legally blonde--yes or no?

[nickysfriend]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 8:28pm

So, I'm new to this site, and I don't know if this has been covered yet. I saw the Wicked's flaws discussion and i'm really curious to see what you guys think about Legally Blonde the musical.
It's like a guilty pleasure for me, but i haven't seen the whole show so i don't know much about the book or the full characters.
sooo....start your engines!!

[binau]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 8:42pm

People here probably generally hate it, but I think it is a good show. It isn't trying to be anything it is not, it is funny and has catchy songs.

Since it isn't taking itself too seriously, I don't think it's particularly cheesy.

[DWalk]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 8:48pm

While it's not the best show ever, I was completely entertained and really enjoyed it. I'd definitely see it again if the tour were to come back by here.

[camncal]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 8:50pm

it's very entertaining. Like the movie, it's fluff, but you can't deny its charm.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 8:59pm

I agree with the above statements: not a piece of art or anything meaningful, but I had fun. Liked it a lot more than I ever thought I would.

And since you are new: pretty much any show that has been on B'
way has been discussed to death nine thousand times. It's always a good idea to lurk for awhile before posting...but welcome!

[alightinthedark23]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 9:08pm

I never saw the show live but I did see the show via MTV and I thought it was fun. Some of the songs are catchy. It's not the greatest show ever written but it's good.

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 9:12pm

For mindless fun, it's better than The Wedding Singer, but nowhere near as good as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

[HollyGolightly2]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 9:16pm

Honestly, Legally Blonde isn't the best musical ever, but I still LOVE it. You can't not enjoy it at least a little bit. The songs are so catchy that I work out to them. :) And So Much Better is my current ringtone.

[nickysfriend]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 10:10pm

dramamama, thanks for the advice. i do usually like to check out everything that's been going on on a message board before i annoy people with a bunch of posts, and i will be lurking as much as possible for sure. my sister and i were having a debate about legally blonde the other day, because she hates it, and i don't, so i wanted to see if i was totally delusional.

thanks everyone for the replies, you've basically verified my opinion.

oh, and hollygolightly, i work out to the songs too!!

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 10:15pm

I love it.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:26pm

There is no right or wrong when it comes to opinions. If she's basing her opinion STRICTLY from the MTV airing....I'd agree with her. THAT was atrocious. I never would have seen it after that if I didn't already had it booked for 50 or so 8th graders. We all had fun -- it was a great first foray into B'way for them.

[binau]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:29pm

What parts didn't you like about the broadcast?

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:30pm

It's a cute show with a catchy score, but the book's an absolute mess. If you can turn your brain off you'll be okay. It's definitely far inferior to the movie IMO.

[HollyGolightly2]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:34pm

^ Really? I like it more than the movie. I loved the story improvements, especially involving Elle and Emmett. They have about five minutes of conversation in the movie, and then suddenly at the end they get engaged. It seemed really tacked on.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:36pm

The score is great, O'Keefe and Benjamin clearly understood the tone of the show and wrote a catchy, tuneful, and appropriate score, given the characters, I still listen to it pretty often. The original Broadway cast was fantastic, especially near the beginning of the run when Laura Bell Bundy's voice was still in pristine condition. IMO, the jokes with the "PMS Girls" were at their funniest with Annaleigh Ashford, Leslie Kritzer, and DeQuina Moore. Honestly, I thought those roles were really nothing until I saw Haven Burton, Asmeret Ghebremichael and Tracy Jai Edwards (who was lovely but surrounded by mediocrity). And then you had Orfeh and Andy Karl, who really tore it up....can't say enough about what a great group of people were onstage when the show opened.

As for faults, there's no shortage. The book is a hot mess. Heather Hack totally butchered Elle's character, especially by making Emmett her fairy godmother. It made believing Elle was actually smart really hard, and unfortunately, people faulted poor Laura Bell Bundy, when in reality, it was the complete hack job done by Heather. The direction was nonexistant (Jerry Mitchell should stick to making up hip-hop dance routines and leave the direction to those who understand it's purpose), and the choreography was passable, but I thought could've been improved. It was also unfortunate how long it took for Orfeh to get a real ending for "Ireland", the one-liner that was in there for awhile ("Make sure you wear four inch heels" or whatever it was) realllllly gave me second-hand embarrassment. Oh, and once Christian Borle started cheating on his wife with Laura Bell Bundy, the quality of his performance suffered, and it was hard to watch the pair of them onstage together. Andy Karl, in my opinion, was a better Emmett than him by a clear mile, but at the same time, you never want to see anyone else as Kyle. Cloning obviously is the answer here, but until that's possible, it would've been nice for Christian Borle to attempt to do something besides alternately snooze and flirt his way through the show.

