SMASH Previews- Page 10

[DeNada]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 5:25pm

Zeppie2022 said: ""She read the script. "

OK Jordan. What would you have kept from the TV series (Season One) to satisfy TV fans of the show and hopefully make the script better?"

Given that this can't happen - because realistically the only thing that was actually good about Smash was the musical numbers - and that pretty much anything entertaining they could have preserved would have just been arch camp, it's far more fun in my view to think about the things they absolutely shouldn't have kept from the TV series that still would have had Smash fans screaming:

- Ellis in his entirety as one of the most god awful creations I've ever witnessed on television! (will Jaime Cepero be at press night for this???)

- The inexplicably, catastrophically awful performance that Emory Cohen gave as Leo Houston!

- Shoehorning in a (very enjoyable and clearly very expensive) Bollywood number because one of your lead actors is Raza Jaffrey but also make it really dance-heavy despite one of your lead actors being Raza Jaffrey who can't do the choreography!

I assume the stage show at least has someone throwing a drink over somebody else in every scene, otherwise what even is the point?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 5:38pm

ACL2006 said: "Dolly80 said: "t's not Scandalous or Bad Cinderella..."

FWIW I thought Bad Cinderella (which I found to be pretty darn terrible) was superior to Smash...

 

[mrshowbiz90210]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 6:22pm

I still can’t get over the hilarious and lame death dance sequence near the end of the show. Was Stroman away that day? It is so bizarre and yet boring. It actually stops the show dead and for the wrong reason. The performance I saw was played by Katie Weber, who can dance but she seemed lost in a department store revolving door. 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 6:28pm

mrshowbiz90210 said: "I still can’t get over the hilarious and lame death dance sequence near the end of the show. Was Stroman away that day? It is so bizarre and yet boring. It actually stops the show dead and for the wrong reason. The performance I saw was played by Katie Weber, who can dance but she seemed lost in a department store revolving door."

Stro did not choreograph SMASH -- she's the director.  Joshua Bergasse is the choreographer --- and I'm pretty sure that the sequence you're referring to is supposed to look hilariously tacky.  

Do you have a "producer friend" on this show, too?

 

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 7:05pm

"Given that this can't happen - because realistically the only thing that was actually good about Smash was the musical numbers - and that pretty much anything entertaining they could have preserved would have just been arch camp, it's far more fun in my view to think about the things they absolutely shouldn't have kept from the TV series that still would have had Smash fans screaming"

Eileen struggling to finance the show due to her ex-husband would be fine to keep in the story line although you don't need her to throw drink in his face every time she sees him - ha ha. Maybe explain part of Ivy's issues is trying to live up to the reputation of her Broadway star mother.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 7:30pm

Before it all began…

 

[mrshowbiz90210]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 8:21pm

JSquared2 said: "mrshowbiz90210 said: "I still can’t get over the hilarious and lame death dance sequence near the end of the show. Was Stroman away that day? It is so bizarre and yet boring. It actually stops the show dead and for the wrong reason. The performance I saw was played by Katie Weber, who can dance but she seemed lost in a department store revolving door."

Stro did not choreograph SMASH -- she's the director. Joshua Bergasse is the choreographer --- and I'm pretty sure that the sequence you're referring to issupposedto look hilariously tacky.

Do you have a "producer friend" on this show, too?

Nope - I know the music team - who is troubled by the ending as well. And aside from your snarky comment, there is no way in hell Josh was trying to make 4 minute dance sequence look tacky. Do you have any knowledge of producing at all, aside from cheerleading and amateurish comments?

 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 9:05pm

As if your comments are so dignified and professional. 

Friendly reminder to all (including myself) that the block feature is alive & well, and should be used against trolls. 

[mrshowbiz90210]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 9:21pm

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "As if your comments are so dignified and professional.

Friendly reminder to all (including myself) that the block feature is alive &well, and should be used against trolls."

 Can you block yourself ? Might be time darling! 

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 9:26pm

Reading about this makes me think about the 1957 minor Broadway hit Say, Darling, which was a play with music, based on Richard Bissell's semi-fictional memoir about his experiences having his book 7 1/2 Cents adapted into a musical--The Pajama Game. 

From Wiki:

" While the play featured nine original songs with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne, all the songs are presented as either rehearsal or audition material."

Obscure reference, and likely not one anyone involved was thinking of, but...

[nativenewyorker2]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 9:47pm

Nielson is out again tonight

[Dolly80]

Posted: 3/19/25 at 9:49pm

mrshowbiz90210 said: "JSquared2 said: "mrshowbiz90210 said: "I still can’t get over the hilarious and lame death dance sequence near the end of the show. Was Stroman away that day? It is so bizarre and yet boring. It actually stops the show dead and for the wrong reason. The performance I saw was played by Katie Weber, who can dance but she seemed lost in a department store revolving door."

Stro did not choreograph SMASH -- she's the director. Joshua Bergasse is the choreographer --- and I'm pretty sure that the sequence you're referring to issupposedto look hilariously tacky.

Do you have a "producer friend" on this show, too?

Nope - I know the music team - who is troubled by the ending as well. And aside from your snarky comment, there is no way in hell Josh was trying to make 4 minute dance sequence look tacky. Do you have any knowledge of producing at all, aside from cheerleading and amateurish comments?

