SMASH Reviews — Page 4

DTLI Consensus: Taking a full 180 from the TV series of the same name, Smash doesn't quite live up to the hype or its title, but with all its musical comedy charm and skewering, it's no bomb either.

8 positive (including the NYT), 6 mixed, 5 negative.

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/smash/

(double post)

These reviews are WILD. Smash was one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen, and I frequently appreciate shows that are just fun for fun’s sake. This was just full of plot holes and lowest common denominator humor. Like jokes about poop and about an old person being old…

Was at tonight's opening and party.

Show is a mess. Had a chat with Michael Riedel at the after party who felt the same way.

Someone’s paying someone something.

PipingHotPiccolo said: "i certainly agree that its preposterous to suggest that SMASH and REDWOOD are better than BOOP- but to each their own.

i sure am enjoying these unhinged pearl clutching reactions though. Jesse Green is hardly an outlier so maybe alot of people just enjoyed some stuff that we didnt? Maybe the type of people who post on these boards are sufficiently similar to each other than we become a bit of a herd, unaware of how others might experience things?

just a thought."



Green is an outlier. Even when reviews are better than the chatter on this board, he is the critic giving the highest praises.

But I’ll echo others here. I had a lot of fun notwithstanding the messiness of the book (and the book scenes without the songs became a bit tedious). I actually liked the second act better and thought the ending was terrific.

I was talking with someone last week about Smash as they just saw it. I asked them how it was and they said "it wasn't that it was bad but it just wasn't any good."

I thought that was an odd thing to say but after reading the reviews it sort of makes a little more sense. :)

Updated On: 4/11/25 at 07:52 AM

Jackson McHenry’s Vulture review really did put a pin to the number one thing I didn’t like: As much as the old ending was the biggest swing on the planet, the show is literally about taking big artistic swings whether people like it or not. At least that ending made dramaturgical sense. The new ending is the safest most boring choice they could possibly make, and honestly doesn’t even work. The new show keeps 80% of the old stuff but cuts the ending so a lot of the old content doesn’t even fit anymore. Basically all the changes they made were for the worse from the open rehearsal.


I struggle to see art whose moral is “Be brave, make the art, don’t follow the money” when the biggest choice they made was to kill their most artistic instinct just to get a happy ending.

BdwyFan said: "The show is great fun and not surprised it’s a NYT Critic’s Pick by Jesse Green. And I’ll go out on a limb to say it could be one of the Best Musical nominees. Ya never know. The industry folk are loving how fun it is especially in today’s crazy times. And stellar performances!"

I highly doubt this gets a best musical nomination. There appears to be four locks at this point:

1. Dead Outlaw
2. Operation Mincemeat
3. Maybe Happy Ending
4. Buena Vista

That fifth slot is between Death Becomes Her, Just In Time and BOOP.

ACL2006 said: "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."

Hopefully a little Karma!

Critics write reviews based on what they see, hear and feel.

For everyone here who seem to be getting their rocks off by trashing Jesse Green, let me suggest the following. Clear your minds and go back and read his review again, as objectively as possible whether a good theatre critic could have written that review based on what they saw, heard and felt? I’m not asking anyone to change their minds about the show, assuming they actually saw it. But to suggest such things as the NYT fire Green because your personal opinion may differ is not, to me, reasonable in any respect. (And of course, other well respected critics wrote very positive reviews of the show).


IMO, Smash will be nominated for the Best Musical Tony, and several cast members will receive nominations as well, as will some of the creatives.

RaisedOnMusicals said: "Critics write reviews based on what they see, hear and feel.

For everyone here who seem to be getting their rocks off by trashing Jesse Green, let me suggest the following. Clear your minds and go back and read his review again, as objectively as possible whether a good theatre critic could have written that review based on what they saw, heard and felt? I’m not asking anyone to change their minds about the show, assuming they actually saw it. But to suggest such things as the NYT fire Green because your personal opinion may differ is not, to me, reasonable in any respect. (And of course, other well respected critics wrote very positive reviews of the show).

IMO, Smash will benominated for the Best Musical Tony, and several cast members will receive nominations as well, as will some of the creatives."

We get it. You love the show. Most of your comments on this board since the workshop have been praising it and defending it against people who didn't and just don't have a sense of humor. Smash could hardly find a more stalwart defender (aside of Jesse Green).