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

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.

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.

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

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

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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?

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

"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.

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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Finally?

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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.

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

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