Review - LEGALLY BLONDE Tour - Buffalo 10/18

[zamedy]

Posted: 10/19/08 at 9:19pm

So after all the hype and build up on MTV, I finally got to see Legally Blonde in person. My friends and I went to the 8 o'clock show Saturday night at Shea's in Buffalo. We had a good time.. not a great time.. not the best night of musical comedy in my life, but it's a cute show. A few thoughts...

-The show had to be stopped after "Oh My God You Guys." An announcer came over the p.a. and said something to the effect of, "Ladies and Gentleman, we are experiencing technical problems and have to temporarily stop the show. Cast members please leave the stage." Several pieces of scenery from the opening number were then moved off stage. A few minutes later, the announcer again came on and said "Thank you for your patience. Cast members pic up from Warner's entrance." A little bizarre but that's live theatre. The audience cheered as the Delta Nu Girls (who were all great) walked on the stage again. Margo, Serena and Pilar actually playfully bowed and the show went on..

-It seemed like some of the fun and electricity of the show that everyone talks about was swallowed up by the mammouth size of Shea's (I believe it seats more than 3,000 people). It's hard to describe, because I've seen many shows there where the huge 'bring down the house' numbers really popped and wowed you. I kept waiting for that to happen (Legally Blonde Remix)and it seemed to just kind of fall short. It was also at times hard to hear the singing over the orchestra. Again, maybe their voices just got lost in all that space?

-Becky made a great Elle. Very nice voice. Not as powerful as I thought it might have been, but again perhaps that was because of circumstances mentioned above. Still, I felt like I wanted to connect with her Elle and root for her more like I have with other musical underdogs (i.e. Tracy Turnblad, Peggy Sawyer). Anyway, that dovetails into my next point...

-The book. I now see what everyone is talking about. The book is probably the weakest part of the whole show. The funniest jokes are in the score, not the book. And where does Vivienne's sudden transformation come from? One scene she hates the air that Elle breathes. The next she's singing her praises. Literally.

-I hate 'Blood In The Water' and just about every one of Callahan's songs. Snoozeville... as was much of the classroom scenes in Act One. They kind of drag along.

-The cast overall is extremely talented. The audience ate up Ven Daniel's UPS Guy. And Natalie Joy Johnson did a great job with the character of Paulette (although seeing her performance made me want to see Ofreh even more). Highlights: "Bend and Snap" and "There, Right There."

-I was kind of surprised the audience didn't give the cast a standing ovation... until the reprise after the curtain call (Buffalo audiences are usually very generous...and I was expecting everyone to rise to their feet for Becky's bow).

All in all, a fun night at the theatre that didn't blow me away but didn't make me regret spending the 60 bucks either. Several months ago before I had seen the show, I asked a question on this board: Why has a show like HAIRSPRAY enjoyed so much acclaim and long success and not other fun, sugar coated comedies like LEGALLY BLONDE. I now have a better understanding why.

With all that said, if the show comes through your town.. go see it and support this fun, talented cast painting the town pink.

Updated On: 10/20/08 at 09:19 PM

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 10/19/08 at 9:25pm

Biiiiig place!
3200 seats
Updated On: 10/19/08 at 09:25 PM

[zamedy]

Posted: 10/19/08 at 9:43pm

Wow. Great pic... thanks! And to think they were gonna tear it down 30 years ago and make it into a parking garage!

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 10/19/08 at 9:48pm

Updated On: 10/19/08 at 09:48 PM

[E.Davis]

Posted: 10/19/08 at 9:55pm

That Looks a lot like my home town theatre in schenectady

Updated On: 10/19/08 at 09:55 PM

[zepka102]

Posted: 10/19/08 at 10:04pm

I miss Sheas. I went home for Wicked and just loved being back in there. The theater where I am now just doesn't compare. I'm definitely going back when Color Purple is there in June.

[E.Davis]

Posted: 10/19/08 at 10:14pm

Zepka do you realize that this is Evan

[zepka102]

Posted: 10/19/08 at 10:24pm

Of course I do... I'd say welcome to the boards, but you've been here a few months now haha


But yea, Proctors isn't as nice as Sheas... trust me

[E.Davis]

Posted: 10/19/08 at 10:40pm

Ya, I actually have been on here for years but my other account....something went fishy with it

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 10/19/08 at 11:53pm

It's a beautiful theater, and there isn't a bad seat in the house.

I saw the show on Thursday, and I have to disagree with you on a few things:

I found 'Blood in the Water' to be one of the best numbers. I love the staging at the end, with the door spinning around and Callahan backing up and slamming the door, it's just great.

I do agree that some numbers did not exactly 'fill the space' so to speak. Omigod You Guys was so terribly awkward without the house and stairs. But if the end of 'What You Want' didn't fill the space, I'm not sure what could. 'There! Right There!' was the high point of the show for the audience.

Also, Shea's has a horrible sound system, which really is a shame. They get all these huge national tours, and half the time you cannot hear the actors. When Dirty Rotten Scoundrels came, when the actress playing Jolene was in the middle of singing 'Oklahoma' and her microphone totally went dead.

Overall though, it was a fantastic production of the show.

[Mistress_Spouzic]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 12:12am

i think im seeing the tour in Boston!

[ohjustjake]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 12:30am

IdinaBellFoster - I think I was at that performance of DRS, because I remember some of the mic's not working. Same with when LSH was there the year before, they had mic problems. I'm surprised that Shea's system would be so bad if the tours they get are so big. You'd think they would keep that updated.

[Albin]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 8:55am

I was there last night. I liked how the light columns on either side and top of stage moved in to "frame" some of the scenes, leaving a smaller space to work with.

