SMASH Previews- Page 3

[theatergoer3]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 12:07am

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

[Dirty Rotten Scoundrel]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 12:14am

Typing on my phone while thoughts and show are still fresh. Plenty more things to say but for now some broad strokes. 

I had a lot of fun tonight. I have never been to a show where the audience was more on its side. Really, really loving and supportive crowd. Pre-show speech let us know that 1) their tech rehearsals have been fraught and they'd never done the show fully without any stoppages 2) 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). 
 

No stoppages during the show however the intermission did indeed run long. Understudy was fabulous and very warmly received by the crowd. Also there was A LOT of applause after every song which definitely increased the runtime. Standing ovation (at least in the mezz) for "Don't Forget Me." Doubt that will continue for very long, but honestly expected for this performance. "Let Me Be Your Star" closes out the first act and the house lights came up almost immediately after it ended. It's THE song, and I would love for them to take just a few seconds to actually let folks applaud and give the performer her flowers rather than immediately dropping the curtain and throwing the lights on. 

As many of you likely know, there are a lot of changes from the TV show. Pretty much the only things that are the same are the songs, there are two characters named Karen and Ivy (but they're very different from the TV show), and the general premise - behind the scenes of the makings of Bombshell. So that was a bit jarring at first but relatively simple to grasp after a few minutes. 

I was disappointed by how many songs were chopped up or shortened, and some felt shoehorned in almost as if it was a jukebox musical. The most effective numbers were the ones sung all the way through. I'll also take a moment here to lament the loss of my favorite song from the tv show, "History is Made at Night." Not sure how "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" made the cut over that one. 

The book should be in capable hands with Bob Martin and there are plenty of moments when his humor really shines through. There are some incredible jokes peppered throughout the show. That said, the structure is all over the place and several plot lines are picked up and then almost immediately discarded. At this point I am not sure how much of it is fixable but maybe some aspects can be addressed. 

The ending has been updated from THAT one we've all heard about, however it needs a lot of work. I didn't like it, nor did I like the finale. It's abrupt and kitschy, and hopefully they can tighten it up.

I very much enjoyed it - but there's A LOT of hyper-specific theater references that I'm not sure a tourist from the Midwest or abroad would understand. And there are enough of them that I think a person would genuinely feel like they're missing something. So in a sense, I don't really know who this show is for broadly, or how long it can realistically run given how niche it is. It is definitely fan service for a very specific crowd - of which I am a part - but it's long term viability is questionable. I'm still sad they didn't just stage Bombshell, especially since Marilyn Monroe is a very known entity that they could market to tourists much more easily. But I am so glad it exists and for the chance to hear these amazing songs live. 

I encourage fans of the TV show to go. I think you'll have a lot of fun despite the changes. I certainly did, and I plan to return after it opens.

PS. Devastated the first preview gift wasn't a massive scarf, but the special printing Bombshell window card is lovely. 

Updated On: 3/12/25 at 12:14 AM

[theatergoer3]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 12:19am

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. 

[Quinn Wilson]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 12:57am

theatergoer3 said: "1 new song (the finale)

New ending

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Bombshell opens to mediocre reviews but inspired by Scott (musicals version of Ellis),the team behind it decide to create the musical Smash in universe.

Ivy comes to her senses after a sweet scene with Karen and fires Susan.

"

Was there a Hit List post credits scene? 

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 1:07am

“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. 


 

 

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 1:13am

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

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 1:20am

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.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 1:28am

Not sure why Karen was even in this, she basically has nothing to do. I get them wanting to be different from the tv show but people still (I’m guessing) expect this to be about Karen and Ivy. Not Ivy, Bella and then a little bit of Karen. 

I really have to think on this one. 

[Dirty Rotten Scoundrel]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 1:44am

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:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Megan Hilty (Ivy): Still called Ivy. But is 'the biggest star on Broadway.' She is the star of Bombshell and the reason the show is being produced. (Played by Robyn Hurder on Broadway). 

Katharine McPhee (Karen): Still called Karen. Ivy's understudy in Bombshell. Has also been her understudy in several other productions. (Played by Caroline Bowman on Broadway). 

Jack Davenport (Derek): Now called Nigel. Still the director but is a gay man rather than a straight one who's lusting after Karen like on the TV show. (Played by Brooks Ashmankas on Broadway). 

Christian Borle (Tom) & Debra Messing (Julia): Now called Jerry and Tracy. Still the songwriter and composer duo, but they're now a married couple. (Played by John Bellmann and Krysta Rodriguez on Broadway). 

Anjelica Huston (Eileen): Now called Susan. Still the producer. (Played by Jacqueline B. Arnold on Broadway). 

Will Chase (Michael): Not really a character in the Broadway show. Joe DiMaggio is played in a couple of scenes by a man in the ensemble who is also Karen's husband, Charlie. (Charlie is played by Casey Garvin on Broadway).

Jaime Cepero (Ellis): Now called Scott. Still the producer's assistant but instead of being a conniving and manipulative monster is a relatively harmless kid with no knowledge of theater whose father invested $1M in the show on the condition that they gave Scott a job.

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

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

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 1:50am

Dirty Rotten Scoundrel said: "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:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Megan Hilty (Ivy): 'The most famous actress on Broadway.' Is the star of Bombshell and the reason the show is being produced.

Katharine McPhee (Karen): Ivy's understudy in Bombshell. Has also been her understudy in several other productions.

Jack Davenport (Derek): Now called Nigel. Still the director but is a gay man rather than a straight one who's lusting after Karen like on the TV show.

Christian Borle (Tom) & Debra Messing (Julia): Now called Jerry and Tracy. Songwriter and composer duo. They're a married couple in this production.

