The Search for the Next Elle Woods: The Spoiler thread- Page 45

[Danielle87]

Posted: 7/22/08 at 11:18pm

Personally, I prefer the jokes in the musical to the movie. They were just funnier to me, imo. When I first watched the Chip On Your Shoulder scene in the musical, I was taken aback, and a little turned off, that they had Emmett prompt Elle to prove everyone wrong. There was also no need for him to be in the scene with Elle, Paulette, and her ex. I love how they expanded the Emmett role-I always felt it should have been more explored in the movie, but they could have expanded his role without taking away her drive.

For example, they could have had Emmett bump into Elle after the Harvard party, sing the same first verse telling her about himself and telling her to get a chip on her shoulder, then have Elle go back to her room by herself determined to study and prove everyone wrong, with Paulette assisting her by asking her questions off the que cards. Emmett could then come in like the way the scene is now and give Elle her Christmas present, Warner walks in, and Elle realizes on her own that she acts like an idiot when he comes around and needs to get it together. Then have Elle go to class and impress both Callahan and Emmett, ending the scene with Emmett saying how proud he was of her. Sorry for rambling, but that would have been a good way to develop their friendship, while still having her be more independent.

With that being said, throughout the course of the musical I developed a crush on Christian Borle, so obviously Heather's evil plan worked, lol.

Btw, I think the biggest issue with LB is not the book, but the music. For a musical, the songs aren't strong enough, and none of them really stick out as memorable expect Omigod You Guys and So Much Better. Compare LB's music, to Hairspray. Definite difference. Is LB's music annoying catchy? Yes, but in the same way High School Musical is catchy(don't judge me). Fluffy, light songs that get stuck in your head because you hear them all the time when being pimped on TV.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/22/08 at 11:30pm

Yeah, like I said, it would have been possible to develop Emmett/Elle further without taking away from Elle's character.

I still think that the movie is funnier though, sorry LB's score isn't that great, but it would have been elevated by a good book IMO.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/22/08 at 11:43pm

See, and I think the score is great, but the book is abominable. I think the light, bouncy nature of it works great for the material (this isn't Medea, after all). And the songs are ridiculously catchy...I always find myself humming Omigod You Guys, What You Want, So Much Better, the title song, and especially Positive. Combine the music with Jerry Mitchell's great choreography, and you have what should have been a great, fun show. But then there is Hack's book, which brings things to a grinding halt. Aside from the numerous holes in the plot we've already discussed here, she threw in really cheesy lines that even Judi Dench would have a hard time making credible.

But, this all goes back to something I said during the show itself...Hack claims to "know the character of Elle Woods better than anyone" (I think Telsey actually said that), but in writing her as a complete idiot, dependent on Emmett for everything, she showed she really doesn't know Elle at all. Kate Shindle, in her brief segment on the reality show, showed that she knew more about Elle Woods than Heather Hack did. They should let Shindle rewrite the book.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/22/08 at 11:47pm

I like most of the songs, but there are a few clunkers. I'd get rid of "Ireland" and replace it back with "Good Boy," get rid of "Blood in the Water," and a few other cuts/replacements.

Yes, I was so happy with Kate Shindle's remark. Why couldn't she write the book and then play Elle? She wears a wig, anyway. Haha.

[dinglehopper89]

Posted: 7/22/08 at 11:51pm

Hmm I've never listened to Good Boy
But I agree, I really do not like Blood in the Water. Whenever I rewatch the MTV taping I skip that number.

They should get rid of Blood in the Water and give Kate like 2 maybe 3 more songs =D

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 12:00am

I dislike Blood in the Water and Take it Like a Man immensely. Ireland is a stupid song, but I don't mind it, because I could listen to Orfeh sing nursery rhymes and be happy.

[defyingravity07]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 12:00am

Why do people like the slow songs in shows, Blood in The Water, Sentimental Man, etc... I personally love them.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 12:03am

I don't dislike them because they're slow; I dislike them because they're musically uninteresting.

"Good Boy" was a VERY cute Elle and Paulette duet about why boys can't be more obedient like dogs. It was so much better than "Ireland."

"Take It Like a Man" has a cute concept but executes it terribly. Plus it's a stupid song.

[austengirl]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 12:05am

Ireland is very stupid...I always FF through that, but I must say Take It Like A Man is one of my favorite parts of the whole show.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 12:07am

I dislike Sentimental Man because it's a horrible song that brings the show to a grinding halt. It felt like it was stuck in there for no reason other than to give the Wizard a song in act 1.

As for Blood in the Water, I completely understand its purpose in the show. It's heavy on exposition (probably more so than any other number in the show), because it sets up the action of the rest of act 1. However, it's just kind of dull to listen to.

[ko74612]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 1:34am

Hello all. :)

read the previous posts. interesting discussion about the LB book and its percieved "flaws". It actually reminds me of a similar conversation regarding the "flaws" in the Wicked book.

So I'm asking... do you actually believe there are "flaws" in the book? or are you just doing a side by side comparison of the musical book and the movie and refering to any differences as "flaws"?

enlighten me? :)

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 1:39am

Updated On: 5/3/09 at 01:39 AM

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 1:40am

I actually think that the musical had a great chance to improve upon the movie. The movie is good, but it has flaws as well. The musical tried to address some of the flaws and fix them, but their attempts at solutions only proved to worsen the problems (IMO).

