NBC's SMASH - Series & Broadway Adaptation Thread- Page 16

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 2/14/12 at 9:56pm

double post.

Updated On: 2/14/12 at 09:56 PM

[HereIAm]

Posted: 2/14/12 at 10:19pm

I am really enjoying this show! I thought the scene where the son was talking to Deborah about the baby. I thought that was great (even though his acting sucked.). Also, when I first watched it I think Christian Borle jumped the gun announcing that Ivy was Marilyn. I just think it is weird and even though it is unlikely I still think they didn't officially choose her. I'm not sure. :) But it is a great show!

[GatorNY]

Posted: 2/14/12 at 10:24pm

Owen...wasn't RAGTIME based on a book? There would have already been a story. Here, they are writing songs to have "a baseball number" etc. I'm surprised that there is not a character as the book writer, or is that supposed to be Messing?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/14/12 at 10:31pm

Ragtime: E. L. Doctorow Read it, it's a fab novel.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 2/14/12 at 10:39pm

Erinrebecca and randomperson, I went to Brandeis... we had specific tracks within the general theater arts major, so Messing was probably on the musical theater track.

[ohjustjake]

Posted: 2/14/12 at 10:46pm

"I kind of wish they showed more of Katherine McPhee's reaction on learning she didn't get the role. "

Kalimba, What I gathered was that she just didn't get a call, which is why her and her boyfriend were sitting on the couch just staring at the phone. But now that I think about it, it was probably right after she got the call about her not getting it. I'm not sure.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 2/14/12 at 10:57pm

bwaylvsong, she wasn't on an MT track at Brandeis. Although she'd participated in musicals in high school, she has always said that she was interested in acting first and foremost. This is what she focussed on in undergrad and then in an MFA at Tisch.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 2/14/12 at 11:04pm

I thought that writing a bunch of great songs before you have a story was a recipe for disaster...a la Wonderland.

It's the way Aaron Frankel, a well-known director who also taught at the New School and Columbia in the 70s and 80s, taught students to write. He details the approach in his book, WRITING THE BROADWAY MUSICAL.

http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Broadway-Musical-Aaron-Frankel/dp/0306809435


The theory behind it is that you get more inspired work if you write songs for the moments that move you as you discover them rather than plodding through the musical play, step by step, in chronological order. He assumed that you can take the songs that result and then write a book to connect them. (He also assumes you know the basic story, so if your songs are integrated into the plot, their order isn't random.)

This is the opposite of Lehman Engel's approach, where his workshops (at least in LA) teach you to write a shortened, heightened play without music and then find the moments that should be expanded into musical numbers. (This method always struck me as a little random: write it as a straight play, only 60 pages long. But I should try it someday.)

I studied with Aaron and I think his method has its plusses and minuses. It does tend to allow you to find surprising musical moments that might not occur to you with a more mechanical method. On the other hand, it also allows you to write in all directions at once and then wonder where to put the "index cards". I think Aaron assumed that most musicals were adaptations and that the source material would provide an underlying structure once you had a bunch of songs that excite you.

To me, what's been missing from SMASH so far is any sense of what the creators think their musical is about. Yes, Marilyn Monroe. But any number of quite different plays and musicals could be (and have been) written about her. What is theirs? I think they are far enough along by the time they hire a director to have an answer to that question. "Marilyn was fresh and vulnerable" isn't the answer.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 2/14/12 at 11:07pm

somethingwicked, thank you for your remarks on the producers and their divorce. I have a sense the show is throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.

Maybe that's why those who have seen future episodes say the show picks up in episode 4.

[picturetaker9211]

Posted: 2/14/12 at 11:52pm

I watched the first episode, & I liked it. I like the whole creation of a musical thing. I love a NYC show, now matter how glamorized it is. I could see that they were setting up all the story lines without being too overwhelming & awkward. I enjoyed Julia & Tom together. I like Christian Borle a lot, as the fun/nicer part of the pair. I liked seeing both the girls' respective journeys & all the characters in general.

