Jacobsnchz14 @ Legally Blonde 8/6 in Ft Worth! (Long w/ Pics)

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 1:36am

Just got back from seeing Legally Blonde at the Bass Hall tonight and let me tell you, I had a blast! I smiled the whole way through: 1) I experienced my first official B'Way nat'l tour and 2) I got to stagedoor for the first time ever! Yes I am a dork for that (not that some of you are dorks, lol) but this was one of the greatest nights of my life! I will never forget it.

The entire company went on tonight which I was glad about. We don't get our Playbills until they open house 30 minutes before curtain but I noticed their cast board before anything else.

Becky was fabulous! Our newspaper's review was mixed to positive and said Becky was good but at sometimes was nasily and was being compared to Cheno.... IDK. She was great, IMO. There were some times where that was true but I ignored it.

D.B. Bonds was a great Emmett. In my opinion better than Christian Borle. The only thing that bothered me though was when he would say "driven as hell", he would sound odd... I don't know how to really explain it but he said it like "drive in" really fast. Like I said, I can't explain it.

Natalie as Paulette was hilarious! She was so charming and sweet in that role. Alot of people who were in the audience didn't believe that she originated Enid on BWay because she fit the "Jennifer Coolidge" picture from the film and believed she could have originated Paulette. However, she made the role her own and I totally forgot about the way Orfeh did it on MTV and the OBCR. She was great as well.

Megan Lewis and Jeff McLean as Vivienne and Warner are a great match... with all due respect to Elle. They really had a chemistry going on and I really believed it. There is only one thing that I didn't like about Jeff, he seems to "upstage" with his voice alot of the time and his voice is louder and over-annunciated (sp?) than the other actors.

Everytime the Delta Nus came out, I always stared at Rhiannon and Lauren! They are obviously growing since what we've seen since the reality show. Speaking of "growing", Lauren is taller in person! lol.

Coleen Sexton was a hit! She really nailed "Whipped into Shape" and the crowd loved it. I guess they have never seen an actress sing and jumprope at the same time! haha. Ven Daniel as Kyle was one of the audience's favorites! Basically the audience reacted the same way the audience on the MTV recording did... but louder.

Ken Land does all he can do with Callahan. The role in the show is somewhat bland and he doesn't have alot to work with, IMO. He did a hilarious job with "Blood in the Water", though.

I got used to the sets pretty early in the show. Once "What You Want" ended, it all seemed to be similar if not the exact same to the Broadway version. I really liked how Jerry Mitchell's choreography worked around the new sets, especially in the opening. The lighted borders on the stage move unlike the ones on Broadway to kind of give the audience a focus spot. Stuff like the trial and "So Much Better" took the entire stage, but little scenes like "Blood in the Water" was focused lower... kind of like a widescreen if you will. If you have seen the tour you know what I mean. Loved the curtain!!!

The souvenirs booth was small. I expected it to be as big as the Ozdust Boutique was in pictures. It was just like a table and stand with a cabinet behind. The sold the stuff from PlaybillStore.com and more.

They sold the OBCR, the Show Business DVD for $30, the sweatshirt as seen on the reality show for $60, the hat and shirt for $25 each, the program and bag (which has no fornt zipper) for $20, and the keychains and magnets were $5 each. The windowcard they had is not as "extravagant" when compared to the Broadway one. It is the entire logo picture (Elle and Bruiser) and all there is at the bottom is the show's website address. Not enough for $20. But I felt I should have bought it when I stagedoor-ed.

The house was 95% full and about 75% were women. There were guys there, too. Me being one of them. lol. They gave standing ovations throughout the entire finale and curtain call and really seemed to enjoy themselves. There were little "adlibs" and "tidbits" that I did not see from the MTV recording and they were great! The cast really made their own to, I guess, get the MTV version with OBC out of people's expectations and visions. We al loved it!

After the show, everyone seemed to come out of the stagedoor but Natalie. Tiffany Engen came out first but left too quick for anyone to ask her to sign. It felt odd because some of the ensemble would come out and nobody asked them to sign or take pics... they were waiting for the "stars"! lol. "Stagedoor" started at about 10:15pm and we were still there about 11pm because people were waiting for Natalie. I got most of the main actors' signatures and I gave Becky a gift I made for her and the company: a mini-version of Elle's good luck card with a note from me on the back. Everyone was so friendly and Ken Land an D.B. were talking with people for along time after everyone left! haha.

I just got back from Disneyland/California at 2am this morning and went to the box office at 5pm! lol. Quick trips! :) This was one of the greatest times of my life!!


Cast board


Curtain


Stagedoor


Jeff McLean @ Stagedoor


Crystal Joy @ Stagedoor


Megan Lewis @ Stagedoor*


Colleen Sexton @ Stagedoor*

*It's like they switched hair from the show! lol


Rhiannon Hansen & Lauren Zakrin @ Stagedoor


Stupid camera cut out the Lauren!


Becky Gulsvig signing Playbills @ Stagedoor


Becky Gulsvig @ Stagedoor


Me & Becky Gulsvig @ Stagedoor (She reminds me of Jennie Garth in this pic! lol)


Nick Dalton @ Stagedoor


Nick Dalton @ Stagedoor


Ven Daniel @ Stagedoor


Ken Land @ Stagedoor


D.B. Bonds @ Stagedoor


Hopefully what I am gonna see next month!


Poster outside theatre


Keychain on my keys!


My ticket!


My autographed Playbill (sorry sideways)


Flyers given out at the show (again, sorry sideways)


My Playbills (yes, I grabbed that many!), flyers, and ticket!

[Maceman91]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 3:33am

This makes me even more excited about seeing this tomorrow! I know NJJ was out earlier this week so I hope she will be there at tomorrows performance!

[Parks]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 9:20am

I'm not gonna lie--I watched the show MANY times in the last 2 weeks in Dallas and NJJ was my least favorite part of the production. She does play Paulette like in she is in the movie, but I really feel like that does NOT work at all on stage--it is boring. Her understudy that I watched the last night I was there, the one who usually plays Courtney/mom, I'm assuming, was on as Paulette and she was SO much more entertaining to watch.

The rest of the show was wonderful though--the cast is great. I'm not sure Megan Lewis it quite... bitchy enough, but she is still pretty good :).