I'm so happy about this! Shame it has to be another live recording, but at least I'll have a keepsake of Sheridan's brilliant performance. She brought far more depth and humor to the character of Elle than Laura Bell Bundy, in my opinion. Laura was adequate, but I never saw that star quality from her to carry the show and rather than lifting the material to a higher level of comedy and emotion. The material seemed to be driving her performance, which was pretty much by-the-numbers.
Overall, I much preferred the London production to Broadway, which works better in a smaller venue. Duncan's acting is weak, but his vocals were ok. Alex Gaumond knocks it out of the park with Emmett and Aoife Mulholland makes a surprisingly memorable impression with the forgettable role of Brooke. Even Caroline Keiff's Vivienne proves worthy competition to her original Broadway counterpart. Jill Halfpenny has a very different take on Paulette, much softer and more sweet, but I'm afraid nobody could top Orfeh's scene-stealing performance. Incidentally, there were only a few lyric changes in Ireland. It was not entirely re-written. There were a couple of other minor lyric changes. I know the Jet Blue line was changed in What You Want and I think a line of Omigod You Guys, but about 95% of the score is the same.
Honestly, I thought Legally Blonde was fun on Broadway, but in London, it was a stronger show led by Sheridan's star turn as Elle. I hope she gets the Oliver Award for it and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the show itself be a lead contender for Best Musical.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian