Chenolicious

Amazing find today in the P-D discarded-books department!

Rainbow over Brentwood

Do not spin wheel

One needn't look too closely upon St. Louis Union Station to see why it's a complete failure as a destination for visitors (and for locals). One of the "attractions" is this little area where you can drive a remote-control boat. For $2. But be sure not to spin the wheel, which traditionally has been a primary means for steering boats.

Rogue punctuation

Does anybody still wear a hat?

Just outside the Ghetto 7-Eleven downtown was this Dumpster flanked by old hats on Sunday. I examined the pile closely for gloves, but it contained only hats.

Famous last words

"If I break this hammock, I will just die," I said. Shortly before breaking this hammock.

Bossy bus stop

City sights

I suppose this orange cone is a permanent fixture here now.

Girl, you lost your nipple

Theater review: 'Legally Blonde' lead lacks special Elle quality

Becky Gulsvig (center) as Elle Woods in "Legally Blonde: The Musical" 

(Photo by Joan Marcus)

A pretty, popular, bubbly girl like Elle Woods would have to work fairly hard to fade into the background — especially at Harvard Law School. But in "Legally Blonde: The Musical," playing at the Fox Theatre through Sunday, Elle unfortunately does just that.

She's the kind of spoiled girl who thinks it's perfectly logical to follow her ex to Harvard to prove she's serious wife material. She carries a dog — with his own wardrobe — in her purse. And she has her very own Greek chorus of Delta Nu sisters that appears sporadically to guide her decision-making.

In short, Elle is eccentric.

Becky Gulsvig, who's been touring as Elle since 2008 (and understudying Elle since Broadway in 2007), clearly knows the role. And she has a dynamite voice. And she's absolutely adorable.

Unfortunately, she lacks a certain charisma we've come to expect from the character — the essence of Elle, if you will.

"Legally Blonde" has a cast of standout co-stars: D.B. Bonds as Emmett (Elle's charming teacher's assistant), Jeff McLean as Warner (Elle's ex) Natalie Joy Johnson as Paulette (Elle's loud beautician galpal), Lucia Spina as Enid (a fellow law student) and Michael Rupert as Callahan (Elle's law professor).

Tiffany Engen, Rhiannon Hansen and Candice Marie Woods channel their inner Valley Girl as Elle's Delta Nu sisters. Their ditzy quips — and their subtle homage to "The House Bunny" — get big laughs and manage not to sound forced or predictable.

The show moves along briskly, thanks to snappy dialogue and big, energetic production numbers that carry the story a good distance rather quickly.

"Omigod You Guys" and "What You Want" get a lot of the story's details out of the way while wowing us with big sets, flashy costumes, eye-candy dancers and infectious music. Your seatmates will excuse your foot-tapping.

"There! Right There," in which Elle and her classmates must determine whether a witness is gay or European, is guaranteed to make you laugh — possibly till tears come out of your nose (their words; not ours).

And "Legally Blonde," a moving duet toward the close of Act 2, is sweetly performed by Gulsvig and Bonds. In fact, Gulsvig is at her best during these scenes.

Other songs — "Ireland" (with Irish dancing!) and "Bend and Snap" — are decidedly less utilitarian and exist purely for our amusement.

At some points on opening night, the pit orchestra didn't sound as full as the action onstage. But the sound quality of the vocals, a recurring gripe at the Fox, was mostly adequate.

Thank goodness: The lyrics are clever and memorable, which means you'll leave the theater with a song stuck in your head. Possibly for days.

By Gabe Hartwig • ©2010 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, STLtoday.com • Published 04.09.10

Milk? Milk? Lemonade?

Say what you will about Pee-wee Herman, but his off-center weekly wit was a highlight of my childhood. I still giggle ridiculously when I think about his Giant Underpants, the Secret Word or Jambi's Jambese.

I giggled extra ridiculously when I saw this oh-so-topical video today.

Pee-wee Gets An iPad! from Pee-wee Herman

Pee-wee's on Twitter now, too, which is how I learned about the video.

That's hot

Girl, you lost your shoes

My next blog project will be to collect photographs of abandoned shoes. I have a ton of them, and they're all of shoes arranged a lot like these -- as though someone stepped right out of them.

Springtime in the Lou

Seemingly overnight, these flowers blossomed on the trees behind my loft building. In the background is City Museum's rooftop schoolbus.

Q&A: 'Blonde' star on touring, canine co-stars, the Bend and Snap

Becky Gulsvig as Elle Woods in "Legally Blonde: The Musical"
(Photo by Joan Marcus)

Becky Gulsvig is already a natural blonde. But she’s definitely having more fun now that she’s Elle Woods in the touring cast of the hit “Legally Blonde: The Musical,” playing at the Fox Theatre April 8 to 11. We chatted with her about touring, her canine co-stars, and the Bend and Snap.

A toe injury kept you from performing on the tour in St. Louis last year. Are you completely recovered? Will we really see you this year? I am completely recovered.

