SMASH Previews — Page 3

He probably stole the show for me. I know that’s a tight category but he was hysterical.

Updated On: 3/12/25 at 12:07 AM

Standing O’s in the orchestra for Don’t Forget Me and They Just Keep Moving.

Not to bring back the whole Sunset debate but the orchestra ones did seem egged on. Deserved but egged on.

Or maybe it’s just becoming a thing. Sunset, Gypsy and this have all had one when I’ve gone. So did Shucked a couple years ago.

“Pre-show speech let us know that 1) their tech rehearsals have been fraught and they'd never done the show fully without any stoppages2) the intermission would likely run very long and 3) an understudy would be making her Broadway debut that evening as Susan (I don't have my playbill and unfortunately don't recall the actress' name).”

It’s ridiculous that they are charging full price for this. People are paying $250 bucks to watch their first run through? I saw them still loading in today. Previews honestly should have lower pricing. Or just cancel and take an extra week. Nielsen is out for the first preview? I hope she’s ok. She’s one of the main reasons I’d see the show.

No one. Those characters don't exist in this and have been replaced with different director/writer characters. Ivy and Karen are the only characters from the TV show in this.

blaxx said: "So it's the songs and characters from Smash but not the storyline? Why is this and why would they not think the audience (however niche) expected an abridged version of the TV show?

Also who plays the characters that in the TV show were Davenport, Huston, Borle, Messing, Chase, etc"

I've included a list of the TV actors/their characters and a description of their counterparts in the musical (where applicable) beneath the spoiler tag:

(Edited because I mistakenly left out a couple of characters initially).

Updated On: 3/12/25 at 01:44 AM

raddersons said: "I’m gonna need Brooks Ashmanskas to get a Tony nom for this one. He’s playing one of the funniest roles on bway right now."

Assuming he’s just doing his usual schtick though right? That’s he’s done in every show he’s been in..?

Some more thoughts of mine: The tagline “A comedy about a musical” is very on the nose. The book of Smash is a backstage comedy and has basically nothing to do with the songs, which are mostly just the cast rehearsing for Bombshell. Outside of a couple songs (Let Me Be Your Star / Just Keep Moving The Line) they don’t try to shoehorn songs from Bombshell into plot points for Smash. Honestly it feels a bit more like a play with music than it does a musical… which is ironic because that joke is made in the show itself. That being said, I think I prefer it this way. A funny new book, plus hearing some of the best Marc Shaiman songs? It sure is fun. Ending needs work tho.

Yesterday’s first preview had a very “meta” quality to it, especially at the scene with Brooks giving his curtain speech. It was a really unique experience.

Updated On: 3/12/25 at 07:30 AM

Word on Reddit has gotten a lot more mixed overnight.

The book has a lot of good humor and lines in it but agreed the plot structure is a mess at times.

Nielsen was out. It also is a lot of inside baseball so curious how that will play as time goes on.

Smash, the gift that keeps on giving(?)

So I only recently watched the show for the first time and it certainly did take hold on me the way it did for people of my ilk back in 2010. The theatre was packed with superfans, people came in costume, and the energy in the room was electric. For all of its problems Smash is a much loved show with a strong concept theater people could latch on to, memorable characters, and some of the best songs written for the musical theater in the last decade.

Smash, the musical, is terrible. I don’t know how else to say it. Almost a complete misfire in every regard. The good? Caroline Bowman comes off very well, she’s one of the only characters with actual motivations or stakes and she nails Don’t Forget Me & They Just Keep Moving the Line. Bella Coppola was good, her only job is to be nice and belt LMBYS and she does both. Robyn Hurder does the best she can in a part that is almost a character assassination of Ivy Lynn. And again, the songs are bulletproof.

And there’s the issue. We have absolutely no reason to care about the characters except for the fact that they’re versions of characters we have Stockholm syndrome to. The composers have a nothing plot line about the husband becoming an alcoholic (it’s almost embarrassing to see Krysta Rodriguez in this after her being in the actual show) the producer is literally just a sassy black woman, the intern is their platform to make terrible Gen-Z jokes, you get the picture. I’ve never liked Brooks Ashmankas and he does his Brooks Ashmankas thing by which I mean he sets gay rights back and gets to prey on a chorus boy here. The production was giving cheap and understaged in a way that was shocking giving the pedigree of all who are involved, and the numbers very rarely live up to our memory of watching them on screen - imagine finally getting Let's Be Bad onstage and it landing with a resounding "meh." The book scenes (of which there are many) dragged the show to a screeching halt, I found the whole thing to be painfully unfunny and the method teaching villain is deeply, deeply terrible but props to the understudy who (in a meta moment Stroman commented on at the pre-curtain speech) had to go on at the literal first preview.

Theres probably about 20 minutes that needs to be cut but the bigger issue is that the show is fundamentally unsound, with plot lines that don’t resolve and plot cul-de-sacs that waste our time, I would say the script was written by AI but it’s clear that it was written by two very stupid people. There’s really nothing to grab onto besides the fact that we like the songs and the idea of watching a musical based on this TV show that was cancelled. I don’t think WOM will be very good on this one and can’t imagine it makes a case for anyone who isn’t already obsessed with the show, in fact they’re the ones who may take the biggest issue with it.

Anyway. Stream Bombshell I guess.

Updated On: 3/12/25 at 08:29 AM

I was there last night. (Thanks to the producers for the beautiful Bombshell poster.)

I unfortunately have to agree with Jordan and Art Isn’t Easy. I’ve never seen a show based off an IP that is so hell bent on alienating its fan base.

The basic fun of Smash was #teamkaren and #teamivy. We wanted to see these two talented women battle it out for the part. This show nearly completely robs you of that in very frustrating ways by adding a third character who frankly could be cut entirely.

When we reached the end of Act 2, I was absolutely mad. This is an ending that basically tells the audience, oh, you liked Bombshell? That was garbage and jokes on you for liking it.

It was a treat to hear these songs again, and Caroline Bowman comes out as a star but the show seems to rob her of any chance to really shine which was frustrating. Yes, the book is funny and Brooks definitely shines, but a bunch of good one liners can’t save this show. I hope they work on this quite a bit, but it would be MAJOR changes to make this work.

Kad said: "I want the camp parody version where Debbie Messing's scarves get bigger and more ridiculous every time she appears onstage and it's never commented on."

While it's not a bit, Krysta's character's scarf game is definitely a nod to Julia. Some almost went down to her ankles lol