Will Chase (Michael): Not really a character in the Broadway show. Joe DiMaggio is played in a couple of scenes by a man in the ensemble who is also Karen's husband.

"

Thanks everyone, that's fascinating.

It's kinda the reverse of when a movie musical has a stage version with the same characters and storyline but none of the famous songs (Sister Act, Beaches, etc)

This has all the songs but none of the storyline and the original characters. 

[Dolly80]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 3:58am

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..?

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 7:11am

so Kristine Nielsen was out for the first preview? Chelle Denton appears to have gone as according to her IG.

Updated On: 3/12/25 at 07:11 AM

[raddersons]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 7:30am

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

[BETTY22]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 7:50am

SMASH: The Musical – A Comedy About… What, Exactly?

The tagline “A comedy about a musical” may be accurate, but it’s also disappointingly reductive—much like the show itself. Despite its Broadway pedigree, SMASH: The Musical struggles to find its identity. Rather than integrating Bombshell’s songs into the narrative in any meaningful way, the numbers exist almost entirely within rehearsals, making the show feel more like a play with music than a fully realized musical.

The irony isn’t lost—especially since the show acknowledges this itself!

Bob Martin’s book delivers some solid one-liners, but humor alone can’t save a script that lacks structure. Plot threads are introduced and abandoned at a dizzying pace, making the story feel unfocused and incomplete.

The show leans heavily on nostalgia and the strength of Marc Shaiman’s songs, but without a strong dramatic arc, even the most beloved numbers can only do so much.

And then there’s the ending—or rather, the lack of one. As it stands, it feels like an afterthought rather than a satisfying conclusion.

While there’s potential buried somewhere in the chaos,

SMASH ultimately feels more like a collection of inside jokes than a fully developed musical.

[theatergoer3]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 7:55am

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.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

I get that Susan is almost a comic villain but she ends up just being comedically evil for large chunks of the show.
 

And Ivy is portrayed as unlikeable for a surprising amount of the show before she stands up for herself. 

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

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 8:26am

I must admit I’ve never watched the show, but I’m at a loss who this show is actually for, the fans for a few weeks, the masses who don’t know anything about it. I know it a first preview, some of those reports aren’t encouraging.

[Art Isn’t Easy]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 8:29am

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

[Kad]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 9:26am

This show’s existence remains such a big “huh? why?” for me and none of these responses are clarifying it. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 9:30am

I find it hard to disagree with anything that the "Art Isn't Easy" posted above. I'll say I was never bored sitting there last night but I also didn't care at all about anything going on on that stage (besides Casey of course, but y'all know me). I did laugh a few times but I would bet 95% of those times were at lines from Brooks. And to answer someone from before, Brooks is Brooks-ing and playing that same "Prom" character and I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. I love him and his "schtick" as you called it. He can do that in every show and it will only make it better.

But as far as "Smash", I just don't understand the purpose of this musical existing, in this form. Fans of the show have said for over a decade they'd love to see it on stage but mostly want to see "Bombshell". So what do we get? Neither "Smash" nor "Bombshell" but some other weird, almost jukebox musical miss of an idea of "Smash" that should easily have been discarded. Virtually nothing in this show works for me, I sat there almost dumbfounded for most of it. 

One thing that stood out to me was, like I said above, it is essentially a jukebox musical. The characters sing the songs only in context of their character in the "Bombshell" show they're doing (besides one song and only that one, I believe). So for a (now) 3 hour musical about musicals, no character has even a single song they sing as themselves and I just think that is such a misfire. 

Also, I personally hate that this wasn't the "Karen and Ivy" story. Who is Bella? Why did we need Bella? Internet, don't take my words as anything against the actors playing these roles but I don't need no Bella in my Ivy and Karen storyline. I mean, did anyone even clock how long Caroline Bowman was in the show for? 20%, maybe? 25? I forgot she was even in this musical for most of the 90 minute first act and then act two I guess they remembered the character existed and threw her a random song to sing, maybe as a reward for staying with this show.

The ending (of the "Bombshell" show) gave a little glimpse of what I felt this musical should have been and the camp that so many of us had been hoping for. Now, I will go back maybe next month to see if anything has changed but this show right here and now gets **/***** from me and I almost feel like I'm being generous. 

 

 

[Kad]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 9:56am

Jordan, what exactly is the tone of the show? The impression I'm getting is that they've swapped out the bonkers soap opera plot of the TV  show with a original, but superficially similar, bonkers soap opera plot... that is a little more self-aware and comedic. 

So it's neither an affectionate parody, nor a straightforward adaptation, but it's also not an original show. So I'm just confused by what it is trying to be and what it's trying to achieve.

(fwiw, I think had they gone the Xanadu route with this, it could've worked really well).

[dave1606]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 10:02am

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.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 10:06am

Kad, that's exactly right. The entire Ivy plot now revolves around her finding a book about method acting (maybe it was a book by Strasberg) and becoming an insane "method" actress living her life AS Marilyn while her "teacher" who looks like Marty Feldman in "Young Frankenstein", pumps pills into her. So yeah, it's not a parody, it's not an adaptation or an original show. It exists in this weird place where they knew what people wanted, refused to give it to them and chose...this. 

But the material BEGS to be done as full on camp. And I'm not entirely sure they don't think that's what this is, which confuses me even more. 

 

 

[Kad]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 10:09am

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.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 10:15am

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."

I don't know if you wrote that as a joke or not but THAT IS WHAT IT NEEDS TO BE. Ivy and Karen fist fighting while singing, Ellis quietly singing while stealing, Uma Thurman.... - y'know - SMASH. 

[60'splayoff]

Posted: 3/12/25 at 10:15am

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