If "Bombshell" were an actual show...- Page 2

[jetts7]

Posted: 5/22/12 at 1:23pm

If Lea Michelle or Kristin Chenoweth was Marilyn, I wouldn't go see it! Don't get me wrong, I love both of them but not as Marilyn. Lea just dosen't look like her and I just can't see her singing "20th Century Fox Mambo" and Kristin? She's a little too old and her voice is more opera-ie.

[JulesReverie]

Posted: 5/22/12 at 3:11pm

Laura Osnes hands down, she'd be absolutely perfect as Marilyn, and who Smash should have cast as Karen

[crushgroove]

Posted: 5/22/12 at 4:43pm

They should have cast Megan Hilty as Karen and had her be the one to root for....she's the only one capable of filling Marilyn's shoes. She embodies the part physically, vocally, and emotionally. She's got the speaking voice nailed, as well as her mannerisms. To me McPhee is vacant emotionally and while she can mildly pull off Marilyn's voice, she isn't vocally or physically up to Hilty's level.

[THEATRICAL100]

Posted: 5/22/12 at 4:57pm

McPhee is not good. Vocals or acting. She's just not. She's sweet but her talent is skimpish when you have Hilty with her.

[iMartynn]

Posted: 5/22/12 at 6:50pm

Leo.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 7:20am

McPhee is well cast. Karen is supposed to be an unlikely choice for Marilyn, and an inexperienced performer and sweet new girl in town. Derek sees her in the part when others, not seeing it, vehemently question him, especially after Rebecca leaves. While Ivy is a clearer choice for the role. The show is now at a point where Karen may begin to surprise everyone. Her performance at the preview, especially of the new final song, was surprisingly good. If Hilty, were playing Karen, there wouldn't be that kind of suspense or convincing disagreement about whether she should get the role; and there wouldn't show off Derek's risky, unorthodox minority view about Karen. If Hilty were Karen, it would be obvious that she would come through if given the chance. And it would be a bore. This is because looking at Hllty it is obvious that she is, broadly speaking, a Marilyn (to quote Madmen, and not a Jackie) and has the chops to pull it off.

Updated On: 5/24/12 at 07:20 AM

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 7:42am

Bombshell cast recording ;)

Updated On: 5/24/12 at 07:42 AM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 9:13am

Henrick, I think thats right in theory, but largely agree with others, that while the 'character' of Karen is supposed to be the classic unassuming inexperienced chorus girl, who may or may not be able to handle the pressure of playing the title role in a Broadway musical, Katharine McPhee has been a little underwhelming in the role. I frankly found her Marilyn in the finale to be the stuff of college productions or community theatres (despite a stunning pre-recorded vocal performance of the last song).

True we don't know exactly what the 'reaction' of the creative team was to her performance (they kept that up for suspense) but I certainly came away feeling like whether we believe in McPhee as an actress or not, that there was little doubt from the set up of the writing and the final song that we are supposed to believe 'Karen' has cemented the role, and that the second season is going to focus on things other than the casting of Marilyn.

It would have been nice if McPhee had been able to really become 'that overnight star' in the final moments of the play, as I surmise we are being asked to believe she has, but for me she just remains a sort of wooden, soulless performer with a nice pop voice.



Updated On: 5/24/12 at 09:13 AM

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 9:31am

I'm hoping that they'll get McPhee a good acting coach to work with during the hiatus.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 10:11am

I honestly don't think the issue is that shes a bad actress; I think she just lacks charisma; I'd be surprised if the team at NBC didn't pick up on this as the season played out.

I also sort of can't help but wonder what Laura Osnes would have been like in the role. On stage, she seems to have the qualities McPhee lacks, though of course we haven't seen what she's like as a film actress.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 10:19am

I guess I feel the opposite, that she has charisma but isn't much of an actress yet. I really felt for her in the scene where Ivy acts like a complete bitch to her after Derek has Karen show her how to do the Marilyn trill.

I think you also have to take consideration of the fact that the role of Karen just isn't very well written. The way other characters reacted to her, treating her like an alien because she's from Iowa, didn't help, either.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 10:22am

Then I would argue you think she's an okay actress; but no amount of acting class is going to put a sparkle into her 'dead' eyes as many here have commented on. That's charisma (or lack there of it).

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 10:27am

I do feel like she had dead eyes in the Marilyn scenes in most episodes, but not when she's out of the Monroe costume, and not when she's playing Marilyn in the finale.

You didn't like her performance of I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn't Love to Howl, Michael? After I saw that, I really started rooting for her.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 10:35am

She was fine in all the musical numbers in the final episode. But I really found myself having to consciously give in to the concept of the show, because, no, I don't really think anything about McPhee with the exception possibly of her singing voice, justifies the unknown-to-Broadway starlet story of the character of Karen, which is supposed to somehow mirror that of the rise of Marilyn Monroe.

