Legally Blonde Reviews- Page 10

[Hank]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 10:06am

The Record gave it a rave.
Robert Feldberg even had good thing to say for the score:
"From the moment the new musical starts with 'Omigod You Guys,' a song with a beat that quickly sets the story in motion-the show's 'Good Morning Baltimore'-the evening is off to the races.

...Legally Blond has been put together-and is performed-by many skilled hands. It has the sheen of slickness, but it's undeniably entertaining."

northjersey.com

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 10:18am

i would hardly say the tony buzz has gone , in fact at the moment its positive reviews are out weighing the negative easily so its had a very good opening.

I do feel sorry for Laura , she must be gutted this morning even though she did get some good reviews.
I think its harsh comparing her to someone who played it on film with numerous takes, angels etc etc etc, playing someone in theatre is so different.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 10:22am

While it is, of course, unfair for the critics to compare her to Reese, I'd be lying if I say I was surprised.

Reese was such a likeable person in the film....you cared for Elle, you wanted to see her succeed. As Simon Cowell says, "the likability factor" is what's missing.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 10:24am

well im gonna stick with my opinion i think she does a great job taking on such a well known role but she could do with a little bit more charisma and to have fun with it , im sure she will ease up a bit though.

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 10:24am

I really would not want to see Cheno in this role. There is room more than one blonde on broadway. I really enjoyed LBB, but thats me. Laura has been in this bussiness for a while and knows how reviews go. I do not think the producers would feel they made the wrong decision at all.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 10:27am

Yes, FUN is what's missing. At least at the performance I saw.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 10:29am

Theatredude i agree Chen would not be someone i would like to see play her, the producers made the total right decision , she just needs to have a bit more fun with it, but i did love her as elle.

im pleased it has got so many good reviews

[DickonDefysGravity]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 10:38am

I was really rooting for LBB. Maybe she'll grow into the role.
Chenoweth or Megan Hilty would be fun in the role.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 10:50am

Cheno would be terrible in this role...let's be honest. She would try to gain laughter from all her jokes by doing her typical sight gags that she did in Wicked, Apple Tree, and Charlie Brown. Also, she is WAY too old to do this role. I would never believe her to be a college student (heck, I barely believe Richard Blake to be a college student). I would, however, love to see Megan Hilty in this role.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:01am

It strikes me as odd that people seem to be under the impression the show got mainly bad reviews last night

Here is my tally and it did bloody well

Newsday-positive
Associated Press-Mixed
Talking Broadway-Negative
Variety-Positive
Theatremania-Mixed to Positive
Word Of Mouth-Positive (obviously )
New York Times-Mixed
AM New York-Negative
New York Sun-Positive
Newark Star Ledger -Mixed To Positive
New York Post-Mixed /Positive
Daily News-Negative
The Record-Positive

That sounds like a pretty good night to me

They should be happy with them

[Al Dente]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:04am

Again, ATC simply has NO merit!

[daspazoo]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:06am

Should it run long enough, anyone else think Kate Reinders would be a lot of fun? I loved her in GYPSY and was my favorite Glinda, and I think she might just have the edge the reviews are looking for.

Comments?

[LuPonatic]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:09am

How sad to have a reviews thread without a single post from Margochanning...I feel like Something Just Broke.

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:11am

Rosie just plugged it on the view...hopefully we will see it pop up on tv.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:12am

well it wasn't margos kind of show from the tongue lashing he gave after watching a few clips ,I have a feeling he thought it would be awful , though the critics seemed to like it for what it was.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:16am

Skittles, The Times review is up...
I said it hadn't been *delivered*. The average theatregoer wasn't up all night obsessively refreshing the Times theatre page to get the first peek.

Again, ATC simply has NO merit!
I can't imagine the North Jersey Record has a lot of sway over over a show's success either. But hey, if the 6 year old on Broadway.com loves the show, songanddanceman will gladly give it just as much merit as the Times, so he can put one more check in the positive column and "prove" he's right.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:34am

Prove im right about what you idiot?

The show deserved mixed reviews , i liked it but its hardly life changing , ive just put up what people posted as reviews on here.

[massofmen]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:39am

do you really think the times was mixed? I think after reading it I thought..huh..he didnt like it.


And LBB wasn't on from the beginning. a year ago the creative staff did a number of auditions for the role. Which I am SURE included some of the blonde ladies that people have been discussing on this board. ie: Megan Hilty and Kate Reinders.
I think maybe the creative staff said that none of these girls fit the bill as well as LBB and kept her in the project.

I don't fault LBB. She is up against a okay movie with a wonderful actress playing the lead (Reese). Reese made the movie and LBB ha a chance to make this musical. the sad thing is that the movie was written much better than this musical. Where the movie took itself seriously and you really felt for Elle, you don't really care bout LBB. It's fun, but no heart.

I think thats the main problem with the show. you found the movie heartwarming and the musical lukewarming.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:43am

massofmen

Yeah i would agree with you about the show, its a lot of fun but lost some of its heart along the way.

And yeah i do think the times was mixed(i dont think it was his kinda thing but he knows its good for its target audience)

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:58am

The Times review opens and closes accentuating negatives. More to the point, call it negative or mixed to negative, it's not really a "money" review, in the sense that it makes a persuasive case this show is a good time ( = worth the $$ spent), and/or unmissable. My guess is, this show has a WEDDING SINGER like life on Broadway, but more beyond. It may depend on how well the CD is embraced. Subsequent editions of the show will depend on whether its songs possess enough charm.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 12:03pm

I am sure it will have a nice little run with those reviews.
I was interested in the review that remarked how Mitchell's choreography pulled from the hip-hop and music video vocabulary. Again, using someone else's style instead of coming up with a style of your own, Jerry?

Oh, and we all miss Margo, but good God, it is not as if this is his JOB. I am hoping he is on a sunny beach somewhere reading a trashy novel wearing nothing but a thong and ogling the hot cabana boys!

[WaltSummersPI]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 12:07pm

massofmen, whether or not they had auditions, Laura Bell Bundy has been attached to the show since its inception.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 12:14pm

Suleen, I believe Brantley was trying to say that Mitchell was using a common style of dance, but using it in parody rather than in seriousness. So he took it and made it his own.

[Brick]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 12:38pm

songanddanceman, while the show got mixed reviews considering all outlets, most of those reviews really don't count for much.

the major papers were split, with variety being the only really positive notice.

and that times review is the kind of brantley review where he hated it but isnt going to trash it completely because he realizes it's pretty much critic-proof and the target audience doesn't read the times or like his opinion anyhow.

but there's no other way to read a "after-taste" response like:

"you wind up feeling jittery, glazed and determined to swear off sweets for at least a month."

that's a man who has no desire to ever see that show again.

[popculture37]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 12:41pm

The Brantley review isn't negative at all. He did the show a huge favor by comparing it to Wicked-that's plenty of box office dollars right there. And he did make a point of saying that, compared to the rest of the movie-to-stage adaptations, its better than most. Not to mention that he had good stuff to say about pretty much everyone in the cast except for Bundy. Pretty much the only bad stuff he had to say was that Reese was better than Laura, the show is a bit too peppy, and he doesn't like the message of the show (which will mean nothing to people looking to see it, most of whom have seen the movie and know exactly what its about already.) I'm not surprised that Brantley didn't enjoy the show himself, but he definitely seems aware that it will make young girls pretty happy-which is exactly what it set out to do.