SMASH Notes: Thoughts on NBC's New Musical Drama

Thursday, 12 January 2012 13:16 | Written by Byron

SMASH UP: On Monday night I had a chance to be on the first people in Portland to see the first episode of NBC's new "musical drama" SMASH on the big screen at the beautiful Roseway Theater.

Two notes off the top: the aspect ratio that night made everyone on the screen look like Oompa Loompas and I should have never kissed KGW news anchor Joe Donlon on the cheek before the show.

Now on to the actual show: It has an all-star cast (Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston, Katharine McPhee, etc.) and all star producers (Steven Spielberg, Marc Shaiman, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, etc.).

It should be a BIG hit, but frankly, I don't know how American audiences will respond to it. In fact, I have a sneaking hunch that the success of this show might actually mirror the success of the show that's within this show.

Okay, I know. What the hell am I talking about?

Smash tells, in fairly dramatic fashion, what it takes to produce a musical on Broadway. In this case, the show-within-the-show is based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. The first 20 minutes of the first episode are a bit awkward, as if the show doesn't know what it wants to be. There are "moments," but they are not big Glee-like moments. And here in lies a problem. A problem I am not sure they can solve.

A good musical makes the ordinary extraordinary and expands reality into a fantasy where breaking out in song seems natural. Glee gets this. No one really believes that the kids of McKinley High are actual high school students or cheerleaders/football players. We buy into the fantasy each and every week because it takes the dreary and dull and makes it delightful and delicious. Through dance and song it elevates the drama-filled experience of high school to explosive new heights—heights where, like for West Side Story's Tony and Maria, there's a "place for us." All of us. Musicals let us escape.

Smash smashes that escape hatch and crashes us back down to the ground and back to reality. "A Chorus Line" did that too—but that was all about what the dancers faced when they looked in the mirror. Smash attempts to do that too, but with everyone involved in the production. That's why we have Debra Messing, as Julia, part of a songwriting team that, for now at least, feels like the more serious side of Will and Grace. Big news: we also find out that the hot director, played by Jack Davenport, is a big prick. The actors vying for the role of Marilyn, American Idol's Katharine McPhee and Broadway's Megan Hilty, breath the most life into the series. Their numbers are terrific, and their duet at the end of the first episode is breathtaking. Katharine McPhee is an angel. The success of both shows (Smash and Marilyn) will likely end up on her shoulders. I think she can do it. I look forward to the day when Smash realizes it has to suspend reality too. I mean, they even make Times Square seem quiet and pedestrian. How do you do that? We want our drama, but we want our fantasy too. And in the last few minutes of the first episode, Smash delivers it ten-fold.

I really want Smash to be a smash. Right now, like any Broadway show, it needs a bit of tweaking. Problem is, it's a network show on a network that's struggling in the ratings. And, besides Glee, tv doesn't have much of a track record when it comes to musical shows (Cop Rock, anyone?). I am curious if Spielberg and Co. have the clout to keep it on, or if the secrets of Broadway will forever stay behind the velvet curtain. Stay tuned.

Smash premieres 10 pm, Monday February 6. Here is an extended trailer for the show:

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