This second episode fell flat for me. In terms of who I was rooting for in the first episode, I didn't have a clear favorite. They both seemed great & deserved the role for different reasons. In this second episode, I was so annoyed & underwhelmed with Karen/McPhee's acting that I just wanted Ivy to get it. Ivy was trying too hard, but at least it showed that she cared. McPhee was so stiff and blah, seriously boring. She was so emotionless for me.

About the adoption, couldn't the parents go local & adopt a baby like from NYC? I don't know anything about adoption, but that might've been faster? Does the Chinese part really matter? I didn't care for the Julia-Leo conversation. The kid looked like he was in high school, so if he were going to go to college, he wouldn't see this sister a lot of the time anyways, unless he was going to school in the city. I don't see a lot of high school boys caring about their future siblings, but I guess most of them haven't been anticipating any, especially at that age. It was sweet, but a bit cheesy & kinda awkward for me.

Don't care for the Ellis character. He's pretty irritating, in a way that I can't really explain. Like good for you, you thought of an idea for a Marilyn musical. Too bad you aren't good at anything else. I'm probably being too harsh. But, I never really thought of the idea of him suing Julia & Tom & being able to collect loads of money from them. I don't think he's that cute either.

I don't understand the money/fighting between Eileen & her husband, so I don't care about it much.

For me, the music is good, but nothing that gets me wanting much more or like looking online to listen to the song again. McPhee's voice is good, but nothing amazing. I like Megan's voice much more.

Hopefully the next episode is better for me. Not gonna lie, I'm excited to see Nick Jonas on the show! I've been a fan of the Jonas Brothers since high school...don't judge me...too much

Updated On: 2/14/12 at 11:52 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 12:06am

I do. But not for that.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 12:10am

"Does the Chinese part really matter?"

You've never had your heart set on Chinese and then your group changes its mind and suddenly wants Italian?

[picturetaker9211]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 12:20am

Namo, you're right. It just rubbed me the wrong way I guess.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 5:05am

Adopting a healthy infant in the states is not any easier or faster. MANY families have much better luck going overseas.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 5:46am

[skip if you hate long posts]
I wanna love this! Not just be amused by the (well done) production numbers and good acting. It really is playing it too safe--it should have been on cable (but really--this is 10pm drama...)

For a 10pm drama, it honestly doesn't have any bite (the mean characters--Anjelica's husband who seems to exist just so he acan say something cliche and she can throw a drink on him and we applaud--and the smarmy director, who actually now doesn't even seem all that mean or all that complex). While backstage sagas usually are rife with bitchiness, there's always SOME of that in the theatre but so far all we seem to get is a few people being only kinda nice to the new girl (That's NOT a diss in the theatre world even in my limited experience). I don't know Theresa Rebeck's theatre and TV work at all from the past, but I know she's well regarded--so far her first two scripts make me wonder if she's ever met a line of cliched dialogue she didn't like.

Rebeck recently spoke about how they had to soften a lot of it when they changed it from a show aimed at Showtime to one for network TV. But surely it didn't have to feel quite this "nice" for a ten pm drama.

As cliched as it is I do enjoy the musical bits and some of the rehearsal/"making a musical" stuff (yes All That Jazz, amonst others, did it better, but). And I think the character combos and stories have potential but so far they seem to be dealing with cliche storylines, with cliche dialogue and most of these dilemnas get wrapped up in one episode (the husband decides he doesn't want to adopt if he has to wiat two more years, same episode he comes around, etc). But with all the faultsd, for me it goes by quickly and is enjoyable. I just wish it was more.

It's like the show can't decide if it wants to be Parenthood (an underated Herskovitz/Zwick style family drama with touches of soap by their protoge Jason Katims who handled Friday Night Lights, but as the New Yorker critic pointed out well that seemed to get cool cred for being in a sports milieu that the other shows don't), or if it wants to be a campy All About Eve soap. I think i should just go whole hog and do that--because between the fun, camp numbers, and the over the top caricature characters, stories about chinese adoption (unless there's a kidnapping) just fall flat.

