Bombshell - Do you think it would work as a show? — Page 2

Eva Peron wasn't a singer. Marilyn, on the other hand, had a very distinctive way of singing that is now iconic. When Tracie Bennett played Judy Garland in "Over the Rainbow", she at least tried to sound like Garland.

Someone mentioned Frank Wildhorn, and Jekyll & Hyde is exactly what the Bombshell songs from Smash remind me of. The J&H songs and music do nothing to evoke the era of that show--they could be plopped into and would serve just as well for any other bad musical set in any other era. The same thing is true of the Smash songs.

And Barbra Streisand sounded nothing like Fanny Brice. (Sorry, bway. I posted before I saw your post.)

HOWEVER, Marilyn Monroe is an icon and (ETA as Carlos pointed out) we've all seen/heard countless recordings of her singing. In SMASH, it bothered me every time an actress belted a Monroe song. We all know Monroe didn't sound like that.

But the bigger problem was there was never a consistent conflict spelled out in BOMBSHELL, not even one as weak as that of FUNNY GIRL. Some sort of radical rewrite (actually "write" because BOMBSHELL on TV was never really written) is necessary and that will almost automatically mean a radical revision of the score.

Could there be a stage musical based on Monroe's life? In theory, certainly. But didn't somebody already try that? (ETA, yes, again, somebody else mentioned this. Sorry.)

Updated On: 3/12/14 at 08:20 PM

I don't necessarily think a musical about Monroe would need to limit the vocals to be "true" to her- she could easily both the voice we know when "performing" and belt to express her inner life.

But the Bombshell score is a nearly non-stop belt-fest.

And none of the songs MEAN anything.

You could just do a Marilyn-themed revue with them. They don't flow organically out of action or character. They exist because it's Smash and the whole schtick was that it's a musical TV show.

It's hard to really even describe it as a "score." It's at most a concept album, at present. It's not a musical.

---

That lyric really sums her up.

---