Legally Blonde Musical Opinions- Page 1

[BwayDreamer00]

Posted: 4/17/17 at 9:41pm

So for the past three years I have LOVED Legally Blonde the musical....I love the songs, and the soundtrack/cast is amazing...Laura Bell Bundy, Christian Borle, Orfeh, Annaleigh Ashford, etc. is soooooo good! But what do you guys think of the show? I know both the original Broadway and original West End shows got pretty mixed reviews.....do you guys think its fun entertainment and good goofy musical theater or too touristy teen girly??

Favorite songs:

Omigod you Guys-such a good opening 

Bend and Snap-Stupid but CATCHYYYYYYY

Chip On My Shoulder-A really cute duet

[MaddieBB12]

Posted: 4/17/17 at 10:18pm

It's absolutely fun entertainment and the OBC really is quite extraordinarily, especially seeing how far they've all come in recent years. 

 

It's a real gem and a gift for high schools across the country; big, well-known, lots of female parts, lots of parts in general and relatively tame material (I've seen a couple productions cut "slut" and "bastard" in favor of "tramp" and "backstabber".

 

I also think it's one of the better movie to stage adaptations because it emulates the movie while also being it's own thing. 

 

It's by no means my favorite musical but it's good fun, there has been, is, and will be much worse, and I have very fond memories of it.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 4/17/17 at 11:44pm

I really dig Larry O'Keefe, but that's mainly because of his other work, like Heathers and Bat Boy. This is still a good show too, and utilizes his strengths as a composer and lyricist. The only gripe I have is that I feel as if the writers were creating the show with the idea in their mind that this would be a really convenient show for high schools. Nothing wrong with wanting to make money, but that just seems kind of hollow.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 4/17/17 at 11:47pm

It's the worst thing that ever happened to musical theatre.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 4/17/17 at 11:49pm

It's cute and fun. The score is catchy, and the book is a decent adaptation of the film.

[Rainah]

Posted: 4/17/17 at 11:52pm

I love legally blonde. It's fun, catching, invigorating. The score is wonderful and there are some great performances. 

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/17/17 at 11:57pm

The score is vastly underrated. As a whole, I found the show a ton of fun from start to finish. Each time I saw it, I smiled the entire time and left the theater in a much better mood than before the show began. Haven Burton was my favorite Elle. 

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 12:10am

The book 's embellishments on the movie are terrible. It takes a very feminist moment from the movie- Elle buckling down on studying after being told she "didn't belong here" and succeeding on her own merit- and turns it into "Elle only succeeds because a boy forced her to study." 10 years later and it still infuriates me.

Also the Ireland songs are stupid and inconsequential.

[Chowd95]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 1:53am

People probably consider "Legally Blonde" a guilty pleasure, but I think it's well crafted enough to rise above that.  I first saw it on the MTV broadcast, not expecting much, and was pretty blown away.  The songs are insanely catchy (I get What You Want, So Much Better, Serious and Omigod You Guys stuck in my head sometimes and they refuse to leave for hours).  The staging is clever and has impressively quick set changes.  And I think the acting in the original cast is top notch (I saw the first national tour as well.. it was good but I prefer the originals).  I've never deleted it off my Tivo and revisit it from time to time because it always draws me in and puts me in a good mood.  My only gripe is the cast recording.  The performances sound good but the sound quality is very flat.. it's sounds weirdly muted and has no dynamic contrast.  

[gleek4114]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 2:38am

orangeskittles said: "The book 's embellishments on the movie are terrible. It takes a very feminist moment from the movie- Elle buckling down on studying after being told she "didn't belong here" and succeeding on her own merit- and turns it into "Elle only succeeds because a boy forced her to study." 10 years later and it still infuriates me.

Also the Ireland songs are stupid and inconsequential.

 

"

My friend brings up the same argument of hindering her enjoyment. While I agree that this part of the adaptation could've been handled a lot better, ultimately what I see Emmett doing in the musical is giving Elle the nudge. He's essentially saying "Don't you WANT to prove him wrong?", "Don't you WANT to prove EVERYONE wrong?". He may be there to guide her, but in my eyes it's very far from her deciding to study because a man makes her. She chooses to study and make something of her time at Harvard.

 

I personally adore the show. I think it's a ton of fun and extremely heartwarming. 

