Last night, NBC unveiled the most sparkling, dazzling jewel of many a TV season with the hotly anticipated debut of the new musical dramedy series SMASH. Hatched from an idea by mega-mogul Steven Spielberg and given life by the starry team of executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, playwright Theresa Rebeck, director Michael Mayer and songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, SMASH follows the journey of the auditioning actors and creative team of a new Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe from inception to final presentation on opening night and follows the highs and lows of making a hit show on the Great White Way. While I have only viewed the first four episodes, I can tell you that this show certainly knows where it is heading and heads will unquestionably turn with each new surprise and dramatic twist along the way - and that's to say nothing of the simply stupendous presentation of original songs by Shaiman & Wittman for the musical-within-the-show and spirited, inventive covers of pop hits, new and old, ranging from Adele to Judy Garland to Blondie to Bruno Mars and beyond. In just the first four episodes alone, SMASH manages to pack more sheer entertainment value into its running time than virtually any other show on network TV - besides GLEE, that is. Ah, yes: GLEE. Comparisons will be made - and most critics have already made them - but, the truth of the matter really is that there is more than enough room on network TV for two music-themed shows that tell their story through song from time to time. After all, on SMASH, there are a lot dramatically justified reasons to break out into a song - or four. Plus, there's certainly a big enough audience out there to justify AMERICAN IDOL, THE VOICE, THE X FACTOR and AMERICA'S GOT TALENT - to name just the network reality competition shows focusing on performance-based entertainment - so why can't GLEE and SMASH happily co-exist on TV together? As SMASH shows, if there can be two Marilyns in a Marilyn Monroe musical, then anything is possible. The possibilities are as vast and numerous as the possible subjects for a new Broadway musical - endless. Endless, too, is the enjoyment and entertainment value SMASH potentially can provide for many more seasons to come. All that is needed, wanted and so desperately desired is an audience - so, let SMASH be your show.
Choose MeIf last night's pilot episode is any indication of where this series is going - and, unlike many pilots which pack in a lot of clumsy exposition and painfully obvious character arc set-ups, SMASH doesn't reveal its hand right off the bat to make a Joe Dimaggio pun. Actually, the pilot episode does not even fully communicate all the places this show can - and will - go over the course of the fifteen episode first season. Rest assured, by the close of the second episode the team will have chosen their Marilyn - but, who's to say in future episodes the team won't realize the theatrically rife and dramatically compelling notion of two Marilyns sharing the stage, side-by-side? Furthermore, who's to say what voice is more appropriate for the material of the musical-within-the-show when the score hasn't even been completed yet?
Katharine McPhee is the naïve pop ingenue and
Megan Hilty is the Broadway baby with a heart of sass and brass and each have striking elements to make them the ideal Marilyn, but which was is best for the show? Furthermore, which is the best way for SMASH itself? By McPhee's reveal as Marilyn in complete regalia - sequin gown, push-up bra and golden curls - you, too, may find yourself in a Derek Wills-level casting conundrum. It's not as black and white a choice as it first may appear to be, even by the spine-tingling conclusion of the pilot set to the instantly unforgettable double-whammy duet showstopper, "Let Me Be Your Star". One Marilyn, two Marilyns or more - if diamonds are a girl's best friend, then SMASH is the Broadway lover's soul-mate.
Juggling four major, interlocking storylines and fully integrating a number of songs - letting them blossom into completely satisfying musical sequences; never too much, never too little - the pilot episode of SMASH firmly establishes our octet comprised of twosomes: Julia (
Debra Messing) and Tom (
Christian Borle), the songwriters; Derek Wills (
Jack Davenport) and Eileen Rand (
Anjelica Huston), the director and producer; Karen Cartwright (
Katharine McPhee) and Ivy Lynn (
Megan Hilty), the stars-to-be vying for the role of Marilyn in the musical-within-the-show; as well as the significant others for Messing and McPhee's characters - portrayed by Broadway star Brian d'Arcy James and BOMBAY DREAMS notable
Raza Jaffrey, respectively.
