NBC's SMASH - Series & Broadway Adaptation Thread- Page 42

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 8:22pm

Eric....

You reallyreallyreallyreallyreallylreally like the show, don't 'cha? Are you writing a term paper on it? Or is this some sort of moderated thread?

[kyl3fong2]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 8:30pm

I remember last year when there was always a "GLEE" series discussion thread where everyone ripped the show to shreds on here. Now that GLEE has faded away, it's SMASH's turn to be ripped apart. lol

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 8:32pm

Ha well at the least, apparently, I like to talk about it... Sorry, I tend to go overboard with the long posts (I've had a few PM requests here to write less, sigh).

[broadwaybabytn]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 8:33pm

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS WEEK's SHUKERT COLUMN
(Possible spoilers, though I tried not to include plot points.)



"She’s seen what poverty can do to a person, how precipitous the fall can be. It’s a very short road from the pinch and the punch to the paunch and the pouch and the pension. It’s a very short road from the $6,000-a-month loft on the Lower East Side to selling yourself to a bunch of AIDS-riddled long-distance truck drivers beside a lake of raw sewage in rural Uttar Pradesh."

"Lorna Luft may lack the sibilant star power of her sister, but she is still one of the very few people left on Earth bearing Judy Garland’s genetic signature, and as such, is one of our most precious natural resources."

"But Tom doesn’t get it, Derek sneers. He never did. Tom’s not up to the darkness of Marilyn. He’s got no nerve. Insight. Edge. Balls. Cicero."

"Meryl and Sondheim and Richard Santorum
Bettelheim’s witches and Whoopi in Forum
Adolf who prances and Patti who sings
These are a few of my favorite things!!"

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 9:08pm

and Ellis didn't look so good in his skivies either.

I was praying he would close his legs

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 11:09pm

That was really odd--if they thought the show needed more skin (something I hjave no doubt it would have had on Showtime), why make it Ellis'? not that I find him hideous or anything but it seemed odd to direct him to sit there with the sheets down and his legs in that position.

OK maybe Theatrediva is right...

[StageManager2]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 12:18am

My one big problem about this show (among many) is that they seem to be writing Marilyn as a belter. You can buy Eva Peron as a belter 'cause she didn't sing in real life and there are no known recordings of her even attempting to sing. But she was a powerful speaker with grand gesticulation, so a belter befits the part in a sung-through musical. But Marilyn sang in plenty of her movies (and sometimes off-screen) and she could carry a tune, but a belter she was not. Why don't they write songs around Marilyn's range? It's hard for me to buy Hilty or McPhee as Marilyn when they're oversinging all over the place. They sound nothing like Marilyn, their appearance notwithstanding. Some of the songs for the proposed musical they've performed so far are fine on their own (even catchy), but none of them I can picture being in a musical about Marilyn's life.

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 12:27am

I think the mindset they have is the "Marilyn we don't know", and part of the "broken and drug addicted Marilyn" has a belt in their eyes.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 1:41am

It's a musical,
was Gypsy Rose Lee's mom a belter?
Was Pearl Mesta a belter?
Was Annie Oakley a belter?
Was Margaret Hamilton a belter?

[StageManager2]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 2:24am

CurtainPullDowner, you idiot, read my post again. Yes, neither Rose Hovick, Perle Mesta, Annie Oakley, nor Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch (I don't know why she was brought up since her character is fiction) were belters in their real lives/original movie, but neither did they sing. That's why you can suspend disbelief because they're not performing but actually having a monolog/moment when they do sing within the structure of the play. That's why I brought up Eva Peron because she was not an actual singer in real life and for a sung-through musical it's easy to buy a belter in the role because she was a passionate orator.

However, the real Marilyn did sing and perform in her movies and off, and has had albums released of her songs/covers so people are familiar with her non-belting singing voice. It is as much well-known as her image. That's why turning Marilyn into a belter on "Smash" is ludicrous because it doesn't sound one bit like Marilyn.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 7:25am

Before you call somepne an idiot, check your sense of humor.

[D2]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 7:52am

Oh CPD, "idiot" is term of endearment from Stagey. You should be honored.