[ItsJavert]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 2:45am

It's rare to see Legally Blonde on the front page! One of my favorites. I like nearly all the songs.

I always wondered why it ran so limited time on broadway, until I found out on forums that not everyone likes it. The reasons may be some people think it's not adapted very well, some people don't like the leading actress, etc.

Personally, I found LBB's acting flawless. Though her voice are not extremely strong (her timbre became poor at the end of So Much Better in MTV), she is by far my favorite Elle. Becky Gulsvig's performance is relatively poor to my personal... Like to see Annaleigh Ashford's Elle but only found video clips. The German cast's Elle's singing is good but have no chance to watch it. Yet to see Sheridan Smith's Elle either,  but just got the bootlegs and will see if it's gonna change my favorite Elle.  

[Q3]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 6:46am

Yay Legally Blonde and Wicked but miscast and rubbish overseas

[pg1287]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 7:35am

Just saw it for the first time this past weekend at a local university (extremely well done production, per usual) and I adored it. No, it's not some intellectual experience but I found the songs to be extremely catchy and it was just plain fun.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 7:46am

I like the score, but I think that the book is really bad.  Like, fascinatingly bad, to the point where I could write a whole essay on what I dislike about it.  Here are some of my issues with the book.  Keep in mind that I'm a huge fan of the movie, and obviously all of this is my opinion:

- They basically took the same jokes from the movie, then reworded them to make them somehow less funny ("Happy people don't kill!" for instance).

- The new jokes are either offensive (like, literally laughing at this guy's funny-sounding ethnic name or Enid being lesbian) or just pop culture references/product placement ("Gentlemen, please!  This isn't Match.com!"


- They made it so Elle didn't even get into Harvard on her own merits.  They took the scene from the movie, which actually showed that Elle got in because she had qualifications, and made it into "oh we should admit her because she's hot."  They also made Elle too stupid to apparently write an essay, which would have gotten her application thrown out in the first place.  Oh, and Elle has to convince the admissions guy to let her in because of "love."  In the movie, she doesn't have to convince anyone.

- SPEAKING of.  By increasing Emmet's role, they took away Elle's accomplishments of improving her grades and working hard all on her own.  In the movie, she figures out that she has to do it without anyone telling her. Also, that scene where she confronts Paulette's ex, in the film she figures out it was a common law marriage all on her own.  In the stage version, Emmett has to prompt her.

- They made Vivian's character development downright confusing.

-  I think that it was a huge mistake to omit the female law professor from the stage version.

- I also maintain that setting the "perm" scene in the bathroom was stupid, but that's more of a personal thing.

 

Updated On: 4/18/17 at 07:46 AM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 7:57am

I think the show is a great deal of fun with a very catchy score. Pure fluff, but still fun.

[binau]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 8:03am

adamgreer said: "The score is vastly underrated. As a whole, I found the show a ton of fun from start to finish. Each time I saw it, I smiled the entire time and left the theater in a much better mood than before the show began. 

 

"

I agree completely. I acknowledge issues with the book etc. but I find the show hilarious. Are there many musical songs more funny than "There, right, there?". It even manages to get some more serious (no pun intended)/mild emotionally affecting moments in the title song. 

We also were blessed with that hilariously awful reality show that was so right for all the wrong reasons.

The only controversial view I will give is that I can't see what all the fuss over Sheridan's nasally performance was (though this is based on his recording only). I actually liked Laura. 

 

 

 

 

[binau]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 8:03am

adamgreer said: "The score is vastly underrated. As a whole, I found the show a ton of fun from start to finish. Each time I saw it, I smiled the entire time and left the theater in a much better mood than before the show began. 

 

"

I agree completely. I acknowledge issues with the book etc. but I find the show hilarious. Are there many musical songs more funny than "There, right, there?". It even manages to get some more serious (no pun intended)/mild emotionally affecting moments in the title song. 

We also were blessed with that hilariously awful reality show that was so right for all the wrong reasons.

The only controversial view I will give is that I can't see what all the fuss over Sheridan's nasally performance was (though this is based on his recording only). I actually liked Laura. 

