SMASH Reviews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 7:12pm

Embargo lifts at 9.

[Dolly80]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 7:20pm

Carnage

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 7:27pm

Dolly80 said: "Carnage"

That's my expectation.

With perhaps a few "the cast & songs deserve better" mentions.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 7:39pm

Will Jesse make it a Critics Pick? Who the hell knows, anymore. 

[OhHiii]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 7:40pm

They had one assignment with this show. To deliver Bombshell as a full scale musical. Instead they did…this. They swore they knew better than the audience that was ready for Bombshell and would have been forgiving of moving songs to other characters to give Marilyn a vocal break. There was a musical in there, but will forever be a missed opportunity. A Marilyn Monroe musical also has broader audience appeal potential. What a misfire. 

[Dolly80]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 7:42pm

Pity all the friends and family there tonight who have to pretend it was wonderful. 

[malcs98]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 7:43pm

OhHiii said: "They had one assignment with this show. To deliver Bombshell as a full scale musical. Instead they did…this. They swore they knew better than the audience that was ready for Bombshell and would have been forgiving of moving songs to other characters to give Marilyn a vocal break. There was a musical in there, but will forever be a missed opportunity. A Marilyn Monroe musical also has broader audience appeal potential. What a misfire."

I know the critics are going to tear this show apart, but the question is, how long do we think this show will last, I say at worst less than a month, at its best end of the summer

 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 7:48pm

I don't think it'll be a blood bath. More likely mixed to negative.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 7:51pm

OhHiii said: "They had one assignment with this show. To deliver Bombshell as a full scale musical."

On one hand, Marc & Scott themselves have said the songs written for the TV show would never fit into an actual Marilyn musical and they TRIED to crack it. On the other hand, even an unsuccessful BOMBSHELL would have been better than this calamity.

Maybe there was never a great musical to be made of this material, but at least a competent and fun one was achievable. They didn't achieve that.

Maybe what it really needed was the TITANIQUE treatment.

What does it cost to run each week, $1 million? That means grosses will have to RISE by at least $200K post-reviews if they want a chance of treading water.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 8:02pm

The blame goes to Stro again! 2 flops in a row NY NY and now this. SMASH is a BOMB!

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 8:11pm

Robbie2 said: "The blame goes to Stro again! 2 flops in a row NY NY and now this. SMASH is a BOMB!"

You're being generous...

• Smash - bomb(shell)
• Left on Tenth - did not recoup
• NYNY - a mess & a bomb, but at least some of the choreo was nice
• POTUS - didn't make money but I thought her direction was great
• Prince of Broadway - not really her show, but also not stellar
• Bullets Over Broadway - creative & financial bomb
• Big Fish - creative & financial bomb
• The Scottsboro Boys - financial bomb, some people stick up for it creatively
• Young Frankenstein - creative & financial bomb

Her work on THE PRODUCERS and some older shows was incredible and she seems like a genuinely wonderful person. But I don't know why anyone would trust her with a new musical after this run.

(The blame is also not hers alone. Rick Elice & Bob Martin should be ashamed their names are on this thing, and Marc & Scott should have known better than to try to shoehorn these songs into this structure without a lyric overhaul.)

Updated On: 4/10/25 at 08:11 PM

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 8:18pm

Can’t wait to read Adam and Johnny’s perspectives.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 8:31pm

malcs98 said: "OhHiii said: "They had one assignment with this show. To deliver Bombshell as a full scale musical. Instead they did…this. They swore they knew better than the audience that was ready for Bombshell and would have been forgiving of moving songs to other characters to give Marilyn a vocal break. There was a musical in there, but will forever be a missed opportunity. A Marilyn Monroe musical also has broader audience appeal potential. What a misfire."

I know the critics are going to tear this show apart, but the question is, how long do we think this show will last, I say at worst less than a month, at its best end of the summer

"

Definitely until the end of summer. It's grosses are better than BOOP currently. Possibly until the end of the year.

[OhHiii]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 8:52pm

Nah it won’t make it to summer. This isn’t a tourist show so that would be a huge risk going to Labor Day even. It’s already losing money. 

[malcs98]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 8:55pm

OhHiii said: "Nah it won’t make it to summer. This isn’t a tourist show so that would be a huge risk going to Labor Day even. It’s already losing money."

I disagree, like the above poster said its grosses are better than BOOP currently. I think this will probably end up being a Back to the Future, where it gets poorly received by critics gets maybe one or two nominations but none of that actually matters because it’s selling well anyway…why is everyone always a Debbie Downer in all these BroadwayWorld message boards 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 9:09pm

On another note, foreigners aren't coming to the US this summer because of the guy in the White House. it'll be interesting to see what type of business Broadway in general does this summer.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 9:10pm

Feldman must have been wrong. Someone in the previews thread mentioned 10:30 as the embargo lift, so maybe that's the right time.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 9:14pm

malcs98 said: "I think this will probably end up being a Back to the Future, where it gets poorly received by critics gets maybe one or two nominations but none of that actually matters because it’s selling well anyway…why is everyone always a Debbie Downerin all these BroadwayWorld message boards"

BACK TO THE FUTURE is based on one of the most famous movies of the past 40 years and it was attracting an audience of tourists. This is based on a cult TV show and its target audience is niche (musical theatre fans).