You were Laura Bell Bundy’s understudy on Broadway. What’s it like to take the starring role of Elle Woods on tour? It’s been amazing. It’s been really cool to be part of this show from the beginning and then to be able to see how it translated on Broadway and to take it on tour.

And you performed at the Tonys last year! I did! It was so exciting — so cool.

How much are you like Elle? I definitely relate to her spirit, to her never giving up, to her following her dreams. In this business you’re constantly having to prove yourself, and you’re constantly being underestimated. I can definitely relate to that uphill climb that she has to go through during the show. But I don’t necessarily have the same sense of style as her. I don’t wear as many high heels. I don’t wear as much pink.

What’s your favorite part of the show? I say something different in almost every interview because the whole show is my favorite part. I really enjoy the end of the show where she says, if all this stuff hadn’t happened and if I hadn’t gone through all these things, I wouldn’t be who I am right now, and I wouldn’t have come so far. I think that’s such a wonderful way to wrap up the show. And I can relate to it so much because of my journey with this business, with this show, with everything. You have to constantly be reminded that — though every part of life isn’t your favorite, you learn so much from it.

Do people ever stop you on the street and demand to see the Bend and Snap? No, they don’t.

Have you ever used the Bend and Snap to get a guy’s attention? I’d have to say no. Only in the show.

What’s it like working with all those well-trained dogs in the show? I love working with the dogs. They’re so sweet and so fun. I really can’t imagine being in a show without dogs now. It’s been so many years working with dogs that it’ll be weird to have a show with no animals. ... You’re constantly having to be aware on many different levels — to be their eyes and ears and their protectors while still doing the show.

Any secret animal-wrangling tips that you can share? I’m not allowed to give away their training, but consistency is the biggest thing — especially on tour. It varies so much backstage that any little thing can throw a dog off just because they won’t feel safe. We have to be their safety net and their constant. We have to be solid for them because if we’re freaking out or we’re nervous or we start doing crazy things, the dogs will notice.

Does the audience ever freak out the dogs? That’s definitely something they had to get used to. In San Francisco, when the first Bruiser was learning how to be Bruiser, they had different cast members and different creative staff sit in the audience and clap so he would get used to the fact that there would be people in the seats. We rehearsed for so long, and he wasn’t used to getting a response. As you can imagine, when a dog has a talking scene where they bark back and forth with an actor, the audience is gonna respond and oooh and ahhh and think it’s cute. We had to make sure he wasn’t gonna get scared and run away when the audience started to react.

What’s been your favorite role so far? This one? I like that I’ve played a lot of different roles. I think of my career as just being built and adding things to it and being a collection of roles. And this has been the one that I’ve learned the most from, and it’s been the most fulfilling, and it’s been amazing, and it’s definitely the biggest role that I’ve ever done. But I love all the roles that I’ve done for different reasons. I loved my roles in “Hairspray” because that was my first Broadway show, and I love that show. Every part I’ve done, I fall in love with. You have to become so attached to them to be able to perform them over and over. But this has definitely been the most life changing. It’s been really, really amazing.

What other shows do you love? I love a lot of shows. I love the classics. I love some of the newer stuff. I saw “Next to Normal” when I was home in New York over Christmas, and that was amazing. I loved the “Ragtime” revival, which unfortunately is now closed. I loved “Jane Eyre” — I saw that five or six times when I first moved to New York. I loved “[Thoroughly Modern] Millie.” Of course, I love “Wicked.” And I love the quirky stuff like “Urinetown” and “Avenue Q.” I just love musicals — I love them all.

The music from “Legally Blonde” is pretty infectious. Is it constantly playing in your head? No, it’s not, which is a blessing! It’s so catchy that it really does get stuck in your head. But I’ve magically been able to keep it at work.

What’s on your iPod? A lot of different things. Podcasts, because we drive the tour, and we have a lot of podcasts to get us through the days in the car. And I have a lot of Ingrid Michaelson — I like her stuff. I have a couple of Broadway shows on there. I’ve got “Rock of Ages,” and I just downloaded “9 to 5” — I figured I should listen to that show and know what it’s about. I’ve got a good variety. Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood — you know, the girl singers. And I love my Coldplay.

Have you had time to watch “Glee”? I haven’t! We always have shows during TV hours. I haven’t made a point of watching it on the Internet yet, but I will. I just know that I’m gonna get so hooked on it that it’s gonna be stupid. I’m gonna freak out and think it’s amazing and want to be on it. I’ll probably sit down and watch the whole season in one swoop at some point. ... I would like to make a guest appearance on “Glee.” I can say that without even having watched it!

What do you hope people take away from “Legally Blonde”? I hope they have a great time. I hope they laugh, they cry, they smile, they just have an escape. That they get wrapped up in the story and that they can take a little bit from the messages of the show — stay true to yourself, follow your dreams, don’t let other people underestimate you and, most importantly, don’t underestimate yourself. There’s so many good messages in the show, and if you can even just remember one of them and learn from that in any way, then we’ve done our job. And if we send you out the door with a smile on your face, even better!

By Gabe Hartwig • ©2010 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, STLtoday.com • Published 04.01.10