Where Are They Now: The Legally Blonde Edition

Oh wow! I realized I let this blog’s anniversary pass without any acknowledgment! I’ve made it to two years! Thanks to all those who’ve read and commented over the years.

When this blog started on June 9, 2008, the very first show I recapped was MTV’s talent search “Legally Blonde the Musical: The Search for the Next Elle Woods.” Ten girls from across the country were chosen to compete to be the next Elle Woods in the Broadway production of “Legally Blonde the Musical” once original star Laura Bell Bundy left. Hosted by Haylie Duff (Hilary’s sister), the Elle-wannabes were trained by the ahmahzing Seth Rudetsky and performed each week for Paul Canaan (a Legally Blonde ensemble member), Bernard Telsey (casting director) and Heather Hach (librettist). In the end, the final battle was between Bailey Hanks and Autumn Hurlburt as they performed for not only the judges, but for their families and director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell. Bailey was chosen the ultimate winner and assumed the role the day after the final episode aired on MTV.

The show closed shortly after.

And now I’m revisiting my first recapping venture with an update on our finalists!

Both Bailey and Autumn have been busy on the stage side of things but they will be starring together in an upcoming concert of Maury Yeston’s (Nine) “Titanic.” The show will be performed on June 21st for the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Their exact roles haven’t been defined but the cast calls for many characters, so it is likely they are playing a character and not just part of the ensemble.

Pictures of the two in rehearsal can be find here at Playbill Online.

Break a leg, girls!

So, Good-bye, So Soon?

Let's face it, the economy has been at the forefront of everyone's mind the past few weeks. Wall Street has become the newest thrill ride with stocks gong up and down faster than the Tower of Terror drops tourists. Bush has plans to bailout Wall Street while Congress investigates these businesses. However, my sign of the state of the economy has shown up on the Playbill Online website.

Three musicals have announced closing dates within the next few weeks. These annoucements have surprised me and I believe that it must be due to financial worries. And the fact that no one can afford to see a Broadway play.

Camp musical Xanadu will close next week. This one surprised me both in how long it ran and now that it is indeed closing. I saw the movie once upon a time and it was Bad. However, the musical decided not to take itself seriously and embraced its camp. Theatre-goers loved it and it quickly became Summer 2007's hot ticket. It also received a boost in that it was not affected by the stagehand strike last November, making it one of eight shows to continue running. But insurance rates must be killer--nearly everybody wears roller skates in the thing. Accidents are bound to happen.

Following Xanadu's departure is [title of show]. Granted, while I am a fan of this little show that could, did I expect it to have a long run? No, not really. In an episode of the [title of show] show, we are playing we, co-creaters Hunter and Jeff discuss the replacement cast. But Aaron Lazar (as Jeff) put it best when he explained that the whole appeal was the fact that he and Hunter were playing themselves. Best case scenario would be a year-long run or at least making it to the Tonys. But the realist in me figured it would at least make it past the holiday season which is just around the corner. I was looking forward to the inevitable [title of show] show episode where the cast comes up with some zany way of convincing the people out there in cyberspace to come to New York to see a play.

Finally, the last musical to see the final curtain is Legally Blonde the Musical. Now this one really surprised me, perhaps because it is my favorite musical currently playing on the Great White Way. It is popular and I attended with near-full houses. And the MTV coverage--including the reality show to find the next Elle Woods, the real reason I started this blog (besides trying to keep up my writing)--didn't hurt either. But I guess all good things must come to end. I just wish it wasn't so soon.

Xanadu finishes its run on Sept. 28th. [title of show] will conclude on Oct. 12th. And Legally Blonde will don its trademark pink one last time a week later on the 19th. Now yours truly just has to figure out how to go see [title of show] before the 12th. The movie put me off seeing Xanadu and I'll always have my taped copy of the MTV airing of Legally Blonde.

If you can go see one of these shows one last time, which one would it be? Vote in the poll now!

So, Now What's Carson Daly Going To Do?

MTV announced that "Total Request Live" (TRL) will be ending this November. The show, which counted down the top ten videos every afternoon, will have run for ten years when production shuts down.

It is clear why MTV made the decision: TRL wasn't as popular as it was back in the late 90s when it debuted. I remember when TRL was the first thing you turned on after getting home from school. In fact, I spent so much time doing extracurricular activies, I was mad that I was out of the loop most of the week! TRL was also the indictator of what was cool. We would watch it to see what music made it up there (mostly pop when it started) and to see where your favorite band ranked. It gave fuel to the Backstreet Boys-N*Sync battle. You taunted the fans of the rival band if yours ranked higher in the list. (I was a proud member of Team Backstreet). There was buzz if Carson announced that there would be a new music video debuting that day. This was before YouTube, so chances of seeing the video before the unveiling on TRL was low. It was a magical time that slowly ended as I reached high school. We know longer talked about watching TRL (most of us couldn't make home in time to see it) and I know I stopped watching as the pop groups slowly gave way to the rap/hip hop groups.

I also remember when you didn't dare go near MTV studios in Times Square in the afternoon. Even if it meant going the long way to your destination. The crowd of screaming, sign waving teenagers was just too much--even when I was a screaming, sign waving teenager myself! However, last summer, I spent time in Times Square. Tourists, but no more screaming, sign waving teenagers blocking city traffic.

And so, I bid adieu to a fond memory of my early teen years. In a way, that was my generation's American Bandstand. Producers though stress that TRL isn't ending for good, just going on an indefinite break. So who knows? Maybe in a few years, it'll be back and relative again. And then we'll have to avoid Times Square all over again.