Reel Thoughts Interview: The Whole Package

Isn’t it great when someone good-looking also has a great sense of humor about themselves?

When you head out to see Legally Blonde: The Musical (and you better – it’s so gay, it’s like catnip for gay people), keep an eye out for Ven Daniel – not that you’re likely to miss him.

The handsome Channing Tatum look-alike is making manicurists all over America swoon, as the hunkiest of UPS men. He also gets to play two other roles that proves that while he may look like Tatum, Daniel can act.

In the gorgeous posters for 2007’s Broadway Bares, Daniel looks like a Maxfield Parrish print come to life as a dreamy Cupid, a show which was also helmed by Blonde’s fabulous director Jerry Mitchell. What’s a pleasant surprise is how funny and personable Daniel is in his interview, on his blog and other postings.


In case you never saw Reese Witherspoon’s original, Legally Blonde tells the story of gorgeous but unchallenged Malibu sorority queen Elle Woods, who follows her no-good boyfriend to Harvard to win him back, only to win her self-respect back instead. Along the way, her relentlessly positive attitude overcomes hostility, snobbery and sexual harassment, and even helps others find true love.

Songs like “Ohmigod You Guys”, “Bend and Snap” and “Legally Blonde” are representative of the show’s and the heroine’s bubbly enthusiasm. I spoke to Daniel, who was back in New York taking care of an injury he had sustained on stage. The personal trainer was clearly eager to get back to his cast mates and the tour.

NC: Why were you away from the tour?
VD: This was because I had knee surgery about four weeks ago. I sustained an injury during one of the shows and continued to do a couple of shows on it, so I took a leave of absence to have the surgery and heal. It just worked out that I’ll be able to join the tour in Costa Mesa, California.


NC: I have to say, you really rock a brown uniform!
VD: (Laughing) You know, I try and make the costume look as good as possible. It helps me out too.

NC: How do you get into playing everybody’s dream UPS man?
VD: How do I get into it? I just start walking around a certain way to get into character, the little strut.

NC: It’s all about the walk?
VD: (Laughing) It’s all about the walk.

NC: I know that you’re a certified personal trainer. Do you base it on guys you see at the gym who are testosterone junkies?
VD: No, it’s all about proportion. If they’re going to put you in short shorts and a tight top, everything’s got to be working cohesively. I sort of pictured him as a guy in a movie, so I had the opportunity to tour in Saturday Night Fever and play Tony. It just added something to the character, so I allowed myself to be influenced by that energy, and it seems to be working.


NC: You were also the face (and body) of Broadway Bares in 2007. How was that production to perform in?
VD: That was exhilarating. It’s just a great celebration of life and the community comes together to raise money to help people out. And then also to be on the poster and the face of it that year was just so gratifying. If that image could help bring people together and bring attention to the event, I’m more than happy to be a part of it. The photo shoot was just fantastic; the photographer was so great to work with. Everyone who was involved was supportive and positive. I’m so happy, I felt blessed to be part of that and to have been able to meet and work with Jerry Mitchell then and on this show.

I mentioned to Daniel that I had just seen Mitchell’s work on Catch Me If You Can and loved it, and he was happy to hear it. “He’s just so nice,” he said, adding that Mitchell had been very supportive of him during his knee injury and helped him find one of the best doctors in New York for the surgery.


I asked him how he likes life on tour.

“It’s its own entity, but I enjoy it because it allows me the opportunity to work closely with some really talented people, and because you’re traveling somewhere new every week or every couple of weeks. These people become your family, and the relationships you make last a long time.

“It allows you to forge friendships, because you’re living with people and working with them. It’s a lifestyle that I enjoy because you get to see the greatest places and meet some pretty cool people along the way,” Daniel said.

And he spoke of some of the funny tour stories he has put on his blog. Speaking about an unwanted gift he got while staying in Florida, he said, “That was pretty interesting and funny as well. There was a used catheter on the floor of my bathroom in the hotel room. They came and picked it up and they didn’t even mop the floor. Disgusting,” he said, laughing.


A YouTube video of him also prompted a response: “In the show I play a character, Dewey, and just to make him as gross as possible, I included a giant belch. Since I was younger, I’ve had the strange skill of being able to burp really loud. And then I got hurt during a show and I was out for a couple of days and I was so bored, so I took my camera and tried to videotape myself burping and see how long I could go and if I could make 'em funny."

"So that’s what I have broadcast to the world, the YouTube world,” he laughed.

Daniel admitted he’s always wanted to be an actor, and that he was influenced by his father, an accountant who also performs onstage a lot in Florida.


“I remember seeing him in a production of Fiddler on the Roof and thinking, ‘Wow, I want to do that. If my dad can do it, I want to do it, too.’ One of my dreams is to share the stage with my father. I don’t know if the show’s been written yet or if it would be a regional production, but yeah, my dad, he’s the greatest creative guy in the world.”

