Changes For Spring

[mia_alexandria]

[mood| energetic]
[music| "Omigod You Guys" - Original Broadway Cast, Legally Blonde The Musical]

Since it's transitioning into spring and all, I decided that it was time to lose the Slytherin-esque layout that I had (as much as I love Shalom Harlow), and switch it out for one that was more colorful and spring-like. The photos in the header are from an editorial in V Magazine, but I found them online at foto_decadent: Bloom. The template for the layout is from thefulcrum: Template for Mixit. And the header is made by me. Hope you all like it. :)

Anyways, last night I saw the touring cast version of Legally Blonde The Musical with my friend, Genna. It was such a cute show. :D

1) When I found out that I was going to see the show, I decided to look up the musical online to familiarize myself with it, and found the entire thing online: MTV special. I guess sometime last year MTV did a special and showed the entire thing on TV with little behind the scenes stuff. And while I thoroughly enjoyed watching this, I thought, "Ok. MTV. While this is a really cute show with a great cast, there have been SO MANY MORE awesome shows that should've been given the chance to shine. Examples: Hairspray (before it was turned into that heinous movie), Wicked (WITH the original cast and before it became the ubiquitous play to see), Spamalot, etc." But either way, I had some idea of what to expect when I went to see the touring cast.

2) In the original cast, Laura Bell Bundy and Christian Borle play Elle and Emmett, respectively. Laura originated the role of Amber von Tussle in the musical production Hairspray and I absolutely adore her, and I thought she was a fabulous Elle. Christian originated the role of Prince Herbert and the Historian in Spamalot, so he has AWESOME comedic timing, but you really didn't get it to see it that much when he was Emmett. :(

3) In the touring cast, the woman who originated the role of Enid played Paulette, the girl who played Elle was the understudy in the original Broadway cast (who also played Amber von Tussle in Hairspray...Laura Bell Bundy wannabe, much?) and could pass for Reese Witherspoon if she wanted to, and the guy who played Emmett was ADORABLE. I loved him. :D

4) I thought that, overall, the touring cast was fantastic and you could tell that they really fed off of the audience, for all of their performances became stronger as the show went on.

5) The show, in and of itself, is not as strong as some of its contemporaries, like Spamalot and Hairspray, and, even in the original Broadway performance, the performers aren't the strongest of performers (except for maybe the women who play Brooke Wyndham, who have to jump rope while singing), since Laura Bell Bundy sounds INFINITELY better as Amber von Tussel, but I think a lot of that has to do with the composition of the music. Some of the songs sounded rather awkward at times.

6) Many of the supporting cast members stole a bunch of the scenes in both the touring cast and the original Broadway performance. All of the girls of Delta Nu were incredibly funny and their use of them throughout the show as a "Greek Chorus" (since, you know, Warner being with Vivian is a Greek tragedy ;D) was a very smart move on the part of the book writer and the composer. They brought a lot of comic relief to the musical and the girls cast as Serena, Margot, and Pilar were fantastic.

7) Another thing, I don't understand why they felt the need to change the spelling of Vivian Kensington's name from the "Vivian" that it was in the movie to the "Vivienne" that it was in the musical. Maybe to make it sound more snobbish? I dunno. But I thought that was an unnecessary detail.

8) The UPS in the touring cast was lightyears funnier than the UPS guy in the original cast. He had a little jaunt to his strut and he was so, so great. People were able to take pictures with his after the show for $10. I would have, but the line was hella long.

9) There were certain things that I missed about the original play, like the huge-ass sorority house, and the really cool freeze-frame effect they did with Brooke's jump rope. The sorority house I could forgive since that is a really large set piece that might be a pain in the ass to move around the country, but c'mon! Brooke's jump rope freezing in mid swing should not be that hard to replicate on tour.

10) I liked the Brooke from the Broadway cast so much more. She was more energetic and a bit more spastic than the one from the tour, which makes for a funnier scene when she meets Elle for the first time.

11) The Delta Nu song is so great. And when you first hear it...that scene is wonderful.

13) The sexual innuendos throughout the show are EPIC.

14) Christian Borle's Emmett having Red Bull for the first time makes me laugh every time. "What is this? My second, third one? I dunno, but *whispers* I love it." That line coupled with his cradling the can of Red Bull, I love it.