Others say...

"Illegally Blonde"
Like "Wicked" it is girl friendly, and that is where the similarities completely end. Anyone saying that the score for this show is better than "Wicked" is a Sondheim hater; has bad taste or doesn't like the fact that he got his material from a book (remember those) instead of a movie. What is it with all these adaptions of movies lately! Read books people or come up with original stories. What a novel idea!
I listened to this at my good friend's house, after her 11 year old daughter kept pleading me to listen to it, knowing that I love musicals. After her saying "Oh my God!" like an American, (nothing against Americans but I like to hear an Aussie accent coming out of the mouths of Aussie children.), I should have known that that was a bad omen of what was to come. After listening to the score, I now have a permanent wrinkle between my eyebrows that only botox can get rid of; during the whole score I just kept thinking "It's going to get better. Any moment now. Please get better!", swiftly followed by "WHY???"; and I now realize that my good friend's preteen daughter has NO taste! All I could do was look at my good friend and shake my head. She kept saying it was her husband's fault.
To be honest I really don't know where to start with this show. It was so wrong on so many levels. Ok let me put it this way. If this show was done as a high school production, and written by a teen trying to break into the musical world I would applaud it. But the fact that this a proffessional show by people in the business: WHAT WERE YOU THINKING??
The music style.....well, what style. It's just a mismash of 80's, disco, and whatever other style they could get their hands on. Even the "Pirate (Irate) Queen" Irish Style gets a look in.
There is nothing in this score that even moves Elle's character. And if you think "So Much Better" is that song, think again. It is just Pop Junk that does not endear you to Elle's transition from dumb blonde to dumb blonde with a cause.
I can see the line up of young girls lining up for this show and buying the album, but I just hope that when they grow up they will think "Why did I ever like this?"
Parent's do your daughters a favour and go down the road a bit and see "Xanadu". The movie was bad but the music was great. And it has been lovingly ressurected as a wonderful Musical comedy that puts this score to shame. Whereas "Legally Blonde" was a fun movie, but has been turned into a bad musical.

"Go Bailey!"
Bailey Hanks is awesome. She does a great job with this song, not to mention the rest of the songs from the musical. This songs has such meaning (confused? watch the movie at the scene when Elle sees her name on the list, listen to the song, you'll get it). Bailey really gets the point across. Go Bailey!

"Legally on time!"
The legally blonde CD is the funniest soundtrack from a Broadway musical that I've ever heard. I enjoyed very much the 'pink' history of a girl with a great sense of humor. I found in every song a phrase that applies for some phase of my life. I highly recommend this CD for the Broadway musicals lovers!

"A Complete, and totally Enchanting Surprise"
I saw the show on a lark. I had taken my partner and my grandson to New York to see "November" and "Wicked" (which my grandson had never seen) and a friend gave us tickets to this show. I didn't expect much ; didn't care for the film, so I couldn't have more wary of the show, and later have been much happier with what we saw.

I was enchanted, as was my family, and the other shows became beside the point. We had to have the cast recording, and signed up to be notified when it was released.

I love the recording, and we've been listening to it nearly nonstop since it arrived. I love "Blood in the Water, with it's echoes of musicals gone by, and the magnificent "Chip on your Shoulder" is worthy of any show to come out in the last ten years. My favorite is "Take it Like a Man", though, and the performance here is extraordinary.

The best thing you can say for a cast recording is you can see the show in your head when you hear it, and you want to see it again. We'll be back soon, and I anticipate it greatly.

" Better than Wicked? Not hardly."
This musical is cute and entertaining, but the music is complex and full of strange chord changes, making only parts of it singable by us everyday folk.

Wicked, on the other hand, has more memorable and singable numbers and feels richer and less brassy. Overall, Wicked has the better score.

That being said, after watching the recent search for an Elle Woods replacement on Bravo, I think the new Elle Woods (Bailey) is going to bring a better energy and singing quality to the character. I am hoping she will be even more successful and record a soundtrack. I'm just not a big fan of Laura Bell Bundy's voice.