Perhaps it's because I was expecting the worst - but I was shocked to find that I actually enjoyed the MTV show, Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle.
Even the host of the show, Haylie Duff, did a fine job (and usually the host is the most annoying part of any reality show).
The show succeeds because it was produced like a documentary and not a reality show. The show began with 30 women on the stage, running through a dance routine for the director of the show, Jerry Mitchell. One at a time he eliminated dancers until there were only 15 left. He then turned it over to three judges - casting director Bernard Telsey, the writer of the book for the stage version of "Blonde," Heather Hach, and one of the performers from the show, Paul Canaan. But the director made it clear that he was going to be choosing the next "Elle."
The show actually offered a fascinating look at the intense audition process. The 15 candidates were taught a complicated and challenging dance routine during an intensive training session, and then performed it for the three judges. Then they were taught one of the songs (and a challenging one at that) and performed it for the judges. (The photo above is from that practice session, and is courtesy MTV.)
Then the judges rendered their verdict, telling 10 performers they were moving on to the next stage, and telling five they were cut, adding, "We just don't see you as the next Elle Woods." And that goes right to the heart of the casting process - the director can see 15 actors who can all handle the role, but must find that indefinable "something" that says, "This person is the best one for this particular role."
At the end of the show the 10 finalists met the actress who originated the part (and is playing it now on Broadway), Laura Bell Bundy. She told them, basically "I know you're tired right now - but it's nothing compared to what you're going to be facing."
And the teases for upcoming shows promise lots of drama, as the intensity increases and the competition becomes more difficult. All the women will be living under the same roof, so there's lots of Real World potential for conflict.
And that's where they may lose me. The audition process is intense enough that the soap opera antics are unnecessary - but we'll have to wait and see how it plays out. So far, it's less a reality show than it is a real event. Hopefully they can keep the quality high and the schmaltz low. We'll see.
5 comments:
The interesting thing about the "Legally Blonde" audition process was that they made their first cut after the dance auditions, not the vocal auditions. That has turned out to be pretty true for Laura as well, as she navigates her competitive musical theatre program. If you can't dance it doesn't matter how well you can sing, you won't get the part. There's a lesson there for all the kids who want to study theatre and in particular musical theatre. Kids, get to those dance classes and work your butts off!
Oh yeah, I too hated the manufactured suspense and the soap opera type relationship issues as shown in the coming attractions. Do we really need another show about catty young women who can't get along?
I liked American Idol this year partly because the competitors seemed to be genuinely nice people. And I didn't sense for even a moment that they disliked each other even a little bit.
I'll keep watching LB for the info I can glean from the audition process. Thank goodness I can DVR it though and fast forward through all the made up drama.
Denise, I was also surprised at the emphasis on dance over singing. Community theatre always seems to look at it the other way 'round - but then, they're definitely two different animals. But I was studying their process for the same reason - I'm always learning!
They didn't show the whole audition process...
I submitted myself to audition for Legally Blonde online at LAcasting.com, which is a way that you can submit yourself for auditions for theatre and commercials, etc here in LA. A couple of days after I submitted myself, I received a phone call from the casting director asking me to come in and audition, so I set up an appointment at a specific time, 10 AM. They said that the requirements were to sing an uptempo contemporary pop song and a balled. 16 bars of each.
The day of the audition came, and when I got to the location, it was chaos. There didn't appear to be anyone in charge, but there was a sign in sheet and a packet of information to fill out. I didn't realize that this was an open call, so after I learned that, I just thought I had to wait my turn. Hours and hours and hours went by, and I noticed that some girls were coming in and they were getting to go ahead of the people who had been waiting for hours. So I finally asked them what was going on, and they said that they had appointments set up by their agents. I was able to catch the audition coordinator really fast before he left the room to take the next person in, and it turns out that my name was on a list and that I had been waiting around for nothing....I wish that someone had been there to let me know that so I wouldn't have wasted so much time. It was an interesting experience anyway...that's pretty much all that I was doing it for because I'm not much for being on a reality show. But my point is...that they heard people sing and sing again before they saw anyone dance. They just didn't show that part.
Whitney, Thanks for sharing your experiences - aggravating as it must have been to wait all that time. It makes sense that they had some "pre-screening" before the show - I think they even had a quick clip showing the crowds of hopefuls. Your experience is a side of the process most people never see - I'd love to hear more about it.
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