"I remember sitting there aghast, watching this corporate-sponsored show (I forget now - was it Nike or Reebok?); the movie was a dark satire about the ridiculousness of all beauty pageants. The musical toothlessly and timidly mocked pageants a bit, but spent most of its time on endless pounding and repetitious inspirational group numbers, which appeared actually to glorify pageants."
The corporate sponsorship and, as I suspect at least, the producers in general were definitely part of the problem. I'm not sure about Nike or Reebok, but I know Coca Cola was a sponsor of the Broadway production, hence the change of all "Pepsi" references to "Coke" for the Broadway production only. The set also featured Coke machines if I'm not mistaken.
However, I'd disagree that the group numbers are "endlessly pounding and repetitious inspirational group numbers which [appear] to glorify pageants." The repetition and endless pounding are subjective, obviously, but I don't really believe there's any glorification of pageants happening in Smile. All of the underbelly is there and the upbeat and inspirational pageant numbers are all juxtaposed directly with scenes that use them ironically. "In Our Hands," a song about how parents teach their children to be upstanding citizens and then send them out into the world, and which is sung on top of Big Bob discovering that it was his own son who took naked photos of the contestants in a bathroom, comes to mind.
I'd also argue that Disneyland actually has a lot to say. It tells us a lot about Doria's character and why she is the way she is. It is also a pretty big thematic statement that aligns with much of what Smile is about. Doria puts stock in a fake dream world so that she can look escape her unhappy upbringing and home life, much as.. well lots of people do similar things, but one could relate that to pageants that purport to reward upstanding young girls (many of whom are completely nasty and embody none of the traits they are trying to show to the judges) and perhaps more specifically Big Bob's pursuit of a happy American life and willful ignorance of how much of his life does not actually hold up to that standard. Well, until Act 2 anyways :) When you put this in the context of the 80s and the Reagan administration (I'm thinking specifically of Nancy Reagan's ridiculous Just Say No campaign) it becomes even more of a statement. The other thing about "Disneyland" is that it sets up the heartbreaking final moment of the show, a moment that is in now way Big-Broadway happy or crowd pleasing.
What someone said above about Ashman's sincere irony was so well said, and the "Somewhere That's Green" example well put. He was a genius storyteller and was unbelievable when it came to structuring a book well (you just try to show me an OUNCE of fat in the Little Shop of Horrors book), but I think perhaps what makes his work truly as wonderful and entertaining as it is is the multi layered and real characters he creates. "Somewhere That's Green" is almost 100% jokes and yet it doesn't really ever get many laughs, does it? That's because Audrey is written so sincerely (and Menken deserves a lot of credit here too) that you absolutely just want it for her. The way that show can make you laugh at the ridiculousness of it all and in the same breath legitimately care for its characters never ceases to amaze me.
But I digress...
I, for one, think a major reason Smile didn't catch on that hasn't been discussed much here is Hamlisch and Ashman's use of montage song scenes more than take away songs. There are many sections of Smile that almost play like pop-theatre-influenced opera scenes. This was also a common complaint for "Sweet Smell of Success." Obviously he used the technique in "Chorus Line" as well, but not as completely. I, for one, love that he writes that way. I think it's exciting and makes for a fast-paced evening of good storytelling, but I can understand why it can be difficult to swallow for your typical commercial Broadway audience.
Updated On: 4/23/13 at 01:55 PM
