Laura Bell Bundy question

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 1:10am

Does anyone know when she was hired as the Glinda standby? I saw her on February 18 and again on June 13) and I'm wondering if I saw one of her first performances.

Posted: 11/13/05 at 1:15am

Im gonna assume when you saw it in Feb might have been one of her first shows or atleast in her first month or so.

Posted: 11/13/05 at 1:18am

From a Playbill.com interview:

The thing with Wicked is, I came on to Wicked after the show had already opened. I didn't go to San Francisco with it [because] I was doing Hairspray. I wasn't in any rehearsals — I was out in L.A. pitching the show I [presented] last year. I was asked to come in and meet the creative team the week before it opened, and I didn't start working until the middle of November, maybe even after Thanksgiving, as a standby. . . When you're not in the show every day, it takes a longer time to build relationships. And, then, when you're on, it's not the same as if that part is yours. You haven't created it. The difference is I really did feel more a part of Hairspray. I felt like that was my show, that was my baby, the character was my baby. I felt such a sense of community there. Whereas, with Wicked, it's taken me a longer time to feel like that, and I could never truly feel like that with the character because I didn't feel like it was mine to play and change lines. I changed it as much as I could, but there's only so much you can do when you only go on like 25 times. [Laughs.]

Q: When does your Wicked run end?
LBB: I leave August 8.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 8:45am

"When you only go on, like, 25 times."

Right. LBB went on 45 times. I guess the other 20 performances escaped her. This further shows the disrespect she had for "Wicked."

[Craig]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 9:00am

It doesn't show any disrespect. She didn't say definitively she went on 25 times - she said like 25 times. As in she threw out a number. And while the interview may have been posted near the end of July, you have no idea when the interview was actually done.

If anyone is being disrepectful, it would appear that person is you. You can not care for her performance in Wicked, but making character judgements about things you know nothing about is just silly.

Updated On: 11/13/05 at 09:00 AM

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 9:07am

As a matter of fact, I enjoyed her performance very much.

The dis-respect I talk about stems from a long list of things. Her leaving to go to Los Angeles without their permission. Her ridiculous contract demands which caused them to instead hire Jennifer Laura Thompson after they initially wanted her to replace Kristin (she pretty much wanted the same perks as Kristin, and they weren't willing to give it to her.) Her violation of the five block Standby rule several times. Plus, this isn't the first time she has made comments like this about "Wicked."

Updated On: 11/13/05 at 09:07 AM

[Swiftynifty15]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 9:31am

What kind of "Perks" Did Kristin get?

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 10:34am

Just a thought...

Maybe, at the time, she had only gone on 25 times. This interview was done before she left the show. Is it possible she went on more before she left?

[Swiftynifty15]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 11:27am

Does anybody know what kind of "Perks Kristin got? I am kind of surprised that Kristin could get these "Perks" ANd the other people playing Glinda could not.....Whatever they are.

Posted: 11/13/05 at 11:34am

The article is dated July 30th
Laura Bell Bundy Interview

[mrkringas]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 12:07pm

I assume the perk is to get her name raised alightly above Idina's on all the billing. Surely that is a "perk" that makes the part appear more than what it is.

[BwayStraightBoy]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 12:28pm

Kristin's name wasn't above Idina's. Idina's was above Kristin's, but when reading the names, Kristin's came first.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 12:29pm

Menzel was billed higher than Chenoweth's. Chenoweth's name was on the left, Menzel's on the right, slightly higher up.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 12:49pm

I've heard different sides of the story--one that LLB demanded too much and they refused to give it to her, causing her to quit like a little diva, and one that she basically "got quit" as they say, that they offered her less money than she had been making as the standby, pretty much forcing her to leave Wicked on a matter of principle (supposedly the producers didn't like her).

What really happened? And how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know.

[PJ]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 1:51pm

She probably wanted the Cheno salary, too. I believe she was making 25K a week during her run. Laura Bell Bundy, even today, is a relative newcomer and didn't deserve those figures.

I've actually heard those stores that baritone noted as well. First being that she walked away because the producers wouldn't give her what she wanted. Also, that the producers just wanted her gone and practically pushed her out the door with her belongings in a cardboard box.

The producers of this show seem to know what they want in the show's best interest. Perhaps LBB just wasn't up to par.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 1:58pm

The above-mentioned violation of the five-block standby rule also sounds like ground for termination as well. If she was spoiled by her Hairspray experience, and had a bad attitude during Wicked, I can see why the producers wanted to get rid of her.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 2:09pm

*sigh* i love laura bell bundy!
everytime i hear "cooties" i think of becky gulsvig (the cutest actess on broadway, and my future wife! :) )

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 2:50pm

She is gorgeous, I'll give her that. Although "Laura Bell Bundy" may be the most hick show biz name since "Billy Bob Thorton," lol

[camthom]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 5:30pm

How about you don't tell stories that you don't know to be true?

First off, LBB was offered LESS money than she was making as a standby for Kristin. Secondly, she had received permission from one of her superiors to go to CA, and then after she'd already left, another superior vetoed it, so she did nothing wrong. If they cant get their crap together, it's their problem, not hers.

Regardless, she had and has a great deal of respect for WICKED and for you to assume otherwise only further displays your ignorance.

Wicked aside, LBB has a very promising future ahead of her and I can't wait to see her in Legally Blonde!

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 5:48pm

I wish she'd taken over for Glinda instead of JLT. But what's done is done. I think Laura and the producers are the only ones who really know what happened.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 6:10pm

When someone offers you less money to play the role full-time than you were making as the standby, that's usually a sign that they don't really want you. She had no choice but to decline such an offer.

I'm happy they got JLT, she was fabulous.

P.S.- I never saw Bundy, so she may very well have been fabulous too.

[Horton]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 7:50pm

Who saw her, how was she, was she getting paid more as a standby then in Hairspray

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 8:38pm

I thought she was excellent as Glinda.