SMASH Reviews — Page 5

Some of us have noticed one thing: Green's reviews with the Critic's Pick designation are often ultimately quite mixed, sometimes with major reservations withheld from ledes and early praise. He's been known to bury a core response to a show's craft and execution until the last third of a review (he certainly did that with Redwood). Sometimes you can feel his indecision about a verdict and sense personal reversals (I invited anyone here to go back and read his first review of Feldstein in Funny Girl, one of the most bizarre takes on that revival and its casting; he was clearly unsatisfied with her performance but for whatever reasons kept parsing its value.) If you remove the coveted Critics Pick imprimatur, many of his appraisals would hardly be considered raves. And ask collaborators: they're not traditional money reviews that inspire box office.

Updated On: 4/11/25 at 10:05 AM

Playbill_Trash said: "I’m not a Jesse Green fan in the slightest. But is it possible there are people outside of this message board bubble that just like to like things when they're fun and good?"

Okay but that’s not really what one’s job as a critic is. If you want to see someone who understands the responsibility of theater criticism look at someone like Sarah Holdren at Vulture. It’s about critiquing a work and engaging with the art form and the creative approach to it, and assessing how successfully the show executes. While theater criticism has become something most people dread, at its best it’s a way of holding the art form to higher standards by having a conversation with the piece at a more insightful level than a typical audience member.



it’s perfectly fine for a critic—and anyone for that matter—to enjoy a piece of art that isn’t that good. We ALL do. I just said a few posts back that I enjoyed Swept Away—but if I’m going to *critique* the show? That’s a different matter. Looking at the show critically it was quite messy & failed on execution. The best I could say is it might not be great theater but if this style resonates with you, you may be moved by the shows themes anyway.


Thats basically critical analysis. Giving something like that a critic’s pick is weird. One would think a Critics Pick is reserved for pieces of extraordinary vision, execution, and merit (like English and Liberation), not pieces that a professional critic personally enjoyed in spite of its massive flaws.

BroadwayGirl107 said:

I mean Swept Away, Redwood, and Smash are almost universally considered three of the worst shows of the season


Well, with respect, you might want to check the definition of 'universally". Even the reviews for Smash are a bit more positive than negative, and audiences seem to be loving it for the most part (though not "universally"). Do people seeing the show count as part of the universe?

Saw it on Saturday and, frankly loved it. Is it high art? No. But it is a great, fun, evening at the theater. Congratulations to all involved.

The theater queens on these boards are really pissed that the show didn't receive all negative reviews and that it's actually doing respectable sales?

LMAO I was just scrolling on NYT and how the **** did this get a critic's pick.

The Times should just get rid of the Critic’s Pick designation. Or replace it with stars.

dan94 said: "Jesse Green did a Reddit AMA a year or two ago and was asked about Critic's Picks. He said that he considers a Critic's Pick as only a sign that "this is worth seeing", and does not consider it to be actual commentary on the show. So yes, he's given a number of Critic's Picks out recently that were on top of a Mixed review. Critic's Pick does not always equal rave, although it certainly did last night."

I would love if the TIMES did a star system out of 5.

As with any star system, that means there'd be a lot of 3 and 3.5s, but I think it's much more valuable than the binary "critic's pick"

WOW. NYT review is amazing. Congrats.

ACL2006 said: "The theater queens on these boards are really pissed that the show didn't receive all negative reviews and that it's actually doing respectable sales?"

YES!!! YES!!!! THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE PISSED ABOUT!!!

HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY REMAIN CALM IN A TIME LIKE THIS?????

ACL2006 said: "The theater queens on these boards are really pissed that the show didn't receive all negative reviews and that it's actually doing respectable sales?"

Where are you seeing these "pissed" reactions? I just see people being a bit surprised and incredulous which is totally valid.

Sutton Ross said: "ACL2006 said: "The theater queens on these boards are really pissed that the show didn't receive all negative reviews and that it's actually doing respectable sales?"

Where are you seeing these "pissed" reactions? I just see people being a bit surprised and incredulous which is totally valid."

See posts 60, 62, 63 (this is likely the one ACL was referring to), 85, 98, 99, etc.

You may not see people literally saying "I'M SO PISSED!" but implying Green is taking bribes to write positive reviews and can never be taken seriously and has "lost his mind" is more than being "surprised." There is absolutely a sense that people here think the show deserved poor notices and are aggravated/frustrated/confused/pissed/whatever you want to call it, regardless of whether anyone is saying it out loud.

Saw this on Monday and loved it; was ashamed to say so because everyone has been sh*tting on it. Good for Jesse Green for being brave enough to speak his truth.

I think the majority of the hate on this show is coming because people expected something very specific. Just because you thought what SMASH would (or moreso, should) be, and went in with expectations that didn't match what you saw, isn't anyone's fault but your own. It doesn't change the fact that what happens on stage is actually quite fun - in the moment. Green is just telling us what he experienced in the moment. And in the theatre, that's all you can do.

Congrats to the company of SMASH on their accolades. And honestly, I think the wild division this show has received is only going to drive sales more via curiosity and social media discourse (the very thing the show is about in the first place).