New York Magazine's Vulture blog, which did the hysterical recap Bobster posted, also had their stage critic write about the pilot's musical numbers. The full post is HERE, but I found his comments on the Baseball Number spot on (and yes, I did love it--it was "absolutely perfect without being any good at all" which in itself is something I could celebrate, if the characters didn't then fawn and cry about wanting to make a musical that showed the world the person Marilyn truly was)

2. “The National Pastime”
Ivy, a curvaceous striver who’s survived innumerable chorus lines, is the bombshell; she’s competing to play Marilyn on the basis of her raw carnal drive. Which, the show seems to be subliminally telling us, also means she’s a Broadway-belt soprano, in marked contrast to her slender brunette rival Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee), who represents “love” (i.e., pop melisma soprano). To drive home that precious (and oh-so-American) sex-love divide, we’re given the only full original number of the pilot: an homage to, among other things, “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Athletically choreographed by Joshua Bergasse, this massive musical gangbang (no exaggeration) features moves ranging from the Cunnilingus Lift-Spin to the Double Rumpy-Pumpy. Brilliantly filmed and edited, indefatigably hoofed by an incredible ensemble, “National Pastime” — where Marilyn apparently celebrates her first date with Joe DiMaggio by getting double-entendre-teamed by the entire Yankee squad — is, in the immortal words of Spice World, “absolutely perfect without really being any good at all.” After so many decades of camp, numbers like this (funny! sexy!) are increasingly hard for a Broadway show to bring off: The point, it seems, is not sex but a parody of sex. Which isn’t sexy. But it is impressive! Again, I’d love to know how it works within the show. When, like, there is a show. As for the studio execs no doubt quaking in their wingtips over whether all those bats and balls add up to something inescapably homoerotic, well, that I wouldn’t lose sleep over: All great American rituals are inescapably homoerotic, after all.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 5:47am

[skip if you hate long posts]
I wanna love this! Not just be amused by the (well done) production numbers and good acting. It really is playing it too safe--it should have been on cable (but really--this is 10pm drama...)

For a 10pm drama, it honestly doesn't have any bite (the mean characters--Anjelica's husband who seems to exist just so he acan say something cliche and she can throw a drink on him and we applaud--and the smarmy director, who actually now doesn't even seem all that mean or all that complex). While backstage sagas usually are rife with bitchiness, there's always SOME of that in the theatre but so far all we seem to get is a few people being only kinda nice to the new girl (That's NOT a diss in the theatre world even in my limited experience). I don't know Theresa Rebeck's theatre and TV work at all from the past, but I know she's well regarded--so far her first two scripts make me wonder if she's ever met a line of cliched dialogue she didn't like.

Rebeck recently spoke about how they had to soften a lot of it when they changed it from a show aimed at Showtime to one for network TV. But surely it didn't have to feel quite this "nice" for a ten pm drama.

As cliched as it is I do enjoy the musical bits and some of the rehearsal/"making a musical" stuff (yes All That Jazz, amonst others, did it better, but). And I think the character combos and stories have potential but so far they seem to be dealing with cliche storylines, with cliche dialogue and most of these dilemnas get wrapped up in one episode (the husband decides he doesn't want to adopt if he has to wiat two more years, same episode he comes around, etc). But with all the faultsd, for me it goes by quickly and is enjoyable. I just wish it was more.

It's like the show can't decide if it wants to be Parenthood (an underated Herskovitz/Zwick style family drama with touches of soap by their protoge Jason Katims who handled Friday Night Lights, but as the New Yorker critic pointed out well that seemed to get cool cred for being in a sports milieu that the other shows don't), or if it wants to be a campy All About Eve soap. I think i should just go whole hog and do that--because between the fun, camp numbers, and the over the top caricature characters, stories about chinese adoption (unless there's a kidnapping) just fall flat.

