Legally Blonde vs Mean Girls

[RJ14]

I recently saw Mean Girls on Broadway and was really underwhelmed by it.

I can’t help but to compare it to Legally Blonde musical because of the theme, the music,…

I thought Legally Blonde was a much better show overall in music and plot.

I wonder why MG is getting the better reception than Legally Blonde from the critics. Is it because of Tina Fey and the movie?

[raddersons]

I think it’s more the season surrounding it. Mean Girls is pretty blah, but compared to the rest of the blah shows that have opened this year, at least it’s got a sense of humor. Legally Blonde opened during a hot year — Spring Awakening, Grey Gardens, Curtains, plus the revivals of Company & A Chorus Line opened that year.

[adamgreer]

Legally Blonde has a much, much, better score.

[frapp2latte]

I've seen both (Mean Girls on Broadway, Legally Blonde during a local production in my country and the one shown on MTV) and I agree, Legally Blonde was the better show overall. The score is very catchy and hummable. None of the songs in Mean Girls stuck out to me. The cast for Mean Girls did a great job though! 

[RJ14]

raddersons said: "I think it’s more the season surrounding it. Mean Girls is pretty blah, but compared to the rest of the blah shows that have opened this year, at least it’s got a sense of humor. Legally Blonde opened during a hot year — Spring Awakening, Grey Gardens, Curtains, plus the revivals of Company & A Chorus Line opened that year."

I think you're right, that was a packed year. This season is really meh

[Elegance101]

I was recently thinking about how amazing Mean Girls would be with a score by Laurence O'Keefe.

It's so hard for me to know because Legally Blonde has a nostalgic value for me, whereas Mean Girls is new. I would say that I prefer the Mean Girls book honestly, I just think it's funnier and more biting, but the score of Legally Blonde is definitely (sometimes annoyingly) infectious.

[Mark69]

"Biting" is exactly what I think is missing from Mean Girls..I found it all "hooray for everything" especially towards the end. I expected something a lot more biting from the creator of 30 Rock.

And shouty. Why was this nominated for best sound design?

 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

I think part of it is honestly, the movie of Mean Girls is SO well paced already and kinda perfect, that story does not need to be 2 and a half hours. Also, it feels in the shadow of Heathers which is a similar idea with a great score but has much much higher stakes so the musical element adds to that. Like I was listening to Apex Predator and I thought, how much more of an impact a song like this would have in a musical that features murder like Heathers.

Legally Blonde was improved in adaptation by fleshing out characters and also had a very defined "musical world" It's not entirely based in realism. It's very much its own thing. 

The best thing Mean Girls has, is Tina Fey. Which means that the show is actually funny unlike Legally Blonde which is KINDA funny, but it's more the show works well and has a great pace.

One thing though the ballads in Legally Blonde are atrocious.  

[TheQuibbler]

adamgreer said: "Legally Blonde has a much, much, better score."

One might say it is "so much better."

[MrsSallyAdams]

Heathers and Legally Blonde have their share of dud songs (Blue, Dead Gay Son, Ireland) but they mostly go to the supporting cast. The leading ladies get some great songs to get us on their side. (Dead Girls Walking and reprise, Fight for Me, What you want, So much better , Legally Blonde remix)

My beef with Mean Girls is that ALL my favorite songs went to supporting characters (Damien's Stop, Janice's I'd rather be Me, Karen's Sexy) while the songs for Cady and Regina ranged from mediocre to terrible. The lumpy book has Cady fall, rise, fall... and rise again but I didn't care for I'll Roar, Fearless, More or Stars. Those songs come at key moments for her character and NONE of them made a good first impression.

[Zamedy154]

LEGALLY BLONDE is perhaps one of the most underrated scores of this generation of musicals.