It's Not Called "Legally Distracted."

I find this video promoting the London Legally Blonde kind of weird and really cheesy. I love Legally Blonde, for the record. I still haven't seen the movie (though I mean to) and was skeptical about the subject matter, but since Larry O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin (he of Bat Boy, both of the smart musical adaptations of Sarah, Plain & Tall and Cam Jansen) were writing the score, I figured it couldn't be all that bad. And it's not at all. In fact, the show has a lot of fascinating things to say about gender expectations and identity, and I'm still obsessed with some of the lyrics.

"So Much Better" is one of my favorite songs from the show, not to mention a huge dramatic moment for Elle, so I'm definitely glad the London production is featuring it in that video. But why not show Sheridan Smith actually performing the number onstage? Why have this bizzare quasi-music video thing? Why does Sheridan appear in different costumes throughout the same number? Why the all-white background? Why the random cuts to various cast members? I get why they'd want to show the other characters, but why not intersperse Sheridan's performance of "So Much Better" with clips from other parts of the show? That's not only standard marketing, but it's exactly what the Broadway production did two years ago. The Broadway production also a video with Laura Bell Bundy performing "So Much Better" onstage--the whole number, without any cutaways. I watched that video so many times it was embarassing, and so did a lot of my friends.

I'm not sure what to make of this. Are the London marketing team simply trying to make the show seem as dynamic as possible, hoping to tap into the teenage girl demograph that has helped make Wicked an international phenomenon? If so, I can't help but feel a little insulted. Granted, I'm too old to be their target audience, but I was a teenage girl not that long ago, and I've been working with that age group since I was barely out of it myself. You don't need a lot of video acrobatics to get a teenage girl's attention, especially not the kinds of girls who'd want to see a Broadway musical in the first place. I mean, high school girls have been belting out "On My Own" for the past twenty years, and Eponine delivers that number alone on a bare stage. Aside from the fact that I don't think the show is only meant for teen girls, and I think it's kind of sexist and patronizing to claim it is just because it's about a pretty blonde 22 year old who loves designer clothes and the color pink.

Many New York critics failed to give Legally Blonde and its fans the respect they deserve. I hate to see its own marketing team do the same.