New York Magazine's Vulture blog, which did the hysterical recap Bobster posted, also had their stage critic write about the pilot's musical numbers. The full post is HERE, but I found his comments on the Baseball Number spot on (and yes, I did love it--it was "absolutely perfect without being any good at all" which in itself is something I could celebrate, if the characters didn't then fawn and cry about wanting to make a musical that showed the world the person Marilyn truly was)

2. “The National Pastime”
Ivy, a curvaceous striver who’s survived innumerable chorus lines, is the bombshell; she’s competing to play Marilyn on the basis of her raw carnal drive. Which, the show seems to be subliminally telling us, also means she’s a Broadway-belt soprano, in marked contrast to her slender brunette rival Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee), who represents “love” (i.e., pop melisma soprano). To drive home that precious (and oh-so-American) sex-love divide, we’re given the only full original number of the pilot: an homage to, among other things, “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Athletically choreographed by Joshua Bergasse, this massive musical gangbang (no exaggeration) features moves ranging from the Cunnilingus Lift-Spin to the Double Rumpy-Pumpy. Brilliantly filmed and edited, indefatigably hoofed by an incredible ensemble, “National Pastime” — where Marilyn apparently celebrates her first date with Joe DiMaggio by getting double-entendre-teamed by the entire Yankee squad — is, in the immortal words of Spice World, “absolutely perfect without really being any good at all.” After so many decades of camp, numbers like this (funny! sexy!) are increasingly hard for a Broadway show to bring off: The point, it seems, is not sex but a parody of sex. Which isn’t sexy. But it is impressive! Again, I’d love to know how it works within the show. When, like, there is a show. As for the studio execs no doubt quaking in their wingtips over whether all those bats and balls add up to something inescapably homoerotic, well, that I wouldn’t lose sleep over: All great American rituals are inescapably homoerotic, after all.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 5:49am

[skip if you hate long posts]
I wanna love this! Not just be amused by the (well done) production numbers and good acting. It really is playing it too safe--it should have been on cable (but really--this is 10pm drama...)

For a 10pm drama, it honestly doesn't have any bite (the mean characters--Anjelica's husband who seems to exist just so he acan say something cliche and she can throw a drink on him and we applaud--and the smarmy director, who actually now doesn't even seem all that mean or all that complex). While backstage sagas usually are rife with bitchiness, there's always SOME of that in the theatre but so far all we seem to get is a few people being only kinda nice to the new girl (That's NOT a diss in the theatre world even in my limited experience). I don't know Theresa Rebeck's theatre and TV work at all from the past, but I know she's well regarded--so far her first two scripts make me wonder if she's ever met a line of cliched dialogue she didn't like.

Rebeck recently spoke about how they had to soften a lot of it when they changed it from a show aimed at Showtime to one for network TV. But surely it didn't have to feel quite this "nice" for a ten pm drama.

As cliched as it is I do enjoy the musical bits and some of the rehearsal/"making a musical" stuff (yes All That Jazz, amonst others, did it better, but). And I think the character combos and stories have potential but so far they seem to be dealing with cliche storylines, with cliche dialogue and most of these dilemnas get wrapped up in one episode (the husband decides he doesn't want to adopt if he has to wiat two more years, same episode he comes around, etc). But with all the faultsd, for me it goes by quickly and is enjoyable. I just wish it was more.

It's like the show can't decide if it wants to be Parenthood (an underated Herskovitz/Zwick style family drama with touches of soap by their protoge Jason Katims who handled Friday Night Lights, but as the New Yorker critic pointed out well that seemed to get cool cred for being in a sports milieu that the other shows don't), or if it wants to be a campy All About Eve soap. I think i should just go whole hog and do that--because between the fun, camp numbers, and the over the top caricature characters, stories about chinese adoption (unless there's a kidnapping) just fall flat.

New York Magazine's Vulture blog, which did the hysterical recap Bobster posted, also had their stage critic write about the pilot's musical numbers. The full post is HERE, but I found his comments on the Baseball Number spot on (and yes, I did love it--it was "absolutely perfect without being any good at all" which in itself is something I could celebrate, if the characters didn't then fawn and cry about wanting to make a musical that showed the world the person Marilyn truly was)

