Putting The Music Back In MTVNew York Post's Michael Riedel reports this morning that
Legally Blonde will steal a page from the Disney playbook (read:
High School Musical) and put its production on the
cable network formerly known as Music Television (MTV) come October.
With inane shows like "
My Super Sweet 16" and "
Laguna Beach," MTV's ever-devolving demographics make it the ideal place for
Legally Blonde to gain a little extra mojo (last week, the tuner was down to 84.4% capacity with an average ticket price of $78.82 going into the fall doldrums). Plus, MTV is practically across the street from the
Palace Theatre -- home to Elle & Co. -- so most of those screaming tweens from
TRL are likely find their way.
Just one overriding concern: won't the MTV audience be surprised when they actually hear music coming from their television sets?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:The Night Legally Blonde Wasn't (May 25, 2007)
Legally Blonde (The SOB Review) (May 8, 2007)
Did Critics You Know Like Totally Blonde? (April 30, 2007)
Legally Blonde Comes Of Age Tonight (April 29, 2007)
Dye Is Cast For Legally Blonde Reviews (February 8, 2007)
Coming Of Age: Legally Blonde Opens In San Francisco (February 6, 2007)
M-G-M: Movies-Going-Musical (January 3, 2007)
Which New Broadway Musical Are You Most Enthusiastic About Seeing? (October 16, 2006)
A Place Where Nobody Dared To Go...Until Now: They Call It Xanadu (July 18, 2006)
Broadway Bound to Get Nuttier with More Movie Adaptations Turned Musicals (June 7, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Film, High School Musical, Legally Blonde, Michael Riedel, MTV, Musical, Television
High School Musical (The SOB Review) - LaSalle Bank Theatre, Chicago, IL** (0ut of ****)"Awesome!" "Cool!" "Wow!" "There were so many things to look at!" "Where were all the kids from
the movie, mommy?"
Those comments summed up the audience response I overheard as I ventured out of Disney's touring production of
High School Musical, a stage adaptation from the House of Mouse's enormously popular 2006 made-for-television movie (for the record, I have not seen the TV flick). The jubilant pre-tween crowd was enthusiastic, yet they wondered where
Zac Efron and
Vanessa Anne Hudgens were.
Fortunately for adults, the show is generally engaging, although the score -- written by almost as many songwriters as
Spring Awakening has
producers (OK, not
quite) -- is often unfocused and mostly derivative. It would help if there had been one set of songwriters tackling the entire show (it's a good thing Lisa Stephens' energized choreography more than made up for some of the weaker tunes).
Having said that, the critical climactic "Breaking Free" by Jamie Houston -- certainly worthy of the fantastic score from
this year's Tony-winning Best Musical -- was both rousing and stirring in subtly reassuring its young audience that it's perfectly fine to be who you are by following your heart. If only Houston had written the rest of the score.
High School Musical's cast mostly shines, with a winning
John Jeffrey Martin as jock-cum-singer Troy Bolton and an enchanting Arielle Jacobs as his love interest Gabriella Montez, the new girl in school. Together, they provide plenty of electricity, even if they're underserved by the score and hackneyed book by David Simpatico.
While the story initially has flourishes of another, more mature high school-oriented musical
Grease, it inevitably turns into a battle for the destinies -- if you can have one at that age -- of these two would-be lovers.
Troy is pulled by his fellow basketball team members, as well as by his coach
and father (a woefully underused
Ron Bohmer), to focus on winning the big championship. "Get'cha Head In The Game" (written Ray Cham, Greg Cham and Andrew Seeley) nicely foreshadows the trouble ahead in this regard.
Super-smart Gabriella, a math and science wiz, is pressured to lead the brainiacs toward a win in mental gymnastics. But Troy and Gabriella want it all: they want all the success that comes with being a jock and scholar in addition to the leads in the eponymous activity.
However, blonde beauty Sharpay (a one dimensional
Chandra Lee Schwartz) stands in their way. With a sense of entitlement as president of the drama club, Sharpay enlists the support of her hapless brother Ryan (played with maximum effete effect by Bobby List), and she's prepared to do anything to secure the lead role for herself. Her conniving even provides a sly dig at George W. Bush.
But the problem with Simpatico's writing is that we never understand how Sharpay ever became so popular in the first place since she's drawn so narrowly. And futhermore, it's mind boggling how or why the affable athlete/baker Zeke Baylor (Ben Thompson) would be drawn to her, even in the end. Worse, there's never any real tension dramatic or otherwise.
In this Disney world that's full of pop references and youthful slang, everyone lives happily ever after. While perhaps not a bad message for the target audience, it sure had me hoping that the classroom's final bell would ring sooner than later.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Labels: Chicago, Disney, Film, High School Musical, Musical