"

They must love you posting about them on this board. Absolutely thrilled by it.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/20/25 at 7:13am

nativenewyorker2 said: "Nielson is out again tonight"

Wendi Bergamini was on as Susan this time.

[raddersons]

Posted: 3/20/25 at 7:30am

Is there anyone who’s dared to see this twice and can report on changes?

[sassylash3s]

Posted: 3/20/25 at 8:26am

Saw the show last night. The biggest issue I had was that it’s just not funny.  I kept thinking back to TOOTSIE, which was a similarly outlandish and unrealistic backstage musical comedy but was so much easier to swallow thanks to its genuinely funny book.  Brooks Ashmanskas is doing admirable comedic work but there’s only so much he can wring out of what he’s given.

Can anyone who saw the open rehearsal expand on the ending where Ivy dies? (How does it happen? How do the other characters react? Etc.)  It sounds like such a bizarre decision.

Updated On: 3/20/25 at 08:26 AM

[MezzA101]

Posted: 3/20/25 at 10:01am

Why producer Steven Spielberg wanted Broadway’s ‘Smash’ to differ from the TV series

 

https://www.broadwaynews.com/why-producer-steven-spielberg-wanted-broadways-smash-to-differ-from-the-tv-series/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/20/25 at 10:12am

sassylash3s said: "Can anyone who saw the open rehearsal expand on the ending where Ivy dies? (How does it happen? How do the other characters react? Etc.) It sounds like such a bizarre decision."

Original reactions here:

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/thread/SMASH-Reading-Lottery

[Marlothom]

Posted: 3/20/25 at 11:24pm

Saw this tonight.  Oh boy! No denying the talent on that stage and if you're a fan of the TV series (I am!) then you are living for these songs and musical numbers where these actors make it their own but play homage to the originals and where Josh Bergasse recreates such memorable dance sequences on stage.  So many throwing/flipping of women!!!! I could see why these lead actresses might need a break!  

For me, this would have made a great off-Broadway show with half the cast and half the plot (which never gets resolved anyway) that could lean more heavily into the nostalgia or fully parody of the show and perhaps played fuller and more numbers.  More substantively, find it incomprehensible that a veteran Broadway star, such as Ivy, with a photo at Sardis would "all of a sudden" feel the urge to become a hyper-method actress, become such a horrible co-worker, and ruin her well earned reputation in the industry - that is the plot/conflict and I just don't buy it.  Also, the ending is a big let down. 

Finally, can we please NOT normalize silently snapping your fingers above your head, instead of clapping!!! It ruins the view for everyone behind you!!!!! 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 12:48am

Should we be concerned about Kristine Nielsen? Hope she's ok.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 10:07am

This adaptation of the series would have fared better had they just parodied the ridiculousness of the series ala XANADU (which deliciously poked fun at the film AND which Olivia Newton-John herself loved about the Broadway adaptation). The stuff that folks reminisced about SMASH in the years since its cancellation (heck, even while the series was still on the air) were the campy nonsense (Messing’s scarves, Huston’s cocktail tosses in faces, etc) which would have been sheer fun playing it all up. Even camping up the rivalry would have made one fun evening. DEATH BECOMES HER was smart to choose this direction full on which is why many are going back to see it. 

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 10:16am

sassylash3s said: "Saw the show last night. The biggest issue I had was that it’s just not funny.

Or maybe you don't have much if a sense of humor. There's always that possibility.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/21/25 at 10:27am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Should we be concerned about Kristine Nielsen? Hope she's ok."

Was Nielsen in last night? She was there on Tuesday and then called out again for Wednesday.

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 3/22/25 at 9:33am

I was at Smash last night, and add me to the list of people who—while I had a good time—left thoroughly confused by the evening's events. 

The full cast was in, and everyone was singing, dancing, and acting their hearts out. I’ve really got to give flowers to Robyn Hurder, because what this show has done to Ivy is truly unhinged. The character is all over the place, yet Robyn somehow manages to ground her in this wild reality. 

But as others have mentioned, the plotlines are picked up and dropped at a moment’s notice. The writers are fighting… now they’re not. The composer might be an alcoholic? Who will be Marilyn? It’s not who you think—but also, yeah, it kind of is. Good thing we have this intern character around so they can explain how theater works to the audience. 

Death Becomes Her can breathe a sigh of relief—it’s officially the glitzy big-budget musical comedy of the season. No competition here.

[the.hard.part]

Posted: 3/22/25 at 9:38am

Lavieboheme3090 said: "I was at Smash last night, and add me to the list of people who—while I had a good time—left thoroughly confused by the evening's events.

The full cast was in, and everyone was singing, dancing, and acting their hearts out. I’ve really got to give flowers to Robyn Hurder, because what this show has done to Ivy is truly unhinged. The character is all over the place, yet Robyn somehow manages to ground her in this wild reality.

But as others have mentioned, the plotlines are picked up and dropped at a moment’s notice. The writers are fighting… now they’re not. The composer might be an alcoholic? Who will be Marilyn? It’s not who you think—but also, yeah, it kind of is. Good thing we have this intern character around so they can explain how theater works to the audience.

Death Becomes Her can breathe a sigh of relief—it’s officially the glitzy big-budget musical comedy of the season. No competition here."

As of last night about how long was the run time?

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 3/22/25 at 9:49am

Hard Part- Checking back at my text messages lol not entirely accurate.

8:05 PM- Curtain

9:25 PM: Intermission

10:50 PM: On the street