I saw, but she was ok.
ANYWAY... LBB's So Much Better, ending note problem has been solved! the key of the song has been changed. It was a little wierd of an arangement, but It was fine. LBB rocked it out at the end. Just so you all know.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 8:30pm

Hmm...can you be more specific? Sorry...just curious.

[Mactor327]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 8:41pm

Apparently, LBB was having a problem, with some of the pitches, particularly the end note, of the song SO MUCH BETTER, the song that ends Act 1. I saw the show sunday, and it DID sound much different than how the song was written on the soundtrack. So she no longer has a problem, i guess they orchestra re-wrote the song so she no longer has a problem with it.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 8:50pm

they lowered it a half step or two. I too was at the matinee (don't ask why).

perhaps they've put in a "matinee key" for her?

and ps, it's no wonder O'Keefe didn't want to change it. It falls much flatter in the lower key. The backup belting isn't as high and exciting and it even feels like Bundy puts in less energy - it leads her into letting her joke lines drop instead of energizing them, like the fake orgasm.

[Mactor327]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 8:55pm

hmmm true.
idk i guess im used to hearing it one way. idk it was a little wierd and disapointing but still good

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 8:55pm

Why don't they just pre-record the last note? Or the whole song who cares?? Phantom does it.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 8:57pm

Or they could have just cast a girl who could actually sing it... Pity.

[fishergirl819]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 8:59pm

The girl's got a month and change left in the show - why did they do it now? Why didn't they do this months ago when she first started having issues? I get the reasons O'Keefe may not have wanted to, but were they fighting over it for this long? Don't know, just surprised it took this long to do it...

[James885]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 9:01pm

So they've lowered the key of So Much Better for Laura Bell Bundy. Are they going to raise it again for the tour and when the reality show winner takes over?

Updated On: 5/27/08 at 09:01 PM

[winston89]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 9:12pm

I think they might raise it for the tour because I saw Becky go on as Elle and she can hit that note at the end of So Much Better.

But, I guess for the reality show it depends on the winner and if they can hit it.

But, I agree with what was said that there is a month and change left in her contract and I don't know why they would go and change it now.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 9:27pm

"But, I agree with what was said that there is a month and change left in her contract and I don't know why they would go and change it now."

To spare audiences for the next month and change from having to listen to her attempt to hit a note she can no longer hit?

"I think they might raise it for the tour because I saw Becky go on as Elle and she can hit that note at the end of So Much Better."

LBB used to be able to hit it too. The problem is doing it 8 times a week. We'll see how Becky holds up playing the role regularly.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 9:29pm

NEWS FLASH! Laura Bell USED to hit that note -- you guys make it sound like she never did. The wear and tear on her voice due to that manic 8-performances-a-week schedule is fully to blame. I'm sure EVERY future Elle will suffer the same fate if they don't take care of their voices.

Yes... lots of OTHER women have no problem hitting that note... NOW. Check them out again 6 months into their run and you'll think otherwise.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 9:34pm

Which is why they should record it. No Christine hits that high note at the end of the title song in Phantom eight times a week.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 9:44pm

If people can belt Fs in Evita, should a C be all that difficult even 6 months later in the run?

[James885]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 9:46pm

I second that. The note should be pre-recorded if the vocal demands of the score cause so much damage an actress's voice that she can no longer hit the note 8 times a week.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 9:51pm

No actress played Evita eight times a week on Broadway, Spork. It was the same six performance a week with a standby schedule that Phantom uses for Christine.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 9:53pm

I was talking last week with a Broadway professional from the 60s and we got around to discussing the web and how it has changed the business. I didn't even have to bring up this subject. The person I was talking with has apparently visited the site a few times and read one of the long discussions about poor Laura and her one note. "That's nothing, that's child's play. You have NO IDEA how many major changes I've seen in shows, lowering pitches during the run, bringing in leads who can't hit the notes. They used to do that all the time. Replacements had their own chart for the orchestra. But to have it dissected in such detail as on that website...."

This person is probably absolutely right. It's one friggin' note, For the life of me, with all the technology we have available these days, WHY have the producedrs and creators of this show not KILLED the problem a year ago?

I just don't get it.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 10:20pm

CATSNYrevival: Interesting, thanks. Maybe they should use that schedule for Elle, then?

[winston89]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 10:49pm

Not that I am saying I know anything about what Bundy does when she isn't at work. But, could it be that she doesn't take the best care of her voice when she is on her off time?

I am just wondering if she took better care of herself when she wasn't working might she be able to hit that note every night?

Also, producers try to avoid prerecording things when they have to. The only reason why the title song in Phantom is prerecorded is because you have four actors on that stage the double for Christine and The Phantom and the regular two. The regular Christine and Phantom are climbing up a latter and down a ramp to create the image of them going down into the lake under the opera house. And, then they walk under the stage to where the boat is and get on. That is why they prerecord that song. And, I have heard a few actresses who played christine who said that they could go on 8 times a week without a problem. But, I don't think anyone is going to say no to two paid nights off.

And, if memory serves correctly in the London revival of Evita they didn't use an alternate.

Posted: 5/27/08 at 11:08pm

I was there last Saturday and LBB did a great job.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 11:10pm

Finally?

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 11:19pm

winston, according to http://www.geocities.com/evitainternational/prod/1978_lon.html, the alternate was added in London before the show transferred across the pond.

[outdamnwench]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 11:30pm

It's got nothing to do with LBB, it's the fact that it's a big crazy score that's held up by one girl. Elle is on stage for pretty much the entire show. When she isn't belting her brains out, she's either dancing or doing a quick change backstage. Do that 8 times a week and she's bound to hit a few off notes.

[winston89]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 11:32pm

Theaterkid, I was talking about the most recent London revival of Evita. Not the original production.

[jackson992]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 11:54pm

I thought So Much Better started Act 2? I thought Chip On My Shoulder ended the act?