Legally Blonde Reviews

[Brooklyn Bound]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 3:19pm

This is where they go.
Break a leg to the cast and crew!!!

[Heybeenfood]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 3:27pm

Leave it to Margo.

[Anakela]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:08pm

Newsday's review is online already- confused, I thought they don't usually get posted online until after the show starts at least?

A little squinting also comes in handy beyond the souvenir stand. "Legally Blonde," which opened last night at the Palace Theatre with a come-hither wink at the "Wicked" demographics, feels just enough like the 2001 film to comfort people whose favorite musical-comedy theater feels just like their favorite movies.

Surprisingly, Laura Bell Bundy -- so adorably vicious in "Ruthless" -- makes a more generic ingénue than did Reese Witherspoon in the good-values empowerment story about a California Barbie in the shark-infested waters of Harvard Law School.

But she and the musical are peppy and bright and, though not a smidge more shocking than its heroine's special shade of pink, the show is what Elle's sorority pals might also describe as, "Like senior year but funner."
Bubble-gum pop splashed in pink

[Princeton78]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:33pm

Do the reviews change if Margo posts them?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:37pm

It's certainly a positive notice. Not a "million dollar" review, but very positive.

[Dirty_Rotten_Guy]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:46pm

i wonder how many reviews will use the term "Omigod, You Guys"...

sorry, but almost every article involving the show has that phrase somewhere intertwined.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:50pm

I have a feeling, the usage will be, "OhMyGodYouGuys! It's not that bad!"

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 4:51pm

Which makes the phrase more annoying than it originally was...and I didn't think that'd be possible.

[BroadwayBound86]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 5:07pm

I'm waiting for the Times....we all know that's the review that matters....

Posted: 4/29/07 at 5:29pm

I don't know if the reviews are different if Margo posts them-- I don't read any other review threads than Margo's.

[Anakela]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 5:44pm

oh yeah, I'm sure that most all of the reviews will be using "Omigod..." in some way, but isn't that pretty much to be expected?
Just like almost every Avenue Q review said something about 'Sesame Street,' ("zany Sesame Street," "Sesame Street homage and parody," "you're not on Sesame Street anymore" etc.), I'm sure all the Blonde reviews will totally have an Omigod usage. And mention of pink.

No Times review online yet, but there's a piece on animal trainer William Berloni, and how he chose the LB dogs. And how he and his wife care for 18 (!) former show animals at their animal retirement home, which is just so awesome.
I’ll Make You Broadway Stars, He Says, and They Just Bark

[StageFan2]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:09pm

I won't post it here out of respect for MargoChanning, but ATC has a link to the Talkin' Broadway review. All I can say is OUCH!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:19pm

Associated Press is mixed-to-negative:

"In some respects, you can't fault "Legally Blonde," the kinetic new musical at Broadway's Palace Theatre. It really moves.

The lavish show (reportedly with a more than $12 million price tag) has energy to spare, a forward motion provided by ace director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell that simply refuses to quit. And a plot, based on the Amanda Brown novel and the 2001 Reese Witherspoon movie, that is more than serviceable.

So why, despite the expensive glitz and an aggressive, go-go attitude, does "Legally Blonde" only fitfully entertain? Most prominently because of a disappointing score.

What slows down the production are some of the songs by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin. Most of them are vaguely pop, tunes with little discernible theatricality. The melodies evaporate quickly, particularly the more serious love songs for Elle, portrayed by Laura Bell Bundy, and her nerdy mentor, a teaching assistant played by Christian Borle.
....
Bundy can squeal "Omigod you guys" _ which seems to be the one phrase all Delta Nu sisters have in common _ with fervor. Yet she doesn't quite have the warmth that Witherspoon brought to the movie. The actress radiates efficiency.

Borle is a first-rate comedian as anyone who saw his performance in "Monty Python's Spamalot" knows. Here, unfortunately, Borle's comedic skills are kept under wraps as the musical's nice if boring good guy."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/29/AR2007042900949.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/entertainmentnews
Updated On: 4/29/07 at 06:19 PM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:19pm

Here's the Talkin' Broadway review. It's negative, as usual:


LB Review

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:19pm

Well, at least TalkinBroadway was kind to some of the cast.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:21pm

Clips of Murray's review:

"Neither is charm especially desired from most of the leads, particularly Bundy. She’s likeable in the ho-hum way so many young performers today are: She has no trouble meeting her role’s singing and dancing demands, but plows through the role with a robotic energy and mechanical smile that reinforce Elle’s limitations instead of suggesting a more complicated person underneath. Whereas Witherspoon made a smooth transition from deceptively smart girl to resourceful woman, Bundy treats the entire role with the plastic seriousness of an audition for Wicked. (Which, for the record, she’s already been in.)

To find the show’s real highlights, you must look farther down the cast list: Chico and Chloe, respectively playing Elle’s Chihuahua Bruiser and Paulette’s bulldog Rufus, bring some much-needed warmth and spontaneity to the show; Leslie Kritzer is brilliant but wasted as the leader of a Greek chorus of Elle’s sorority sisters; and Natalie Joy Johnson lives up to her middle name as a hilarious militant lesbian law student.

Finally, there’s Kate Shindle, who brings a fierce, icy fire to the potentially thankless role of Warner’s new flame, Vivienne. A former Miss America and ascending stage star in her own right, Shindle knows how to command the stage and comport herself in chaotic surroundings, talents she exercises to the fullest here. She’s a superb singer, too: Her high-energy belting at the end of the otherwise rambling title song is the show’s only exciting moment and the best reason I can think of to buy a ticket."

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:25pm

Wow, that's pretty harsh to Laura.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:30pm

Poor Laura

Well one positive , one mixed and one negative

I guess thats what peoples opinions have been so far as well.
I think unlike pirate queen though i dont think negative reviews will close LB, its far to much of a tourist draw.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:30pm

Can't say the comments about her are unwarrented....

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:32pm

I think she is very good, does she have star power? no but she moves things along well.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:34pm

Wouldn't you need star power to really carry a show of this size?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:34pm

Murray hit it head-on. She's fine with the singing and dancing, but she's cold as ice and has zero charisma.

Updated On: 4/29/07 at 06:34 PM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:36pm

she doesn't have zero charisma thats a ickle harsh(bad yankee) but i do see what your saying

[whatever2]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:38pm

ive only been reading and posting on these boards for a few months, but it's clear to me that margochanning enjoys something of an emiritus status -- entirely deserved, given the breadth and depth of her knowledge, and the sagacity of her posts.

it's also been obvious to me that she traditionally starts most of the review threads ... dunno why, but it's kind of sad to see people ignoring that here. prolly it's no big deal, but it still seems unfortunate.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:39pm

Harsh, maybe, but Elle woods has to ooze with charisma. You have to love her from the second she steps on stage. Laura doesn't possess that quality. Murray and Kuchwara described it perfectly.