(Premiering 2/6, first episode available now on iTunes)
What's it about?
There's nothing more exciting than the opening night of a hit Broadway musical, except maybe what happens getting there. While Wicked and The Lion King pack audiences in on the Great White Way, Julia and Tom, a successful songwriting team begin work on a new musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. When a tenacious producer jumps aboard, so begins the difficult task of casting the silver screen icon. Ivy Lynn, a tough Broadway veteran, seems like the obvious choice. But enter Karen Cartwright, a young girl from Iowa with a dream of making it on Broadway who walks in and blows everyone away. So who will get the part and begin a journey that will change their lives? It's an age-old story, but a star just might be born once again. While everyone is consumed with putting the show together, real life has a tendency of getting in the way. Julia and her husband are in the middle of a complicated adoption; the producer's husband begins divorce proceedings which could threaten the finances of the show; and the brilliant but womanizing director could derail everything if he puts the young star in a compromising position. This will be a rollercoaster ride that culminates on opening night when the audience gets to determine whether or not the show is a smash!
You should watch if...
• you have ever enjoyed a musical.
• you have ever wanted to know what goes on behind the scenes of Broadway.
• you have been a struggling actor in New York City.
So, how was it?
Leading up to its heavily-publicized debute in February, SMASH is being incessantly billed as two things: A) the new GLEE and B) NBC's last best hope. One of these things is true. One is decidedly not.
No, this show is nothing like GLEE. Would it ever have happened if GLEE hadn't paved the way for musical television shows? Maybe not. (Probably not.) But the comparisons stop there. Whereas GLEE is a brightly-colored, fast-paced, hyperactive, satirically comedic look at high school that covers anywhere from 4 to 7 pop songs per week with the occasional original song thrown in, SMASH is a deliberate, realistic, dramatic look at the creation of a new musical that features anywhere from 1 to 3 original songs per week with the occasional pop song thrown in. The two shows are pretty much polar opposites. (Cue the -- GLEE is better! No SMASH is better! No SMASH is dumb! No GLEE is dumb! -- wars on the IMDB message boards, those breeding grounds for civilized debates.)
The thing that is true about SMASH is that it probably is NBC's last best hope. At least for this season. NBC is consistently the fourth-place network, well behind CBS, FOX and ABC, and only slightly ahead of the newest Big Five network, the CW. This season in particular saw some woeful missteps from the cancelled FREE AGENTS, PRIME SUSPECT and THE PLAYBOY CLUB to the cringe-worthy WHITNEY. Enter SMASH. Just listen to the pedigree involved in this show:
Created by Theresa Rebeck (famous playwright whose newest work, SEMINAR, is currently on Broadway starring Alan Rickman); produced by Steven Spielberg and Craig Zadan & Neil Meron (who produced the CHICAGO and HAIRSPRAY movies); original songs written by Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman (who wrote the musical HAIRSPRAY); starring Debra Messing (WILL & GRACE) and Christian Borle (stage actor in SPAMALOT and LEGALLY BLONDE) as the writers of the musical, Katharine McPhee (AMERICAN IDOL) and Megan Hilty (stage actress in WICKED and 9 TO 5) as prospective Marilyns, Jack Davenport (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN) as the director, Anjelica Huston (THE ADDAMS FAMILY) as the producer, and Brian d'Arcy James (stage actor in THE WILD PARTY, TITANIC, SHREK, NEXT TO NORMAL...and fellow Northwestern grad, represent!) as Julia's husband (I hope they find a way for him to sing at some point...). That's quite an impressive list.
With that much talent behind it, SMASH was either going to be spectacular...or a spectacular failure. Luckily, it's the former. McPhee and Hilty both sound spectacular and do a phenomenal job of getting us on their side...it's truly going to be hard to see one of them get it over the other (although I take slight issue with the show's seeming stance that McPhee's Karen deserves to get it because she's a bright and shiny newcomer from the Midwest when Hilty's Ivy has been putting her time in for the better part of a decade in Broadway chorus after chorus...but whatever). Messing and Borle make a lovably neurotic pair as the passionate writers who can't help but fall in love with their topic despite outside pressures (aka Messing's Julia is trying to adopt a baby and had agreed to not write for a while). Anjelica Huston is a presence to be reckoned with as the snappy producer who takes on the new show. Jack Davenport portrays both artistic brilliance and personal sleaziness in equal measure. The influence from the producers of CHICAGO are evident as several of the songs transition in and out of reality into a glitzy showbiz production number complete with bright costumes and sparkling lights. And the ballad that closes the pilot, written by Shaiman & Wittman, is a showstopper.
I'm excited to see where this show goes. I'm wondering how long they can drag out the casting decision to prolong suspense and hold on to viewers. Will the show get all the way to opening night by the end of the season? Or will Marilyn: The Musical stretch all the way into Season 2? If not, what exactly is Season 2 going to be about? A premature question, of course, because if people who aren't in love with showbiz aren't drawn to SMASH, it may be a moot point. I hope it finds an audience wider than those who are already obsessed with musicals.
My one small gripe with the pilot was that for the most part it was a hyper-realistic portrayal of the musical theater scene complete with discussions about whether a certain passage in a song should be sung in mix or full belt...but then at times it would dip into clearly fabricated events conjured up for the sole purpose of drama, such as when the director invites the young wannabe star over to his apartment late at night for a booze-fueled chat about Marilyn's sexy side. A) No real director would ever ask that of someone. B) No 24-year-old girl in her right mind would comply, even if she was from Iowa. C) If she did, he would be facing sexual harassment charges faster than he could say "From the top!" In this episode at least, SMASH is straddling a fine line between realism and melodrama that the writers should be careful with -- realism will be its friend, otherwise people will get as tired of the fabricated theatrics as quickly as some did with GLEE. Plus, the juxtaposition of such manufactured moments with such truthful ones will make those not familiar with the theater scene think the manufactured ones are as real as the rest, only reinforcing the stereotype that theater is a drama-saturated business filled with drama-seeking drama queens. SMASH is at its best when it is reminding us that show business is, after all, just another business.
Rating:
**** Certifiably ADDICTive. A must-see.
Despite my minor qualms, I'm still definitely addicted, and can't wait to see where this show is going next. It's the first certified hit of 2012 (in my opinion) and I hope it manages to snag a wide audience, both for its own sake and for the sake of the flailing NBC. You don't have to love musicals to love this show -- it's full of great acting, great writing, great cinematography, and great drama -- there just happens to be some songs every now and then.
What did you think, Fellow Addicts? Were you won over by the glitz and glamor of SMASH? Or does another musical TV show not appeal to you? Vote in the poll below and then hit the comments! (And please, no GLEE vs. SMASH debates...there's plenty of room for both.)
(For the complete rundown of when all the new shows are premiering, check out my 2012 Midseason TV Preview.)
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