This next blog post is also about TV but with a more direct link to musicals, as it’s about the musical drama, ‘Smash’, which aired from 2012 to 2013 and only had two seasons (it should have had at least one more in my opinion but never mind…). I came across it purely by chance when I picked up a second hand DVD of season one in Dundee’s famous, now closed, Groucho’s music emporium. I first watched it with my family back in 2017, when we discovered it, and while it’s been a while since I re-watched the whole series, I wanted to talk about it here because it’s so intrinsically about musical theatre and the world of Broadway and stage musicals. It’s also quite underrated and I definitely recommend it to any musicals fans who haven’t seen it 😊 There are spoilers in this post so if you don't want to know any of the story maybe watch it first (it is on at least one streaming service) and then come back and read this post.
The songs are so fantastic, varied and catchy and while some covers are used in the show, it mostly consists of original songs (one of which is in the video below). The original songs were written by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, who wrote the songs for the musical ‘Hairspray'. Director Steven Spielberg was actually an executive producer for the show too. The whole premise of the show is potentially quite interesting for fans of musicals, movie stars, Broadway and/or classic movies, as it’s about writing and putting on a musical about Marilyn Monroe, the movies she was in and about her life outside of movies and fame. The musical within the series is called ‘Bombshell’ and throughout ‘Smash’, Marilyn is presented in a very positive light and the show explores how she was treated and portrayed and some of the darkest, saddest parts of her life but above all about how her influence and legacy will live on forever. ‘Smash’ has a terrific cast as well and for any eagle-eyed musicals fans, there are appearances from almost every single key figure in the US musical theatre world in cameos or guest and leading roles. For instance, the legend that is Lin-Manuel Miranda makes a brief cameo in season 2 and Leslie Odom Jr, who appeared in ‘Hamilton’ (and who is Sam Cooke in Regina King’s film ‘One Night in Miami’) plays Sam in ‘Smash’ and is in most episodes.
In terms of the main cast, Katharine McPhee, who got her start on ‘American Idol’ in 2006, plays Karen, an ingenue who’s up for the role of Marilyn in the musical and her main competition for the role is experienced Broadway performer, Ivy Lynn, who’s played by real-life iconic Broadway regular, Megan Hilty (Glinda in ‘Wicked’ and Doralee in ‘9 to 5’, Dolly Parton’s role). Derek, the fictional British director of ‘Bombshell’ is played by Jack Davenport, from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and ‘This Life’. There are a few antagonists in ‘Smash’, but Derek has his villainous moments, as he embodies some of the negative clichés associated with directors, such as always trying to obtain power and control and trying to seduce all the actresses. For instance, despite being romantically linked with Ivy, he still sees Karen as his muse, in a ‘Hitchcock blonde’ vein, and as the right choice for Marilyn. The ‘Bombshell’ songs are written by the fictitious writing team of Julia, who’s played by Debra Messing from ‘Will and Grace’, and Tom, who’s played by musicals star, Christian Borle, who’s known for being in stage productions of ‘Falsettos’ and ‘Legally Blonde’. Bona fide movie star, Anjelica Houston even appears in ‘Smash’, as Eileen, the recently divorced producer of ‘Bombshell’ who is out to show everyone that she can produce a hit on her own and not just in partnership with her ex.
The first season primarily focuses on Ivy and Derek’s relationship, creating ‘Bombshell’, a rivalry between Karen and Ivy and how Karen’s involvement in ‘Bombshell’ and connection with Derek affects her relationship with her long-term boyfriend, Dev (played by Raza Jaffrey). Also, Karen’s general innocence and naïveté (in life and on Broadway) is explored and played with throughout the series. It could be said that portraying women as rivals on screen is frustrating and clichéd, and certainly Karen and Ivy are pitted against each other in their personal and professional lives on and off throughout the series, but they have an interesting dynamic as the power balance changes when Karen learns more about how Broadway works. They may seem like rivals or opposites who want the same thing, but there are also moments of a more genuine friendship between them or at least moments that are free of tension and hostility. There are also parallels with Ivy and Marilyn, in terms of physical appearance, Ivy’s struggles with prescription medication and her feelings about living in the shadow of her famous Broadway star mother, who’s played both in ‘Smash’ and in ‘Bombshell’, by super famous musicals star, Bernadette Peters. There’s also a plot about how differently movie stars in stage musicals are treated compared to less well-known stage performers, and for this plotline Uma Thurman portrays the fictitious movie star, Rebecca, who steps in to play Marilyn temporarily.
In the second, and sadly final, season, Ivy eventually seems to get everything she’s ever wanted, as after years of feeling overlooked in the chorus or being compared to Karen in an unflattering light, she finally gets to play Marilyn when ‘Bombshell’ goes to Broadway and even gets an award for her portrayal. Ivy and Derek’s complicated relationship is explored further too, as it becomes clear that even though Derek and Karen seem to have a strong connection with their work, Ivy and Derek are always going to come back to each other, emotionally at least. As with the first series, season two is full of cameos and guest appearances from almost everyone in the musicals/Broadway world and some famous names appearing in this season include Jennifer Hudson, Liza Minnelli and Jeremy Jordan.
While ‘Smash’ is no longer my absolute favourite show, for a while it definitely was my rewatch-over-and-over, learn the lines off by heart, Number One TV Show of Choice. In fact, I even had a ‘Smash’ themed 18th birthday cake. (Pic below - it was made by Dream Cakes of Dundee, contact via Facebook/Instagram, and it was really, really delicious)
My birthday’s actually coming up in a couple of weeks (I will be 21!) so I wonder what cake I will have this time… In the meantime, here is a song from the last ever episode of this fantastic TV show. Enjoy!
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