Legally Blond

It ain’t Sondheim, but it’s entertaining and never boring. And since I only paid $35 for orchestra seats (thank you TDF!), how can I complain? Well, I guess I’m still going to complain, but I’m a bitch that way. First off, Laura Bell Bundy, is actually quite good. She’s a genuine triple threat with freakishly long legs that seem to go all the way up to her perky tits. And I have no idea how the hell she walks, let alone high-kicks and dances, in what seem to be 8-inch heels! She might as well have been en pointe. Granted, her voice did show a bit of “second-show-of-the-day” edge, but was clear and in tune (well, except for the hideously flat last note in the first act closer - yikes).

I mainly went to see Gaelen, a colleague I worked with back in the day when I was on tour with Grease! She was the Marty u/s and I was the Teen Angel/Johnny Casino u/s. She was on for Paulette, the white trash salon worker who befriends Elle. Though the part is badly written with horrible one-liners, she was able to rise above the trite dialogue and belted some crazy high notes that Orfeh (the regular Paulette) struggled to hit when I saw the show in previews. Trish commented that she hated the role and the songs when Orfeh performed it, but didn’t find it nearly as annoying with Gaelen. She also did some ridiculous (in a good way) riffing in “Bend and Snap.” I emailed her yesterday to congratulate her and she replied that she’s leaving the show in a few weeks to start rehearsals for the pre-Broadway try-out of 9 to 5 in LA. Yup, THAT 9 to 5, with a new score by Dolly Parton! I’m happy and extremely jealous. Girlfriend does not stop working - Wicked to Legally Blond to 9 to 5. Who’s she fucking? Only kidding, Gaelen, you’re awesome.

The rest of the show is like a regular musical on crack. The cast has freakishly high energy levels that try to compensate for some bad book writing and some pedestrian, but frantic, choreography. Unfortunately, some of the show just doesn’t make sense/doesn’t work no matter how hard the cast tries. She flies to Harvard to give a live “performance” with a marching band in lieu of a personal essay? Yeah, right. Then there’s the entire scene in act two where Elle decides not to leave Harvard. It makes absolutely no sense. It goes from the beauty shop to bare stage then to a parade with Elle and her parents on a golf cart!? Where are they? Did they fly back to Cali and then drive the golf cart back to Harvard? Oh well, like I said, it ain’t Sondheim.

My only real complaint was that the sound sucked. I couldn’t make out 70% of the lyrics in the opening song. It sounded like they were singing into tin cans. And some of those sorority girls must have flunked out many, many times. Some of them looked as if they could have given birth to Elle. I won't even mention the wigs.

Besides Bundy, Christian Borle was the standout - great voice, natural acting and wonderful stage presence. I never felt he was pushing for the laugh or overcompensating for weak writing (which Bundy was guilty of doing on occasion - reign it in, girlfriend). Otherwise, not a bad way to spend a Wednesday night. Now if I had spent $100 a ticket, maybe I’d be less forgiving. But I didn’t, so I won’t.