2. “The National Pastime”
Ivy, a curvaceous striver who’s survived innumerable chorus lines, is the bombshell; she’s competing to play Marilyn on the basis of her raw carnal drive. Which, the show seems to be subliminally telling us, also means she’s a Broadway-belt soprano, in marked contrast to her slender brunette rival Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee), who represents “love” (i.e., pop melisma soprano). To drive home that precious (and oh-so-American) sex-love divide, we’re given the only full original number of the pilot: an homage to, among other things, “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Athletically choreographed by Joshua Bergasse, this massive musical gangbang (no exaggeration) features moves ranging from the Cunnilingus Lift-Spin to the Double Rumpy-Pumpy. Brilliantly filmed and edited, indefatigably hoofed by an incredible ensemble, “National Pastime” — where Marilyn apparently celebrates her first date with Joe DiMaggio by getting double-entendre-teamed by the entire Yankee squad — is, in the immortal words of Spice World, “absolutely perfect without really being any good at all.” After so many decades of camp, numbers like this (funny! sexy!) are increasingly hard for a Broadway show to bring off: The point, it seems, is not sex but a parody of sex. Which isn’t sexy. But it is impressive! Again, I’d love to know how it works within the show. When, like, there is a show. As for the studio execs no doubt quaking in their wingtips over whether all those bats and balls add up to something inescapably homoerotic, well, that I wouldn’t lose sleep over: All great American rituals are inescapably homoerotic, after all.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 5:52am

[skip if you hate long posts]
I wanna love this! Not just be amused by the (well done) production numbers and good acting. It really is playing it too safe--it should have been on cable (but really--this is 10pm drama...)

For a 10pm drama, it honestly doesn't have any bite (the mean characters--Anjelica's husband who seems to exist just so he acan say something cliche and she can throw a drink on him and we applaud--and the smarmy director, who actually now doesn't even seem all that mean or all that complex). While backstage sagas usually are rife with bitchiness, there's always SOME of that in the theatre but so far all we seem to get is a few people being only kinda nice to the new girl (That's NOT a diss in the theatre world even in my limited experience). I don't know Theresa Rebeck's theatre and TV work at all from the past, but I know she's well regarded--so far her first two scripts make me wonder if she's ever met a line of cliched dialogue she didn't like.

Rebeck recently spoke about how they had to soften a lot of it when they changed it from a show aimed at Showtime to one for network TV. But surely it didn't have to feel quite this "nice" for a ten pm drama.

As cliched as it is I do enjoy the musical bits and some of the rehearsal/"making a musical" stuff (yes All That Jazz, amonst others, did it better, but). And I think the character combos and stories have potential but so far they seem to be dealing with cliche storylines, with cliche dialogue and most of these dilemnas get wrapped up in one episode (the husband decides he doesn't want to adopt if he has to wiat two more years, same episode he comes around, etc). But with all the faultsd, for me it goes by quickly and is enjoyable. I just wish it was more.

It's like the show can't decide if it wants to be Parenthood (an underated Herskovitz/Zwick style family drama with touches of soap by their protoge Jason Katims who handled Friday Night Lights, but as the New Yorker critic pointed out well that seemed to get cool cred for being in a sports milieu that the other shows don't), or if it wants to be a campy All About Eve soap. I think i should just go whole hog and do that--because between the fun, camp numbers, and the over the top caricature characters, stories about chinese adoption (unless there's a kidnapping) just fall flat.

New York Magazine's Vulture blog, which did the hysterical recap Bobster posted, also had their stage critic write about the pilot's musical numbers. The full post is HERE, but I found his comments on the Baseball Number spot on (and yes, I did love it--it was "absolutely perfect without being any good at all" which in itself is something I could celebrate, if the characters didn't then fawn and cry about wanting to make a musical that showed the world the person Marilyn truly was)

