My Thoughts on the Legally Blonde Movie, Musical and Book

It may make me a dork, but I am officially a Legally Blonde addict. I've seen the movie a lot, read the book, seen the Broadway show three times, and just saw the national tour of the musical.

My definite favorite was the Broadway musical. The national tour performance was good too, but without the amazing set in the opening, it didn't have that special something. The Broadway musical was just amazing - the harmonies were great, the band was great, and the sets were great.

The national tour was good too, but the harmonies weren't as tight, and Natalie Joy Johnson as Paulette really threw me off. Not that she was bad, because she was great, but she played the role very differently than Orfeh did. (Although I really enjoyed her in the role of Enid, so seeing her in a different capacity was strange.) The music and lyrics were slightly reworked, which threw me off because I know them so well. However, I did like the reworkings. The person who played Carlos was so great, and played the part differently than the performer in the Broadway musical.

I liked the movie, too, but I didn't get so into until after the musical came out. I also liked the book, but the book was very different than the movie and musical. Although the book and the musical did have things in common, like calling the college UCLA, whereas the movie called Elle's school CULA. Also, in the original Broadway demos, Elle's major is revealed, and it's the same as the book: socio-political jewelry design. (I think - have to double check this.) The main difference between the book and movie was that the book had no Emmett character, and Elle had a close female friend instead. Also, she sleeps with Warner, since he's cheating on Sarah (who became Vivian in the movie, and Vivienne in the play).

There were less cast members in the National Tour, it seems, and the sets were majorly scaled down. Overall, the show was still great. People laughed at jokes that fell flat on Broadway, but were silent at the times that normally warrant screaming and cheers: Elle's first entrance and Emmett's change at the department store.

Has anyone else wondered if it was a coincidence that Elle's last name is Woods and Emmett's is Forrest?