The LEGALLY BLONDE cast weighs in on their North Texas run in
a recent YouTube release of their ongoing video blog series. Check it out and find out what Warner really things about Elle chasing him down at Harvard!!
The entire video series following this talented cast across the country, can be found at:
Three DSM shows were invited to send performers to sing the National Anthem at a Texas Rangers home game this summer. When WIZARD OF OZ‘s Dorothy (Cassie Okenka) wasn’t able to arrive in time for the June 8th game, her understudy Lauryn Ciardullo donned the Dorothy wig, red shoes and pinafore costume and charmed the audience with her rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.
For CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, the four child performers (Aly Brier, Camille Mancuso, Jeremy Lipton and Zachary Carter Sayle) sang the National Anthem at the Monday night game June 30. Here is a video of their Texas Ranger performance:
For LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL, sports fan Becky Gulsvig (Elle Woods) was thrilled to sing the National Anthem as the Rangers trounced the Tigers at the ballpark Monday, July 27th and received a great response from fans. Quite a few people dropped by the suite to congratulate the star on her performance, with several saying it was “one of the top 10 anthem performances of all time.” They also thanked Becky (who’s originally from Minnesota) for bringing the unusually cool weather.
Thanks to DSM marketing director Paulette Hopkins and Texas Rangers VP of marketing Andy Silverman, a number of company members were able to watch the game and Becky’s performance from one of the two suites made available for their use. A Fox Sports TV News reporter interviewed Becky Gulsvig in the Mickey Mantle suite at the top of the fourth inning, and Becky and other female cast members did an impromptu version of “Bend and Snap” for the sports network’s audiences. Becky’s husband Tyler, who could be found selling Legally Blonde merchandise in the lobby for each performance, also enjoyed the game. Tyler, Becky and their Golden Retriever bring their own van on the national tour, driving from city to city so they can really enjoy the scenery.
Delorie and past DSM Chairman O. Paul Corley, Jr. (resplendent in pink from head to toe) with Guild President Michelle Lemay-Patten at the Legally Blonde party at Thompson-Knight’s offices.
12:06 AM CDT on Wednesday, July 22, 2009
By LAWSON TAITTE / The Dallas Morning Newsltaitte@dallasnews.com
You may not come out of Legally Blonde humming the tunes, but this show will leave you as pumped as a two-hour cardiac workout.
The stage adaptation of the popular movie, a modest hit on Broadway, arrived at the Dallas Summer Musicals on Tuesday. It keeps up a breathless pace as heroine Elle Woods, the seemingly shallow blond bombshell who follows an ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School, discovers a whole new perspective on life.
Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, who rewrote their Sarah, Plain and Tall for the Dallas Theater Center this spring, tell the story mostly in song. Their lyrics, as cute and clever as Elle herself, are worthy successors to those of their great Broadway predecessors. They give us good tunes, too, but the incessant melodic patterns seldom relax and luxuriate. They just keep percolating like a triple shot of espresso.
The real mover of this theatrical whirlwind, though, is director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell. Over the last decade, he has established himself as one of the American theater’s great storytellers through movement. Like the score, the dancing seldom settles into a stand-alone number, at least before intermission. Throughout the musical someone onstage is stepping, shimmying or gyrating in ways that move the plot along. The second act finally gives us some release with production numbers based on exercise videos, sexy poses and, of all things, Irish step dancing.
As Elle, Becky Gulsvig looks a lot like the film’s Reese Witherspoon. She sounds even more like Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth. (Those with strong negative reactions to squeaks and other high pitches may find themselves at risk.) Gregg Barnes’ costumes expand the boundaries of pink, mauve, hot pink and not-quite-crimson. Gulsvig wears them smashingly.
For those who crave a bit of old-fashioned fun from their musical comedies, preferably with a smidgeon of uplift and optimism, with a bevy of shapely young bodies to boot, Legally Blonde is guilty as charged.
PLAN YOUR LIFE Through Aug. 2 at Fair Park Music Hall. Runs 160 mins. $15 to $85. Ticketmaster at 214-631-2787, http://www.ticketmaster.com/.
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