2. “The National Pastime”
Ivy, a curvaceous striver who’s survived innumerable chorus lines, is the bombshell; she’s competing to play Marilyn on the basis of her raw carnal drive. Which, the show seems to be subliminally telling us, also means she’s a Broadway-belt soprano, in marked contrast to her slender brunette rival Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee), who represents “love” (i.e., pop melisma soprano). To drive home that precious (and oh-so-American) sex-love divide, we’re given the only full original number of the pilot: an homage to, among other things, “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Athletically choreographed by Joshua Bergasse, this massive musical gangbang (no exaggeration) features moves ranging from the Cunnilingus Lift-Spin to the Double Rumpy-Pumpy. Brilliantly filmed and edited, indefatigably hoofed by an incredible ensemble, “National Pastime” — where Marilyn apparently celebrates her first date with Joe DiMaggio by getting double-entendre-teamed by the entire Yankee squad — is, in the immortal words of Spice World, “absolutely perfect without really being any good at all.” After so many decades of camp, numbers like this (funny! sexy!) are increasingly hard for a Broadway show to bring off: The point, it seems, is not sex but a parody of sex. Which isn’t sexy. But it is impressive! Again, I’d love to know how it works within the show. When, like, there is a show. As for the studio execs no doubt quaking in their wingtips over whether all those bats and balls add up to something inescapably homoerotic, well, that I wouldn’t lose sleep over: All great American rituals are inescapably homoerotic, after all.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 7:20am

It wouldn't have been that long a post if you hadn't posted it 4 times.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 7:30am

'S my computer and the fact that despite me emailing whoever runs this hen house has still not answered why my account is not allowed to edit posts or post my beautiful picture, or... *cry* I never thought you'd pick on me

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 8:22am

I've read most of the posts since the show began, and I eagerly watched the pilot, then less eagerly this week's episode, and I still have to ask: who is this show supposed to be aimed at? Bad soap opera writing and mediocre song-and-dance routines don't do it for me, and I've loved theatre (and especially music theatre) all my life.

This show is not A CHORUS LINE, where the characters get into your heart and under your skin, while dazzling you with their talents. We have Lloyd Webber and AMERICAN IDOL to thank for the typical stand-and-scream type of singing, and it is tiresome. I thought all the soap operas were being cancelled by now. Sorry, Ms. Rebeck and company, but this just won't cut it, and the ratings in week two dropped by 29%...

[Cabchic]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 11:47am

I have a few issues with this show. First off I'm not even sure how it was a contest between Karen and Ivy. When people are putting all that money into a show would you really trust it with someone with no experience. There are so many talented people out there, when she couldn't get the dance routines, I'd think they'd dismiss her right there. Why not offer her a role of understudy, let her learn get some exeprience and maybe take over the lead at some point. I could see if they couldn't find anyone better but really what did Ivy do worng? She was TOO GOOD? I don't get it. Also I hate the reaction from the teenage kid...that made no sense to me. There are so many people seeking adoption I'm sure the kid will find another good home if they don't adopt her. I also find Karen's BF annoying...and a doormat. I'm sorry all she had to do when the director asked her if it was a problem with her staying late was say not at all just give me 10 seconds to text someone to let them know I'll be late. I mean she tells him she is on her way, doesn't show up so he thinks something happened to her..may have hurt his career...and he forgives her a little too easily. He also seems very naive. He didn't seem worried at all about her going at 10PM for a private meeting with the director.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 1:20pm

At this point in their process there is no understudy part to offer Karen, as understudies are not hired for a workshop. And of course, in a show where a lot of people seem to be complaining about the amount of cliches being thrown around do we really want to see the "understudy waiting in the wings" added in to the mix?

I do understand about the director being worried that somebody is too polished/experienced. Sometimes they lose the freshness and vitality required for a role because they get bogged down or caught up in their own process.

[E.Davis]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 1:28pm

She looks breathtaking in this image for next week.

[MotorTink]

Posted: 2/15/12 at 2:00pm

I want to like it, I'm just.... not. I watched the pilot when it aired, then I started to watch this week's but stopped half way through and went to bed (I have it tivo'd and will finish this weekend). It just doesn't grab me yet. I do not like Messing's character so far. I actually really dislike Karen and although I'm not a fan of Ivy I prefer her to win. And if I hear "Marilyn was a saint" or "that's so marilyn" I may throw something. You need to give the audience more time to connect to why you are so passionate, in my opinion at least.

of course I will keep watching it to support the bigger goal of Broadway featured in a network show, but for months they advertised "we are not Glee - we are nothing like Glee. Other than a few songs in the show, no other singing". Yet, we have had several pop songs already, and I keep seeing others pop up (just on BWW TV right now "Smash to take on Adele".