Smash -- Series Discussion

[MadAboutTheBoy]

The competing musical could be any take on Marilyn. It doesn't have to be based on "My Week with Marilyn". It was just a thought.

[StageManager2]

As for "Smash," if they wanted to stick with the Marilyn/Joe theme, they could've focused on the making of "The Seven Year Itch," which occurred during their 9-month marriage and ultimately resulted in their divorce (the "skirt blowing" scene was the last straw), because Joe wanted Marilyn to quit acting and become a homemaker, but Marilyn had said she "always had too much fantasy to be only a housewife." So that's the major conflict. Moreover, the making of "Seven Year Itch" also included battling with the censors over the provocative script, and the Catholic Legion of Decency, which threatened to boycott the film if proper changes were not made. Here we also have the needy, insecure, pill-popping, tardy Marilyn, who became even worse after her split from DiMaggio. They became friendly again 7 months after wrap-up, and, in fact, DiMaggio escorted Marilyn to the premiere, but they fought bitterly again that night and became estranged for several years.

I can see DiMaggio narrating this one. Unlike Marilyn's other husbands, DiMaggio never spoke publicly or exploited their relationship, but it's interesting to conjecture what he thought and felt about their relationship. But it is clear that he truly loved her. When Marilyn was institutionalized in early 1961 (shortly after her divorce from Miller), she called DiMaggio for help. He dutifully showed up and demanded that they release his "wife" at once. Afterward, they remained friends until her death. Some say they had rekindled their romance. At any rate, DiMaggio was eager and willing to marry again. He even quit his
job and proposed to her so that he could devote fully his time to her in order to shield her from the Hollywood baddies, but she was unable to extricate herself from that lifestyle. That was the tragedy of their romance. After her death, he continued to carry a torch for her and had roses sent to her grave once a week for 20 years, but fans kept stealing them. DiMaggio realized the money could be better spent going toward charities in Marilyn's honor. Until his death, he remained devoted to her and never remarried.

[Gaveston2]

I don't think a narrator is a bad idea for BOMBSHELL, but from the standpoint of TV viewers we've had multiple narrators all along. The writer, Derek, the girls playing the part, etc. In fact, except for generalized pastiche numbers, all we've heard about the Marilyn of BOMBSHELL came from narration by one or another of the SMASH characters.

The problem, IMO, is that there is nothing to narrate.

Concentrating on a single period of her life seems a very productive idea (and is no doubt why MY WEEK WITH MARILYN was written as it was). Unity of time may not be deep, but it is always a way to make your story seem more cohesive.

And focussing on a star-crossed love affair with Joe DiMaggio might be the very best way to tell Monroe's story. But to achieve that, SMASH will have to start dramatizing an actual woman rather than merely displaying the icon. (And it's rather a shame to have a pretty boy playing DiMaggio when part of what fascinated the country was that Marilyn married homely men.)

[Borstalboy]

The fabulous Julie Klausner has been threatening to do an all-SMASH podcast and it has finally happened! You can also get it for free on iTunes.

It's got Nate Harris, SMASH writer Jason Grote talking to Rachel Shukert, Morgan Murphy, Jackee Harry, Retta, and Billy Eichner among others!
How Was Your SMASH?

[strummergirl]

Borstal beat me to it (she also did a fine TONYS mini-sode last year). The podcast was fantastic, especially when she and Nate transition from talking about the show to actually watching the finale and reacting to it.

[Borstalboy]

Including Jason Grote was a brilliant coup. It's very funny...the Joan Didion bits had me howling!

[SporkGoddess]

StageManager2: See, that story you just talked about? THAT would make a good musical. I didn't know that stuff about their romance and Bombshell as written doesn't mention it. They could even have a "bittersweet" ending with him sending roses to her grave and establishing how much he loved her and still loves her even years after she's died.

[TheatreDiva90016]

"Did you really need a winkie emoticon to know that my bobbie pins line was a joke? "

Maybe, because not one bobbie pin was used, or a pin curl, or a wig cap.  And that dresser should have been fired.  Who put the shoes on first, and then asks the performer to try and step into a dress?  

"She didn't teach the royal children of Thailand or bring interracial dancing to Baltimore"

I love this quote.

[Gaveston2]

StageManager2: See, that story you just talked about? THAT would make a good musical. I didn't know that stuff about their romance and Bombshell as written doesn't mention it. They could even have a "bittersweet" ending with him sending roses to her grave and establishing how much he loved her and still loves her even years after she's died.

And then they can just call the show MACK AND MABEL.

(Sorry, Spork. I don't mean to have fun at your expense, but I can't resist pointing out the similarities.)

[Gothampc]

"And then they can just call the show MACK AND MABEL."

Mabel didn't have Shelley Winters and Truman Capote as friends.

[Gaveston2]

^^^Not an expert, but I suspect Mabel Normand had equally interesting friends.

[Gothampc]

^^^ But the show's not called Joe and Marilyn. Mabel needed Mack. Marilyn didn't need nobody.

[Gaveston2]

^^^ Yeah, Marilyn did so well on her own. (You are joking, aren't you?)

[Wynbish]

Monroe & Dimaggio: The Musical.

[EricMontreal22]

That podcast is brilliant.

[Borstalboy]

She and Shukert make a great case for being on "Team Ivy"

[EricMontreal22]

Although I did find it surprising when they mentioned how much more experience she had, etc, that they didn't fairly mention the fact that some might question her getting a lead after what she did in Heaven on Earth.

[ucjrdude902]

If someone from The Lion King per say, in a costume went on drunk, threw a fit and ran out the door…Disney would have a heart attack and then make sure that person never works again. Listening to that podcast, it clear that people take this show WAY to serious.

[Borstalboy]

The AV Club weighs in on what makes SMASH so special in our hearts

[beautywickedlover]

Only two songs will be submitted in the Creative Arts - Song category at the Emmys, "Let Me be Your Star" and "Touch Me".




Emmy rules crash 'Smash'

[Plum]

"Touch Me"?!

I...just...yeah. I'm going back to my Slings & Arrows rewatch.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Plum, there was no other choice. Emmy rules only permit the entry of one song per "team," and since Shaiman and Wittman wrote all the show's songs except for "Touch Me," there was no other possible second song.

[jasonf]

To be fair, "Let Me Be Your Star" is the best song from the show, but yeah, that's a ridiculous rule. Wonder what made them come up with that in the first place?

[Plum]

They could have not submitted a second song. I think my reaction was mostly due to being forced to remember that "Touch Me" happened. :P

[sephyr]

I would've personally submitted Let's Be Bad. Now that's the showstopper.

[kyl3fong2]

"Let Me Be Your Star" "Secondhand White Baby Grand" and "Don't Forget Me" would have been my choices for submission.