Sound system-not the greatest. Effected DB Bonds(Emmett) the most. Callahan and Warner-they phoned their performances in, especially Warner. Very bland, very boring.


Colleen Sexton-holy cow I wish she had more to do.

Rihannon-delightfully quirky as Margot.

Natalie-a little too low-keyed as Paulette.

Finally to the guy who plays Carlos-Dude ease up on the Spanish accent. We can't understand a word you're saying!

[Bdwy24]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 6:45pm

It's not Shea's sound system. The tours bring in their own microphones and sound......

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 7:11pm

It doesn't matter. The structure of the theatre effects it.

[sparkleofenergy]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 7:18pm

I am so excited! I am seeing it in Boston 10/30!

[Azuah.]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 1:36am

has anyone seen any huge funny screw ups yet?

[LuvUrBatBoy]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 7:53am

Not a huge screw up, but the first night here in Baltimore, one of the swings went on as one in the Delta Nu/Laker Girl/Judge track, and at the end of So Much Better, she was standing in the wrong place. Thus, when they turned around to spell Elle's name, she was ELLE WODOS.

Also, I heard from a friend that during one of the Bmore shows, during the Irish step line in the Remix, that Megan Lewis' (Vivienne) shoe accidentally flew into the audience during one of the kicks. She had to finish the dance in 1 shoe, and then the rest of the show barefoot.

[Bwayidiot]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 12:11pm

I have to disagree that there is not a bad seat in the Shea's theatre, the front side seats give a very limited view of the stage. Really bad seats and the price is the same as the center seats.
As to sound, the shows carry their own sound equipment and the shound technician should compensate for the design of the theater.
Updated On: 10/23/08 at 12:11 PM

[Phantour]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 6:21pm

Zamedy, did you look at the merchandise? Do you know if the program had pictures of the touring cast and not the Broadway cast? And also the price of it?

I look forward to seeing it in Rochester this week and although I love Sheas Theatre, maybe it's not that bad I'm seeing it in a smaller theatre.

[LadyDramaturg2]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 12:44pm

BwayIdiot: The sound technician cannot create additional sound equipment out of thin air. It is the sound Designer's responsibility to know all of the tour venues, and to design a system that will adapt itself to each unique house.

When you get into these canyons like Buffalo and the Providence PAC, you usually just grit your teeth until you move on, because most tour houses are smaller, and therefore, the sound package on the truck is designed to fit the majority of the venues.

It's not just a matter of bringing up the singers microphones to get them over the orchestra. The Sound Designer is also responsible for balancing singers/orchestra in his equipment design and console programming. If the design is lacking, and the programming not adequate, the Sound Engineer on the show can do very little to compensate.

[ejgirls89]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 12:49pm

response to the screw ups: i didnt see anything major, but here are a few things from providence:

1st night (preview night) they had the flag all twisted so you couldnt see the faces

these are really little things:

when rhiannon responds to bruiser shes supposed to say 'the old valley mill? ooh sorry the old valley mall!' but she said mall twice and lauren forgot a line in omigod you guys when they say not once ever has he hit on me, lauren is supposed to say 'shut up!' but forgot, and added it in right after 'theyre just like that couple from titanic, only no one died'

[zamedy]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 1:13pm

Phantour...
I saw the merchandise kiosk (it was hard to miss... right there when you walked in the door).. but I didn't really check out the merchandise. I did notice they had a pink boah (sp?) for sale and a bunch of t-shirts, but that's about it. I don't know if the program featured the cast from Broadway or the tour. Have a great time. How big is the theatre in Rochester anyway? Is it located right downtown? Does Rochester have a 'theatre district' like Buffalo?

Posted: 10/23/08 at 2:46pm

Rochester's biggest theaters are all on the east side of downtown, but spread over several blocks. The theater in Rochester that hosts touring broadway is not really an ideal space. Its seems to be used only for touring broadway and comedy shows these days. It's the Auditorium Theater http://www.rbtl.org/audrochester/default.aspx I can't find the capacity numbers, but its giant, 40 rows in the orchestra and one balcony with 3 tiers. Some seats, even in the orchestra, are really far.

If you're thinking of beautiful downtown Rochester theaters, you're thinking of The Eastman Theater which seats 3000, but is gorgeous and located next to all the Eastman School facilities. The RPO's season is there, it has restaurants and shops nearby and its a little closer to the other downtown theaters like Geva and Blackfriars and Hochstein but you probably wouldn't walk between them.

[Phantour]

Posted: 10/24/08 at 12:10am

The program was more money than I had, so I didn't even bother to look at it. But that's okay, I've seen some of the new photos online.

I saw the show tonight and it was great! The ensemble is so energized and you know they are working their butts off when you see sweat all over their faces in the lower key acting scenes that follow the dance numbers. I was front row, far right so I got to see into the wings and when actors hid behind things (I saw how Elle changes so quickly in the beginning and a little of Emmett undressing). I'm glad I saw the MTV airing first because that selected what to see on stage and I followed the story easier. Tonight I would stray my attention to an ensemble member who was engaging. And the whole scene with Elle studying for her LSATs went out the window for me because there were shirtless men on stage, lol. I would write more, but I don't think right now I could write a concise review. But I really enjoyed Becky Gulsvig, D.B. Bonds, Natalie Joy Johnson, Coleen Saxton, Ven Daniel, Rhiannon Hansen, Nick Dalton, and Adam Zelasko. Most of the actors were also incredible nice and genuine when I met them at the stage door. So the night was great for me.