Daniel said he looks forward to the future.

“I always enjoy thinking about the future, because if you don’t have a plan or don’t have an idea of where you’re going or what you want, you don’t really have any idea of what action to take. I know that eventually, I would like to go into television and film and continue to work in New York in the Broadway community.”

When I told him about his resemblance to Channing Tatum, he said, “I get that a lot, which is okay, except that he has my career. He’s a good-looking man, so I’m okay with that.”


I joked that he could accidentally push Tatum down some stairs and take his place, and he responded: “It’s like that movie, Showgirls. I’ll just rip off the pearl necklace and he can slip on the pearls.”

For now, Daniel is enjoying Legally Blonde and meeting the fans, even the large gay audience.

“I’m okay with that. To have the gay community following is so fun, especially when there’s a huge tour group of guys that come in and have a great time. The energy in the audience picks up and it makes the show even more fun to do.”

Interview by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Reverend's Reviews: No Dumb Blonde

Legally Blonde: The Musical had its southern California premiere last week at the fabled Pantages Theatre in LA. Despite the Pantages' equally-fabled acoustical problems — which rendered some lyrics unintelligible — the opening night performance cast a crowd-pleasing spell over the packed house.

Adapted from the 2001 film that made a star of Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde follows the efforts of Malibu-bred, UCLA sorority girl Elle Woods (played here by the winning Becky Gulsvig) to get into Harvard Law School and win back her ex-boyfriend. This cheerful, brightly-colored show had a successful run on Broadway in 2007, and had its popularity among young people sealed by an MTV telecast. The tour recently won several special Tony Awards for touring productions including Best Musical, beating Wicked and critical favorite Spring Awakening.


While its plot may seem feather-light, Legally Blonde: The Musical has intelligent things to say about women, ambition and personal empowerment. It probably helps that a woman, Heather Hach, wrote the show's book and another woman, Nell Benjamin, wrote its score, the latter with Laurence O'Keefe. The score is excellent, packed with tunes both appropriately perky ("Omigod You Guys," "What You Want" and "So Much Better" are but a few) and, on those rare occasions when called for, more meditative ("Chip on My Shoulder," "Find My Way" and the title song).

Jerry Mitchell's high-energy choreography is impressive — especially during the Act II opener, "Whipped Into Shape" — but his direction is even better. The pacing is brisk and there isn't a sluggish moment to be found. Though this is Mitchell's Broadway directorial debut, his sharp eye and sure hand ensure future directing assignments.


The touring cast is uniformly strong. In addition to Gulsvig, standout performances are given by Natalie Joy Johnson as the unfortunate-in-love beautician, Paulette (memorably played by Jennifer Coolidge in the film); D.B. Bonds as Emmett; Ken Land as the smarmy Professor Callahan; and Megan Lewis as Elle's bitchy rival, Vivienne. And one mustn't neglect to mention the cute and talented canines Frankie and Nellie, who play Bruiser and Rufus, respectively.

There are gay and lesbian characters and camp moments galore to please GLBT theatregoers. Aside from Wicked, no other recent musical offers as much sheer joy and entertainment as Legally Blonde: The Musical. It is running at the Pantages through September 6, then transfers to the Orange County Performing Arts Center September 8-20.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend’s Interview: Going Blonde with Jerry Mitchell

Whereas many theatre professionals and critics are bemoaning the glut of Broadway musicals based on hit movies of the past (Billy Elliot, 9 to 5, The Little Mermaid and Shrek are but a few current examples), Jerry Mitchell rejoices in it. The openly gay, Tony Award-winning choreographer has been a major creative force behind many of the most acclaimed film-to-stage adaptations of the past decade, including The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Hairspray.

Mitchell recently added the title “director” to his resume with the Broadway sensation Legally Blonde: The Musical. It is based on the 2001 motion picture that starred Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods, a ditzy LA sorority girl who unexpectedly succeeds as a Harvard law school student. The musical will play August 12-September 6 at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, followed by a run at the Orange County Performing Arts Center September 8-20.

The delightful Mitchell — whom I was privileged to meet at the recent world premiere of Minsky’s in LA — spoke with me from Seattle, where he is staging the dances for yet another Broadway-bound musical based on a movie, Catch Me If You Can.


CC: What drew you to Legally Blonde: The Musical as your Broadway directorial debut?
JM: Let’s see … pink, Chihuahuas, timpani and a story that I absolutely could relate to. I also liked that it had a leading character that was larger than life.