[ko74612]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 1:50am

Well... I bring this up because I disagree with some of the literary scrutiny in previous posts.

A musical book is not just dialogue but rather "the sum of all the content".

Musicals are a natuarlly impressionistc artform and they cannot be approached with the dramatic weight of a play. Deep characters and dense dialogue don't flow well and do not leave room for the song, dance and spectacle that characterizes the musical.

The smart liberettist approaches with a simple and obvious world so as not to complicate the story/idea any further.

Ex: By the end of the show you know that Elle and Emmett are in love. Thats all the book tells you. You want to analyze it further? Look to the score and lyrics because thats where the dramatic material lies.

Updated On: 7/23/08 at 01:50 AM

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 3:02am

Updated On: 5/3/09 at 03:02 AM

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 3:54am

"Ireland" is dumb, but we need a solo song for Orfeh so she can show off her vocals.

"So I'm asking... do you actually believe there are "flaws" in the book? or are you just doing a side by side comparison of the musical book and the movie and refering to any differences as "flaws"?"

People think there are actual flaws with the book...if there was no movie, it would be a flawed show, in other words. I agree with Spork.

[ruprecht]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 9:08am

Austengirl, you need to take a rest, really just take a rest now!

[austengirl]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 10:01am

Not sure why I need to take a rest???? I've only posted four times in the last four pages. Others have posted close to twenty times in the last four pages!

[James885]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 10:04am

Wow, it's nice to see that this discussion is still going!

Regarding the flaws in the book, yeah the movie has flaws as well but like SporkGoddess said, the musical just exacerbated those flaws and even created new ones. By trying to bring the Elle/Emmett relationship to the fore as well as writing Elle into nearly every scene, they abandoned any chance of developing the other characters. The result is that Warner, Vivienne, and to some extent Paulette come off as little more than just caricatures of the people we saw in the movie.

And yes, I think "Ireland" is an extremely dumb song. It really brings the action to a halt. Why is Paulette suddenly singing about Ireland in the middle of a hair salon? I know that Paulette needs a song, but I wish she had gotten a better one. I'm going to see if I can find "Good Boy" somewhere so I can hear how that sounds.

The score for LB is ok. It doesn't compare to Hairspray's score, but it's serviceable. But whenever I listen to LB on my Ipod, I always skip over "Serious", "The Harvard Variations", "Blood In The Water", "Ireland" (and it's reprise), and "Take It Like a Man".

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 10:10am

The smart liberettist approaches with a simple and obvious world so as not to complicate the story/idea any further.

Ex: By the end of the show you know that Elle and Emmett are in love. Thats all the book tells you. You want to analyze it further? Look to the score and lyrics because thats where the dramatic material lies.

I disagree with this assessment on the whole, especially seeing as there are some musicals where the book is stronger than the score and serves to elevate the show (a few examples I can think of are Spelling Bee and, in my opinion, Kiss of the Spider Woman). A ton of the fault with Legally Blonde lies with the score and the way the songs choose to tell the story, but it's a collaboration for a reason, and Hach's book does nothing to help matters. If her aim was only to string the songs together without any creative input, she isn't the kind of person I'd want writing the book for my show. And considering that it's based on a very funny movie, the book could have been much funnier than it ended up being. LB has issues with its book and score both.

I still think that the only good song is "So Much Better," and "Omigod You Guys" is passable. "Legally Blonde" has grown on me thanks to the reality show. Almost every other song is either bad, unnecessary or both.

[Taryn]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 10:23am

Nothing to do with the current discussion, but I just thought it was funny to note that Celina and Bailey are now roommates. They just seemed so different.
Life After Legally Blonde

[jess20882]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 10:35am

at the box office yesterday, the man working the window told me bailey was doing BOTH performances today. if anyone goes to the matinee and she is indeed on, let us know how she does! if not, i'll be at tonight's performance and will def report back after the show

[don logan]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 10:38am

IF you like Good Boy better than Ireland, blame the producers. They are the ones who nixed Good Boy for Ireland.

[Eponine3]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 10:45am

I actually like the improvement of the Elle/Emmett relationship in the musical as opposed to the movie. I like giving him a back story and I like the fact that in "Take It Like A Man" she says that he may look like Warner with his new clothes but she is glad that he is him. I also like the way the end the Elle/Warner relationship in the musical as opposed to the movie with her being kind to him rather than just the snarky remark in the movie where she throws his line about "If by the time I' thirty.. blah blah." back at him.

I also find that Elle was a little more sneaky and not as nice in the book. However some stuff was really funny, such as when they kicked her out of her dorm b/c of Bruiser and so she rented an apartment and then had the movers move all of the stuff back to the dorm so that she could rope Warner into helping her move it. ha ha ha ha ha.

Updated On: 7/23/08 at 10:45 AM

[ruprecht]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 11:17am

I'm not taking the time to post a long answer austengirl, you figure it out. I might go to the evening performance, if I do I will post a my thoughts.