Jaime Cepero as the songwriting duo's shady assistant, Ellis, is the lynchpin that sets into motion not only the notion of the Marilyn musical to Julia and Tom, but, also, the individual responsible for broadcasting a private rehearsal video to the world on a YouTube-like internet channel - to much interest and acclaim. The insider-y dialogue is sure to make many feel as though they are getting a glimpse behind the velvet curtain of Broadway, but, like with any dramatic representation of an actual craft, liberal grains of salt should be taken. Yet, it feels like a real world - not a bizarre, variety-show fantasyland like GLEE, as endearing as that enterprise is, oftentimes as a direct result of its idiosyncratic style - SMASH is firmly based in reality. Additionally, the integration of modern technology and 21st century life with a musical milieu is what is perhaps most immediately striking about the SMASH universe and what it reveals about how Broadway and entertainment really work in 2012 - the power of the internet being the pervasive theme. From Julia staying up all night watching Marilyn movies on her Mac, to the aforementioned demo video upload-gone-viral and the naturalistic settings giving way to the fantastic imaginings of the songs is the secret to the success of SMASH - and a knock-down, drag-out, take-no-prisoners smash success it is in that regard. Every musical number hit. Yes, for once in network TV-land the hype actually lives up to the product. No, not everything is spelled out in the pilot and there certainly seems to be a path upon which the show seems to be going, yet the twists that arise in the coming weeks will definitely take many - if not most; or, even, all - by surprise. Getting a musical on Broadway is one of the most difficult journeys imaginable in the fickle atmosphere of 2012 and that fact is spelled out clearly. Sure, it can be thrilling to be a part of it all - but, there are many, many dues to be paid. Most of all, SMASH is about the messiness of show business - the tears and blood spilled; the ties formed and broken; and, most of all, the communal love of the art that makes everything else worth it somehow how. It's in the warmth of the spotlight go, whether you are looking up at it in awe from the audience or the stage or if it is actually pinpointed on you. SMASH conveys that thrill. It's also all about the work that it takes to get to that moment - not that there isn't plenty of play along the way, as well.
In only the pilot episode we were introduced to five significant musical sequences that brought us simultaneously into the stylish and alluring fantasy movie musical world of SMASH and how that world juxtaposes with the harsh and all-too-real everyday realities of life - right off the bat, as it were, with "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" as the dream audition of all time being cut short by an ill-timed cellphone ring (a recurring device repeated at the outset of future episodes); then, later, the fantasy onstage moments of "Beautiful", "The National Pastime" and the electric grand finale, as well as the rehearsal and demo recording scene. In addition to the cover songs - and McPhee did very well by both the classic
Judy Garland anthem from THE WIZARD OF OZ and the relatively recent
Christina Aguilera pop hit penned by Linda Perry - the original songs for the Marilyn musical roll out in tantalizing doses each week - reconfigured, reconceived and reworked as we go along. In just the first episode, we got to see and hear Hilty and McPhee both take their turns with two tunes from the show-within-the-show - if only in snippets - and the full-out finale surely was enough to make any musical lover's pulse quicken and heart grow full. Indeed, "Let Me Be Your Star", from beginning to end, is among the most impressive musical sequences ever presented on TV, and, if SMASH proves not to be the juggernaut many may hope it ultimately is, we have a handful of tremendous musical moments to treasure and revisit again and again - and, let me tell you, they keep coming! Just wait until next week's knock-outs!
While "Let Me Be Your Star" was an unforgettable conclusion to the premiere episode, the first fully-realized Marilyn number - courtesy of WICKED and 9-TO-5 Broadway bombshell
Megan Hilty going all out, in a truly star-making debut to match McPhee's - as the song was innovatively envisioned by the temperamental director-to-be of the Marilyn musical, Derek Wills, "The National Pastime" was everything a first song for a Marilyn musical should and could be. Was it camp (in the very best sense) and delightfully over-the-top? It's a first draft; so, yes, it was - of course. But, the emotional depths reached by the heroines at the show's core - and their insecurities revealed and exploited - along with the woman (women?) playing Marilyn and how the relative casting shades and informs not only the interpretation of the songs, but the development of the character and show she is in itself, is dramatically rife, rich and overall quite delectable to experience. Inklings of quite astonishingly impressive character development through song were in evidence throughout the addictive pilot and the will she/won't she push-and-pull dramatic mechanism is resolved by the end of next week's show with a slew of new struggles and successes to see and hear coming after that - there's a lot to take in, believe me. We shall surely see over the next several weeks how it all plays out and where the
Marilyn Monroe musical ends up, but, moment-by-moment, in the pilot alone, SMASH manages to create a comfortable and intriguing contemporary world that, while it may not be wholly true or authentic to the way the theatre world really operates, manages to be compelling as sheer domestic drama and entertainment as an appreciable result of the high stakes given to each of the central leads - and the high stakes gamble of the show itself.
And what a gamble it all is. Karen wants to make a name for herself in Broadway musicals. Ivy wants to be a superstar. Derek wants a hit. Eileen wants to strike out on her own as a solo producer. Julia and Tom want to write the best Marilyn musical possible - hell, the best musical possible. High stakes characters - big dramatic (and, in this case, musical) pay-off.
"Choose me"? Choose SMASH - and get gleefully drunk on the glow of stars and shows being born before our very eyes and ears and hearts week after week. This is just the very start of the rainbow about to roll out before us. Go and get SMASH-ed.
