I loved the concept and music of Bombshell the Musical on SMASH. I think it would make a great show on Broadway or the West End. Do you think it will happen?
I don't know about 54 Below, but obviously if the show comes to Broadway, it needs a book! I think the songs are terrific, and the choreography is great. Would Megan Hilty consider the role? I imagine she's very busy now, but maybe she would carve out the time.
I think it would be really great!!! I'm a big fan of the music (as you can probably tell by my picture) and with the right book writer, it could be a great show. Megan Hilty & Katharine McPhee could alternate the role of Marilyn.
I do love a lot of the music written for the show. But the problem would be that, logistically, the actress playing Marilyn would be onstage and singing nearly the whole time. If you look at the "cast recording" they released as a Smash tie-in, Marilyn is in nearly every number. That wouldn't be realistic for an actual show.
Idina Menzel belts out almost every number in If/Then, I was surprised to see. How many people can keep that up for eight performances a week? Not many, I assume. In the case of Bombshell, they would have to figure out a way around that. I'm sure it can be done. If not Megan Hilty, who would be my first choice, who else could perform this role? (Not McPhee, please.)
Yeah having someone on stage singing practically the whole show isn't unheard of. Laura Bell Bundy often said she was off stage 19 minutes total for "Legally Blonde" and included intermission.
I do think IF it ever happened they'd cut some songs/characters that serve no purpose. At this point I can only assume Scott and Marc own the rights to the music more than NBC does so it's up to them.
If a musical based on this opened in NY without a complete re-working, the critics would absolutely slaughter it. The show is supposed to be about Marilyn (who had a very distinctive singing voice), but the songs are for most part generic, modern pop ballads that are belted out--nothing that approaches the "real Marilyn" is in the show.
Steve, that doesn't bother me. That happens in musicals all the time. I mean, does Berry Gordy sing? I don't think so. You have to suspend your disbelief. Besides, Megan Hilty did do the breathy Marilyn voice at times, very effectively.
Berry Gordy isn't Marilyn; Marilyn is an icon. I don't about commercial success (which depends upon many things), but if the actress playing Marilyn starts belting out pop ballads, the critics will savage it.
I think writing a series of songs solely based on "this could maybe work into a plot of a Marilyn musical" and then unwaveringly using them to write a show around is a bad idea.
They weren't written as an actual score to a musical. They were written to be presented periodically on a TV show.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
The songs, when listened to together, just don't really sound like they are part of the same show. And really, very few of them actually seem to be advancing whatever plot there's supposed to be.
I think Bombshell is a way too showy way to approach the tragic life of Marilyn Monroe, and it almost makes light of the fact that show business was the very thing that killed her. A straight play would work much better, but wouldn't ever be a hit.
They should keep the same songs, but make the show about Mamie Van Doren or Jayne Mansfield. I just think Marilyn's inner music was closer to a Berg opera than Shaiman/Wittman good-time music.
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