McPhee has none of Monroe's charisma or star quality. I basically agree with the others that say she is inherently miscast in this type of role, and that it will be interesting to see what direction her character takes in season two.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 10:47am

I can understand you feeling that way, Michael, but I just disagree. I know it was a plot point in the finale, but I have to say I that don't feel like Ivy captures Marilyn's warmth or vulnerability. I do wonder if Hilty was told to play it that way in order to not stack the deck so heavily against Karen, but a lot of times on the show, it just felt like they made things up as they went along.

I do have to admit that Hilty has a much better voice than I thought she did when the show first began. I love her belt, especially in Let's Be Bad.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 10:56am

Well its two slightly different debates; I am not saying McPhee is miscast because she doesn't have Marilyn's specific qualities, I'm saying she's miscast because she doesn't have the qualities that I would attribute any great star - charisma is undefinable and is unique to every person who has it, but there is no denying when somebody has it, and my problem is that I feel like McPhee's character on SMASH is supposed to have it but that McPhee herself doesn't - at least not on film.

I would similarly argue that while Megan Hilty isn't really right for the part of Marilyn Monroe either, she does have a certain charisma on film that McPhee doesn't.

That doesn't mean I think 'Ivy' should have thus gotten the role in the fictionalized musical, only that I think it makes Hilty a more compelling actress to root for and admire on the series.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 11:03am

I think it should be McPhee. Just so we can watch her vocal chords blow out after about the fourth week of performances.

[random person 112]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 4:16pm

Jules i had the same thought about hilty as Karen, i think it would have worked if they changed 'antagonist' character, into a more successful well known (in the shows world) diva who was on the older side, think Sherie Rene Scott, who came with all the supposed diva ticks. I think that could have made a big difference.

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 4:38pm

Anyone thing the whole McPhee Vs Hilty thing is all to do with the fact the Hilty is a Broadway girl? If it were some other unknown no one would care.

[random person 112]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 4:47pm

If the unknown was still clearly better...

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 4:51pm

McPhee isn't unknown. And she's got dead eyes.

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 4:54pm

I mean if it were "even playing field" for lack of better wording, if Hilty was just some other actress would we be so defensive? It seems like alot of people jump to the attack because it's like they know her.

Updated On: 5/24/12 at 04:54 PM

[random person 112]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 4:57pm

I don't know i mean she's been a well liked starlet people want to see succeed so of course they are happy for her. Part is also the way she plays Ivy, where as the writers want to go with a Cybil in the last picture show, someone who the audience would love to hate. Hilty plays it as a being a sympathetic angst character. It's much the same problem they have with Quinn on Glee, the writers intended one thing and ended up with another.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 5:00pm

I never saw Hilty live in anything before this, but even within the world of the show, so my preference has nothing to do with anything other than I can't stand McPhee's portrayal of Karen and/or I can't stand Karen period. Perhaps it's not even so much that people prefer Ivy over Karen, it's just that no one can stand Karen.

[broadwaybabytn]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 5:43pm

I wish they'd made Hilty attempt to dance more, then highlighted her experience as more of a "mover" than a dancer. If they'd worked with McPhee on dance sequences, it could have been a good plot point, as I think McPhee looked really good in some of her brief moments of dancing later on in the series, though she seemed completely out of her element earlier in the series. I also think that, later in the series, after Uma left, they would have been well-served to bring up Ivy's unreliability and her antics in the last show she was canned from. I also wish there were just one character who would comment on the difference in the features of the actresses. Even though Hilty is blonde, she's definitely not built like Marilyn was, and her facial features aren't that close either. McPhee in a water bra might resemble Marilyn more than Ivy does. Also, in the final episode, when they played back a clip of Hilty at the party thing with Nick Jonas, when she sang the "Wolf" number, I felt like her Marilyn voice was much odder than I remembered... It was a mix between a British accent and the standard Marilyn impersonation, and it just seemed odd... To be honest, I was rooting for Hilty all the way through the last few episodes, but now I'm reconsidering my stance. And yes, McPhee was a bit lost, and a bit lifeless early on, but I think she's grown a bit as an actress, and I finally see what they were going for with her character.

EDIT: I agree that Ivy is just preferable to the character of Karen, but I think it feels more real now. Just as Hilty had her moments with "Let's Be Bad" and "Secondhand White Baby Grand," McPhee seemed to have some moments in the last episode. Now, if only she could pick up a little charisma and the writing team could really figure that character out.
Updated On: 5/24/12 at 05:43 PM