CC: How smooth or challenging was the process of adaptation?
JM: You always look at something and ask, “How am I going to make this work on stage?” This has a leading lady, a heroine, who come hell or high water gets what she wants. That’s the essence of every great musical character, so in that respect Legally Blonde is universal. Also, I wanted to draw out the supporting characters, like (Elle’s fellow student-turned-admirer) Emmett and Paulette (the salon owner memorably played in the film by Jennifer Coolidge). I wanted to help them get what they want, too.

CC: Have you been pleased with the results?
JM: Oh, yes! We just won three Touring Broadway Awards for this production, including Best Musical. The tour is going to pay off like gangbusters!


CC: Has Legally Blonde succeeded in drawing a younger audience and exposed them to musical theatre?
JM: That’s my hope and prayer. You come to your first musical and, if you like it, you want to see the next one. MTV exposure (the original Broadway production was broadcast by the music channel) also helped a lot in getting PR out about the show across the country, and it’s part of the reason the tour is doing so well.

CC: What do you think is good and perhaps not so good about the current trend of adapting popular movies for the stage?
JM: There’s nothing not good about it. I’ve heard many people complain about it, but it’s been my and my friends’ livelihood. I want to say, “People, wake up!” We live in a digital age. I’m sure fifty years ago, producers handed a composer a book and said, “Make this into a musical” because people were familiar with it. The same thing is going on today but with movies. We are so quick to judge in this world.

CC: What did you think of this year’s crop of Tony-nominated shows? Do you have a favorite show or two currently?
JM: I literally love everything! I can see Next to Normal (an award-winning musical about bi-polar disorder) one night and Shrek the next and love ‘em all. I haven’t kept up with the plays as well, but I am going to catch up when I get back to New York.


CC: When did you make your Broadway debut as a dancer?
JM: In a 1980 revival of Brigadoon, under Agnes DeMille.

CC: But you made your biggest splash as a nearly-naked Native American in 1990’s The Will Rogers Follies, correct?
JM: (Laughing) Well, that certainly caught a lot of people’s attention!

CC: How have you seen musical theatre and Broadway develop or change since you started out?
JM: When I walk into a show, a musical, what I take from it is the score. That’s what makes or breaks a show. Very few shows since I got to Broadway have musical appeal beyond the show, unlike prior to 1980 when many show tunes crossed over into mainstream popularity (perhaps most notably “Send in the Clowns” and “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina”). That’s the biggest change I’ve seen.


CC: You have a new burlesque-inspired production, Peep Show, in Las Vegas. How is it doing?
JM: It’s stripping away, nipples to the wind! Holly Madison from TV’s The Girls Next Door just replaced Kelly Monaco in it, and my dear friend Shoshana Bean is replacing the Spice Girls’ Mel B. Shoshana played Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray for me.

CC: You are also the creator and director of New York’s super-successful, annual AIDS fundraising event, Broadway Bares. How is this year’s edition coming together?
JM: This year we have an Internet theme, “Click It!” We also have a new website, and we’ll have our first online strip-athon hosted by Broadwayworld.com. Everyone can donate and/or participate!

CC: On a more personal note, are you currently partnered, married or in a relationship?
JM: I’m deep in a relationship.


CC: Are children in your future?
JM: (Laughing, along with some of his Catch Me If You Can cast members who have gathered) I have 36 children right now in this dressing room! They are all unruly too, and need to be punished!

CC: What’s next for Jerry Mitchell as director and/or choreographer?
JM: Well, after Catch Me If You Can, director Jack O’Brien and I — we’re joined at the hip, having worked on several shows together — are off to London. We’ll be doing Love Never Dies, the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera (with songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Glenn Slater), and I’ll be mounting Legally Blonde in the West End.

CC: Sounds fabulous!

For more information about Legally Blonde: The Musical in LA or to purchase tickets, click here.

Interview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Padma’s Ex: Nobody Calls Me “Scruffy” Without Getting Sued!

Oh, possums, the unkempt fur is flying in England, and The Guardian has all the details.

Apparently, On Her Majesty's Service, a book by one of Salman Rushdie's ex-bodyguards and set to be published this week, claims that during the years that Padma Lakshmi's ex lived under police protection because of the fatwa issued against him by the Ayatollah Khomeini, the British "police nicknamed Rushdie [']Scruffy['] because of his unkempt appearance."

This allegation has made Rushdie's hair stand on end: "I had a lot of sympathy and understanding from the police. Our relationship was the exact opposite of what has been written. I never heard myself called by the name Scruffy in nine years."

Of course, the book discusses a lot more than Rushdie's grooming. In response, Padma's ex says, "[The ex-bodyguard] is portraying me as mean, nasty, tight-fisted, arrogant and extremely unpleasant. In my humble opinion I am none of those things."

And now, Rushdie is set to sue to prove that it ain't so. Ah, the beauty of British libel law.

(If you want to hear from Mr. Scruff, click the vid.)