That was kinda long. And don't even get me started on Bailey Hanks.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:36pm

The score is great, O'Keefe and Benjamin clearly understood the tone of the show and wrote a catchy, tuneful, and appropriate score, given the characters, I still listen to it pretty often. The original Broadway cast was fantastic, especially near the beginning of the run when Laura Bell Bundy's voice was still in pristine condition. IMO, the jokes with the "PMS Girls" were at their funniest with Annaleigh Ashford, Leslie Kritzer, and DeQuina Moore. Honestly, I thought those roles were really nothing until I saw Haven Burton, Asmeret Ghebremichael and Tracy Jai Edwards (who was lovely but surrounded by mediocrity). And then you had Orfeh (who is a STAR no matter what she's in and what she's doing) and Andy Karl, who really tore it up....can't say enough about what a great group of people were onstage when the show opened.

As for faults, there's no shortage. The book is a hot mess. Heather Hack totally butchered Elle's character, especially by making Emmett her fairy godmother. It made believing Elle was actually smart really hard, and unfortunately, people faulted poor Laura Bell Bundy, when in reality, it was the complete hack job done by Heather. The direction was nonexistant (Jerry Mitchell should stick to making up hip-hop dance routines and leave the direction to those who understand it's purpose), and the choreography was passable, but I thought could've been improved. It was also unfortunate how long it took for Orfeh to get a real ending for "Ireland", the one-liner that was in there for awhile ("Make sure you wear four inch heels" or whatever it was) realllllly gave me second-hand embarrassment. Oh, and once Christian Borle started cheating on his wife with Laura Bell Bundy, the quality of his performance suffered, and it was hard to watch the pair of them onstage together. Andy Karl, in my opinion, was a better Emmett than him by a clear mile, but at the same time, you never want to see anyone else as Kyle. Cloning obviously is the answer here, but until that's possible, it would've been nice for Christian Borle to attempt to do something besides alternately snooze and flirt his way through the show.

That was kinda long. And don't even get me started on Bailey Hanks.

Updated On: 8/15/09 at 11:36 PM

[binau]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:39pm

" especially involving Elle and Emmett."

I think a strong criticism with the 'new relationship' is that Elle doesn't appear to have her own initiative, and cannot manage to do things herself - which kind of goes against the whole premise of "Legally Blonde", a ditsy/bimbo/idiot/spoilt rich girl who realised that she can 'fulfill' her potential and support herself...

Updated On: 8/15/09 at 11:39 PM

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:40pm

Wow, Kelly, you really hit the nail on the head there! I Loved it!

[HollyGolightly2]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:44pm

"I think a strong criticism with the 'new relationship' is that Elle doesn't appear to have her own initiative"


I was talking more about the relationship between the characters, as friends. Like I said, in the movie, they say ten words to each other and then get married. The musical makes them OMGBFFs first, and I liked that.

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 8/16/09 at 12:00am

I'm so sick of people saying...."It is nothing deep...BUT.." or stuff like that.

Why does a show have to apologize nowadays just for being fun and entertaining??

[Kelly2]

Posted: 8/16/09 at 12:06am

It doesn't. Or rather, it shouldn't. I didn't say that in my post because one of the show's major selling points and strengths is how fun it is. It's one of those shows that you go into the theatre, the time flies by, and at the end, you're singing the opening number and grinning as you walk out.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/16/09 at 12:13am

HollyGolightly2: I like the movie better because it's subtle the entire time. I mean, they get engaged two years later, so it all happens offscreen. The musical tries to develop it but still stick to that timeframe, which makes no sense.

Also, I preferred it when Emmett liked Elle because he saw actual potential in her versus just identifying with her because they were both the underdog.

[Irrational Number]

Posted: 8/16/09 at 2:09am

I've only heard the cast recording. It does a good job of giving the title a deeper meaning and I like the more three dimensional character of Emmett. However, the music is extremely derivative (you can hear parts lifted from "Avenue Q", "Hairspray", "Mamma Mia", etc.). Still, it is enjoyable and I would love to see it sometime!

[Kelly2]

Posted: 8/16/09 at 2:17am

I don't think the score is derivative at all. There are a few similarities to Laurence O'Keefe's previous work in Bat Boy, but beyond that, I don't hear "Avenue Q" or "Mamma Mia" (derivative of ABBA? Really?), or "Hairspray" at all.

[Irrational Number]

Posted: 8/16/09 at 2:22am

It seemed like the composers took "If You Were Gay" as the springboard for the "gay and European" song (cut time, beat, feel). Also, the organ part (don't remember where) sounded like, oh, track 23 (?) in "Mamma Mia". It's been awhile, so I don't remember what I thought I heard from "Hairspray"...