 

 

 

 

[MyLife]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 8:53am

SporkGoddess said: "I like the score, but I think that the book is really bad.  Like, fascinatingly bad, to the point where I could write a whole essay on what I dislike about it.  Here are some of my issues with the book.  Keep in mind that I'm a huge fan of the movie, and obviously all of this is my opinion:

- They made it so Elle didn't even get into Harvard on her own merits.  They took the scene from the movie, which actually showed that Elle got in because she had qualifications, and made it into "oh we should admit her because she's hot."  They also made Elle too stupid to apparently write an essay, which would have gotten her application thrown out in the first place.  Oh, and Elle has to convince the admissions guy to let her in because of "love."  In the movie, she doesn't have to convince anyone.

"

You make some good points but I wanted to bring your point (above) up.  In both the movie and the stage version Elle sores high enough on the LSAT. In both versions, she doesn't provide a personal essay (in the movie she makes a video, in the stage version she brings a marching band and dances. I think it follows the story enough - she gets into Harvard and ends up having to prove to everyone else that she actually belongs there.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 11:24am

gleek4114 said: "My friend brings up the same argument of hindering her enjoyment. While I agree that this part of the adaptation could've been handled a lot better, ultimately what I see Emmett doing in the musical is giving Elle the nudge. He's essentially saying "Don't you WANT to prove him wrong?", "Don't you WANT to prove EVERYONE wrong?". He may be there to guide her, but in my eyes it's very far from her deciding to study because a man makes her. She chooses to study and make something of her time at Harvard."

Actually the show has Emmett come in and toss out all her make-up, thrust books at her and literally drag her back to her desk when she wants to go home for Thanksgiving. That's a little more heavy-handed than the "nudge" you suggest. In the movie, she chooses to do all this herself without a man's intervention.

SporkGoddess's point about the admissions is also true. In the movie, admissions board admits her based on her GPA, LSATs, extracurriculars and video essay. In the show, the admissions person doesn't want to let her based on her own merits, so she convinces him to let her in because she's in love with a boy. Great affirmative action- pretty blonde girls with 4.0s and 175 LSAT scores aren't good enough for Harvard, but she wants to stalk her ex- sure, Welcome to Harvard! What kind of message is that?

Also yeah, the show manages to murder the delivery of every funny line from the movie.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 11:28am

It's one of those shows that I love more and more as time goes on. It didn't get it's due when it came out (overshadowed by the brilliance of SPRING AWAKENING & GREY GARDENS) and the spectacle of MARY POPPINS and (to a lesser extent) CURTAINS. The score doesn't get the credit it deserves.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 11:41am

The movie is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. It's something that I can pretty much always watch and will finish watching if I come across it on television. A sharp script and great comedic performances from Witherspoon and Coolidge. It's the last of the really great female-driven comedies from the mid-late 90s (despite being released in 2001, it's clearly influenced by things like Clueless and Romy & Michelle).

The musical really distorts what made the movie work so well. SporkGoddess outlines some of my major problems with it (including the inexplicable choice to set the perm moment in the bathroom).

 

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 11:46am

One of my favorites and am glad I got to see HEATHERS as O'Keefe brought that same spirit to the music amd lyrics.

I feel both should have had longer runs. And I agree "There, Right There" is a wonderful number. JMO

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 12:02pm

It's a guilty pleasure for me too.  I don't disagree with many of the things brought up on this thread, but I still had a damn good time.  Had a blast directing it some years ago, too.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 12:23pm

Guilty pleasure is the perfect way to put it.  Not sure why that phrase eluded me in my earlier post! 

I do think the score is much better than most people give it credit for, however. 

[Chowd95]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 12:45pm

- They made it so Elle didn't even get into Harvard on her own merits.  They took the scene from the movie, which actually showed that Elle got in because she had qualifications, and made it into "oh we should admit her because she's hot."  They also made Elle too stupid to apparently write an essay, which would have gotten her application thrown out in the first place.  Oh, and Elle has to convince the admissions guy to let her in because of "love."  In the movie, she doesn't have to convince anyone.

You might want to re-visit that scene.  Her application video (there's no written essay) is basically her lounging around in a pool in a sequined bikini talking about "Days of our Lives", leading her sorority in the fight against generic toilet paper, and saying "I object!" when getting cat-called on the street. I'm not saying that what they did in the stage version was any more believable, but this is a fantasy and it works great for the medium.



 

 

"

 

Updated On: 4/18/17 at 12:45 PM