Legally Blonde understudies- Page 18

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 11:18am

Hey kids!

I saw LEGALLY BLONDE last night for the fifth time. I was pleasantly surprised to see Andy Karl was going to be playing Emmett.

He was marvelous. My only problem was that he is so damn hot. It would be almost a no-brainer. I'd forget about Warner in a split second if I were Elle.

Bundy was in fantastic shape. Orfeh was kick-ass as usual.

My only problem was Matt Risch as Dewey/Kyle. I hate to stereotype, but in a show that has an entire musical number about gay stereotyping, I think it's appropriate.

Risch is such a 'mo. He's hot, no doubt. But when he's doing the Kyle walk, and the Kyle lines, he comes off as a total queen, whereas Andy Karl always comes off as a straight, masculine hunk.

Anyway, the show is in fantastic shape. It was nice to check in and see how it was doing.

[BreeDaniel]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 11:26am

I went to the matinee yesterday to see Andy Karl without expecting Becky to be on with him so I was pleasantly surprised to see they were on together. First things first, the theater was pretty much empty and the audience was half asleep which was a shame because I have to say, it was one of the best all around performances of the show I've seen. Everyone was on fire (as Kelly would say) and as I've seen Andy on as Emmett more than once, it was his personal best. He and Becky are my favorite Elle/Emmett pairing and both sounded GREAT! Orfeh gets funnier and vocally more incredible (don't know how that's possible) every time I see it and I thought Cara Cooper and all the Delta Nu's were really "on" too. Matt Risch was great but I have to agree and say, I like his Dewey more than his Klye. I appreciated that the cast wasn't letting the fact that the audience was so tiny get in the way of giving their all.


*because I didn't see wannabe's post, wanted to add, I didn't think Risch was "queenie" but his Dewey is very butch and that's perhaps why it works better. Updated On: 1/31/08 at 11:26 AM

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 11:32am

Bree: When I went back in December, I was front row and no matter how dead the audience was, the cast kept their energy and their game up for those, like myself, who love the show and it's energy and when I was leaving I gave to Broadway Cares and Noah said to me: "You were having the best time, and we all appericiated that." and that message was also told to me by Rusty Mowery when I was buying my Carols for A Cure CD.

They love the responsive audiences members.

[BreeDaniel]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 11:40am

Absolutely Clumsy, there are always going to be those of us who realize the importance of "giving it up" and I think they all really appreciate that.

[bestfreakinshoes]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 1:59pm

"I will be interested to what Bryce brings to the role, I am going in completely in the dark about him, so it should be interesting."

Me too, Clumsy. I was sort of bummed at first, but now I'm really interested to see him as Emmett.

"My only problem was that he is so damn hot. It would be almost a no-brainer. I'd forget about Warner in a split second if I were Elle."

This made me laugh. But I have to agree. I think the creators wanted Emmett in the musical to be different than Emmett in the movie (as in, not Luke Wilson hot.) That's one of the things I love about the musical..and just the expanded relationship between them in general. But this is the understudy thread, so I'll shut up.

[legally_popular]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 2:26pm

I agree about Andy almost being TOO hot to play Emmett. But that's just a bonus for Elle I guess, hehe.

I'm more concerned about Andy playing Callahan! If I was Elle, it would be much harder to slap that hot man after kissing me

p.s. - where is Tracy Jai? Is she on vacation again? Becky and Cara are covering Serena through the rest of the weekend.

[Anakela]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 2:33pm

I'm more concerned about Andy playing Callahan! If I was Elle, it would be much harder to slap that hot man after kissing me

Oh. My. God. Andy!Callahan was brilliant. I don't care that he didn't look 'old' enough, he was just brilliant as Callahan. Brilliant!! I am possibly in the minority on this, but if forced to choose I would rather see Andy!Callahan again than Andy!Emmett again (THEY ARE BOTH GREAT)

p.s. - where is Tracy Jai? Is she on vacation again? Becky and Cara are covering Serena through the rest of the weekend.

TJE is injured. For those who are interested here's the Emmett and Serena schedule thru the weekend, according to bway understudies:

01.31.08: Andy Karl will be playing the role of Emmett Thursday, Jan 31st - Friday, Feb 1st and Bryce Ryness will be playing the role of Emmett this weekend, Feb 2nd - 3rd in LEGALLY BLONDE. In addition, Becky Gulsvig will be playing the role of Serena Thursday, Jan 31st - Saturday, February 2nd, and Cara Cooper will play the role of Serena this Sunday, Feb 3rd.
broadwayunderstudies.com

[Rentfan931]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 3:38pm

Isnt Richard on vacation Feb 10th-17th?