[nygrl232]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 8:09am

I agree with StageManager that the belting is too much and takes you too far out from Marilyn's--essence, I guess. Some belting works for the emotional exposition, because she was indeed putting on a pouty, whisper-singing persona as Marilyn and for all we know, Norma Jean is a belter. But it's a matter of titrating the singing style so that the character isn't lost in overproduced mush.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 9:35am

Would a musical with songs written in Marilyn's keys be a hit on Broadway in 2012?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 9:52am

StageManager2, I agree with you. I don't think Marilyn should be portrayed as a belter. However several years ago, a musical was done about Marilyn with (belter) Stephanie Lawrence as Marilyn, so I guess there is a precedent for it.

And as I mentioned several threads ago, I think Megan Hilty is more Mae West than she is Marilyn Monroe.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 10:38am

I, for one, think EricMontreal22 is smart, funny and has a great point of view. I don't think he should write one less word than he feels he needs.

I hope next week that Eileen and her hunky IRA barkeep sing a ripoff of 'Let's Do It for Our Country.'

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 10:54am

And I, for two.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 11:00am

I think the Marilyn belt works fine for internalized material while anything external, especially for any film scenes, needs to be the voice the public already knows. Plus, it would add more dynamic range for the actress to surprising effect.

Just watched the latest episode and LOVED that Touch Me number. But I thought the reaction to it was ludicrous.

The whole 'CRITIC SLEPT WITH YOUR FATHER' thing was pure, unadulterated 'Ted Casablanca is NOT A FAG' camp. If only they ended in a kiss, I would have stood up and cheered.

I was on the edge of my seat waiting for that very moment. I mean, if you're going to take it that far, finish what you started. This show needs to stop edging if they want a relationship with the audience instead of a hook-up.

I just can't help being distracted by Angelica Huston's face. It has become a grotesque looking cartoon-not unlike that of The Joker.

It's that cliched Manhattan Smartypants look. It say, "I'm a successful intelligent independent woman who lives in Manhattan. If I don't kick you in the nuts, then you might discover I'm not as frigid as I choose to appear, but that will probably never happen." It requires hair that is straight, flat, dark, and severe with bangs that can castrate chauvinist pig. And she never lives in New York. She lives in Manhattan.

Would a musical with songs written in Marilyn's keys be a hit on Broadway in 2012?

Excellent point and the answer is probably "no". Not if they want Marilyn to be the center of the show as a vehicle for the actress.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 11:01am

Did I say he should not write, or write less?

No...

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 11:34am

I don't see what the problem is. Megan Hilty does just enough of the breathy Marilyn thing. If she did any more, it would just look like an imitation.

When Warner Brothers made The Helen Morgan Story in 1957, the cast Ann Blyth, who had a light soprano that was similar to the kind of voice Helen Morgan herself had in the 1920s and 1930s.

But they ended up dubbing her with Gogi Grant, who had the kind of exciting belt voice that had become popular by the mid-1950s.

Here is "Can't Help Lovin' That Man of Mine," sung by Helen Morgan, in the 1936 film of Show Boat:

http://youtu.be/r5WEQ8j1Me0


And here is the same song sung by Gogi Grant (acted by Ann Blyth) in 1957's The Helen Morgan Story:

http://youtu.be/HxMeKrkJ6ig

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 11:55am

Who names their kid Gogi?

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 12:12pm

"It's that cliched Manhattan Smartypants look. It say, "I'm a successful intelligent independent woman who lives in Manhattan. If I don't kick you in the nuts, then you might discover I'm not as frigid as I choose to appear, but that will probably never happen." It requires hair that is straight, flat, dark, and severe with bangs that can castrate chauvinist pig. And she never lives in New York. She lives in Manhattan."

haha, very good description, Mister Matt! I agree. But I was looking beyond the hair and makeup and saw an over the top facelift!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 3:47pm

TheatreDiva shouldn't be implicated--the couple of people who have sent me PMs aren't posting in this thread, but I appreciate others' kind words! :P

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 3:51pm

There was no implication intended. Just a show of support for someone who always posts intelligently and with passion and good humor, no matter what's being said to you privately!

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 4:01pm

Jane,

You aren't the only one who thinks she's looking 'Jokerish'... Her mouth is turned up at the corners.

I just re-watched The Witches, and there is an obvious change in her appearance from then.