Just because SMASH's numbers are currently better than BOOP's does not mean it has any chance of success. A lot of shows start out doing okay business and then they either rise or fall –– and SMASH's numbers are not good, they are simply okay.

The absolute best case scenario for this show feels like CATCH ME IF YOU CAN or BANDSTAND or GROUNDHOG DAY (it survives past 4th of July but not past the first day of Fall). But the reviews and sales will dictate that.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 9:15pm

I know the critics are going to tear this show apart, but the question is, how long do we think this show will last, I say at worst less than a month, at its best end of the summer

It will last longer than Boop, so yes probably Labor Day unless they pull a Maybe Happy Ending but considering that's an actually great show....doubtful. 

 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 9:16pm

Feldman just shared the review on his FB page. Three out of five stars.

TimeOut

Updated On: 4/10/25 at 09:16 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 9:21pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "Feldman just shared the review on his FB page. Three out of five stars.

TimeOut"

That seems overly generous.

"Somehow, I enjoyed the overall experience of Smash. Aside from Ashmanshas and a few diverting numbers, the show is undeniably unmoored. But isn’t that ultimately true to the brand? This production embraces failure; it hugs its own shambles. And for diehard Smash appreciators, perhaps that—in a meta way!—is right for the material: Part of the appeal of Bombshell has always been that it had bomb written right into it. To be fair, this production isn’t really a bomb; it doesn’t go hard enough for that. It’s the shell of a bomb."

[malcs98]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 9:23pm

MemorableUserName said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Feldman just shared the review on his FB page. Three out of five stars.

TimeOut"

That seems overly generous.

"Somehow, I enjoyed the overall experience ofSmash. Aside from Ashmanshas and a few diverting numbers, the show is undeniably unmoored. But isn’t that ultimately true to the brand? This production embraces failure; it hugs its own shambles. And for diehardSmashappreciators, perhaps that—in a meta way!—is right for the material: Part of the appeal ofBombshellhas always been that it hadbombwritten right into it. To be fair, this production isn’t really a bomb; it doesn’t go hard enough for that. It’s the shell of a bomb.""

There’s more to it: “Behind every hit musical…is a hot mess,” teases one of Smash’s advertising taglines. But what’s behind a flop? Maybe it’s something like the warm mess we get here. They throw spaghetti at the wall and, when nothing sticks, they shrug and serve the spaghetti. 

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 9:34pm

malcs98 said: "OhHiii said: "Nah it won’t make it to summer. This isn’t a tourist show so that would be a huge risk going to Labor Day even. It’s already losing money."

I disagree, like the above poster saidits grosses are better than BOOP currently. I think this will probably end up being a Back to the Future, where it gets poorly received by critics gets maybe one or two nominations but none of that actually matters because it’s selling well anyway…why is everyone always a Debbie Downerin all these BroadwayWorld message boards"

This is nowhere close to BTTF, which was a property that was review-proof to a point (and even then, it didn't last as long as many thought it would). No way Smash is going to come anywhere close to an 18 month run. If it has terrible reviews tonight, things can change real fast... Word of mouth and reviews don't mean everything but they can certainly tip a borderline show's fate quickly one direction or the other.

Remember that other Stroman show, NYNY. People thought it would hang on for awhile because its grosses were solid at first but tepid reviews and word of mouth got it closed by the end of July. And that even had way more Tony noms than Smash is gonna get.

Updated On: 4/10/25 at 09:34 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 10:31pm

Good lord. A Critic's Pick from Green

Review: In a Musical Comedy Makeover, ‘Smash’ Lives Up to Its Name

En route to Broadway, the TV series about backstage shenanigans and Marilyn Monroe has been rejiggered, with the same great songs but a whole new plot.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/theater/review-smash-musical.html

"Great musical comedies are great mysteries, and not just because they’re so rare. They’re also mysteries in the way they operate. To succeed, they must keep far ahead of the audience, like thrillers with twists you can’t see coming. They are whodunits with songs instead of murders.

“Smash,” which opened on Thursday at the Imperial Theater, is more of a who’ll-do-it, and when the big song comes, it’s a killer. But the effect is the same: It’s the great musical comedy no one saw coming."

Updated On: 4/10/25 at 10:31 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/10/25 at 10:33pm

NY Stage Review

SMASH: MARILYN, WE HARDLY KNEW YE

By Michael Sommers

★★☆☆☆ Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman recycle their TV score for the stage

https://nystagereview.com/2025/04/10/smash-marilyn-we-hardly-knew-ye/

 

SMASH: MARILYN MUSICAL NEITHER SMASH NOR BOMB

By Roma Torre

★★★☆☆ The popular TV series about the making of a Broadway musical finally makes it to the Great White Way.

https://nystagereview.com/2025/04/10/smash-marilyn-musical-neither-smash-nor-bomb/