[fishergirl819]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 3:44pm

Andy's Callahan is absolutely brilliant (brilliant! I say), and I do hope that Rupert takes another vacation soon so that he'll get to go on again.

legally_popular, when Michael Rupert was on vacation over the summer and Andy got to go on, there were some female cast members (I want to say Kate Shindle and Tracy Jai Edwards? But I could be remembering wrong) who were saying the same thing - how can you get upset over that man kissing you? Haha. What a different show that could be..."Is this the only reason why you gave me the internship? *shrug* Okay!" aaaaand end of show.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 3:57pm

"What a different show that could be..."Is this the only reason why you gave me the internship? *shrug* Okay!" aaaaand end of show."

And then they f*ck on his desk.

...I mean, what? I've NEVER thought about an alternate ending to Blonde when Andy Karl is Professor Callahan. I'd like to third fourth and fifth the statements made about his Callahan. Hands down my favorite understudy performance in ANY show EVER. And it is VERY sad that unless Michael Rupert takes a vacation, we won't get to see him again.

[Anakela]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 4:58pm

^Don't you mean they have sex in the mezz box seats? Yes I am apparently secretly about eight years old inside, that story is never going to not be funny to me, lol.

Isnt Richard on vacation Feb 10th-17th?

That sounds about right- carymetorent2 can confirm, though. :) Or, I know Richard mentioned his vacay dates in blog #7, which can be found here...
richardhblake.com

[bestfreakinshoes]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 5:10pm

"What a different show that could be..."Is this the only reason why you gave me the internship? *shrug* Okay!" aaaaand end of show."

And then they f*ck on his desk.

This is like the best conversation EVER.

Also, I love Michael Rupert as Callahan, but I always kind of wondered why they didn't get Victor Garber to come in for a couple weeks and reprise his movie role. But maybe that's just because I heart Victor Garber.

[ruprecht]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 6:23pm

I'll 6th, 7th and 8th it Kelly2. Andy as Callahan, there are simply no words and what words there should be, Kelly2 and others pretty much said it!

[carymetorent2]

Posted: 2/1/08 at 12:45am

Agree with Kelly anD Ruprecht, but that tends to happen :-P
BUt OMG I would die to see Victor Garber - I LOVE him.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 2/1/08 at 7:03am

So, life throws darn curveballs and my friend who was to be off on Sunday is now working, so no Blonde for me, sadly. But if anyone does go on Sunday or Saturday and sees this new creation known as BryceEmmett! please share your observations!

Bree: Exactly! I hated that audience, they were so so RUDE, I wanted to smack the guy/girl next to me who was asleep and this woman behind me eating candy noisely. Ugh. Horrible theater equitte!

[Rentfan931]

Posted: 2/1/08 at 9:46am

If Becky is Elle Feb 27th- March 1st who is playing the role on March 2nd? According to LBB's myspace she's still on vaction that day. Is Haven going on then? Hmm that may make me want to see the show again.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 10:09am

Just one more quick swoony sigh over Andy Karl's amazing performance as Emmett. Why doesn't this man have a leading role on Broadway?

[adamgreer]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 10:17am

I saw Andy Karl as Emmett last night...he was excellent. He gave a great performance, as did everyone, in spite of the fact that the Palace was empty last night. Balcony was completely empty, and they moved everyone from the rear mezz to the front mezz. Orchestra looked about 70% full. Very disappointing for a Friday night. However, I will echo what others have said and thank the cast for giving it their all despite the sparse crowd. It was a very energetic performance!

[3allthatjazz]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 3:00pm

holy, it's gonna be so hard to replace orfeh

[yankees1253]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 3:06pm

i agree about andy as emmett...really gorgeous emmett.
orfeh hard to replace...hope they go with someone in the cast already.
tracy jai edwards got hurt backstage while the show was going on, her injury is more than a ankle sprain. she hope to return to the show asap.
maybe haven will play the role as elle on march 2nd.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 3:25pm

Slightly off-topic, but I was talking about this with a friend, will this show mark the first time anyone has replaced Orfeh in a show? (Minus Love, Janis since that was a rotating cast anyway.) I mean, Footloose she was only a swing, Saturday Night Fever she closed with, Bright Lights Big City and Me and Mrs. Jones were limited runs (and regional), she closed with Trailer Park, and now Blonde. Strange. I guess she IS hard to replace! :) Can't imagine anyone else doing the role 8 times a week, but since she is bound for bigger and better...

I think Rachel Stern would make a great Paulette.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 3:39pm

When is she leaving?

[Kelly2]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 4:10pm

Who knows? I believe it said somewhere on here that all the leads renewed through the summer, so...

[adamgreer]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 4:19pm

Oh, ok. I thought they had announced a date or something that I had missed. Thanks.

[Broadway_Bound_Star]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 4:21pm

I can't wait to see the show again!!