Legally Blonde understudies — Page 3

i know tracy jai is no longer an understudy as she's doing serena these days. but i saw her as serena in last night's performance and i was NOT impressed. yes, she improved over the course of the show, but her voice was off - especially in 'omigod you guys' - and she didn't get nearly the amount of laughs that leslie kritzer got.
does anyone know if tracy jai is serena from now on or if this is only temporary until they get someone new...?
*on a side note - i was siting next to a very pretty blonde young woman who was taking notes on margot throughout the show - she apparently has an audition coming up very soon. she looked really familiar but i couldn't place her...(i didn't catch her name either)*

I saw Jason Gillman when he was on for Warner and I really enjoyed him. Though he doesn't have the typical "jerk boyfriend" look that Richard Blake does, he had some HILARIOUS line readings ("Emmett nailed the pool boy" being my favorite) and his voice was wonderful. I thought he was a very good Warner, and would not mind seeing him again.

Though when I think of Legally Blonde understudies the two that stand out most in my mind are Andy Karl as Callahan or Emmett, both are FABULOUS, though I think his Callahan is my favorite, and Becky Gulsvig as Elle. She was fantastic, brought new life to the role, and has an incredible voice.

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I'd like to see Michael's understudy... I think he has a very good voice, but after seeing the show last weekend I decided that Michael is a very boring performer. He just stood there and delivered lines... I guess when you have a Tony you can do that! :-P

Kelly2- thanks for the Jason report!

random: so Kritzer's name is still on the cast list in front of the Palace...isn't there some sort of rule that covers when/how quickly they have to change that when someone leaves? Maybe there isn't, and I'm just totally making that up, but I just thought it was weird that over two weeks after she's left the show her name is still up there.

all i can say nobody cant be like brooke wyndam like nikki snelson....shes hard to beat

I'm going to just chime in and echo ruprecht and TheBlonde. Andy Karl as Callahan = brilliant. Followed very closely by his Ememtt...

Y'all are making me very excited to check out Andy's Emmett, which I will hopefully be doing this weekend...but yeah, to second or fourth or whatnot what's already been said, Andy's Callahan seriously is just that awesome.

I saw it laborday weekend and Andy was Emmit. Though I love christians voic eon the recording Andy was great and I enjoyed the performance very much. But the UPS GUY understudy stole the show.

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Hopefully the six weeks worth of missing posts will eventually return here, although in the meantime here is my CliffsNotes list of the discussions/posts/understudy happenings that are missing (no, not from memory- as pulled from my blog :)):

- Becky Gulsvig as Elle with Andy Karl as Emmett
- Annaleigh Ashford as Elle with Noah Weisberg as Emmett *and* Kevin Pariseau as Callahan and Becky Gulsvig as Margot
- Noah Weisberg as Emmett (with the Andy Karl castnoah.com tattoo appearance :))
- Becky Gulsvig as Elle
- Gaelen Gilliland as Enid
- Michelle Kittrell as Pilar

Becky was on for the matinee (only the matinee, Laura Bell was back at night) and she was fantastic, as she always is. She's a brilliant Elle, and a great actress, it's always a treat to see her on. Cara Cooper as Serena is good as well, though I think I do prefer Tracy Jai overall. She's a lot more dry and sarcastic, closer to Leslie. Though I will say she looks FANTASTIC in the costumes, she's gorgeous.

And it's very sad that all the posts are on. Let me just reiterate that my favorite understudy performance was Andy Karl as Professor Callahan. He was absolutely BRILLIANT. Second place is his Emmett. He's a tremendous actor, and his voice is just gorgeous. Also, it's pretty funny when Elle introduces Paulette (Orfeh) and Emmett (Andy)...when they're....married. Seeing him opposite Becky as Elle was my favorite ever.

And Michelle Kittrell as Pilar is very very good.

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Updated On: 10/14/07 at 08:45 PM

I am waiting for the Becky!Elle, Noah!Emmett, Andy!Callahan understudy triple night, and then my life will be complete. Hey, it could happen! :)


I'm going thru Google cache and I just found page 6 of the old thread, so here's some of September, for anyone who might want to take a read...
"Legally Blonde understudies"- Google cache page 6

fyi-

-- 10.17.07: LAST MINUTE NOTICE! Becky Gulsvig will be playing the role of Elle today at LEGALLY BLONDE, both shows.


broadwayunderstudies.com