Fierce competition, rehearsals and high-stakes negotiations are just a few of the things that go into a Broadway musical before the lights go on and the curtains open. And that's exactly what viewers see when they tune into "Smash," NBC's newest show.
The show centers on an ambitious musical production about the life of Marilyn Monroe, a musical that is bound to make it big. But the characters and the production face hardship at every corner. From a dearth of investors to in-house enmity between director and composer to divas dueling it out for the lead role, the show goes to great lengths to depict what truly happens behind the scenes of a Broadway musical.
Unlike Fox's "Glee" (2009-), the characters in the fictitious "Marilyn the Musical" perform original music composed by Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman. Songs like "Let Me Be Your Star" and "The 20th Century Fox Mambo" have received tens of thouseands of YouTube views and have been popular on iTunes. Despite the popularity of the music, the composers have still stayed true to the essence of what makes Broadway music dramatic.
One of show's many successes is the ease with which the theatricality of musicals translates through the screen to viewers at home. The audience is taken out of its seats and put into a Broadway theater when watching "Smash," highlighting just how well-produced and -orchestrated the show is.
The show remains true to the tenets of musical theater and broadcasts in an appealing and stylistically pleasing fashion throughout each episode. Such authenticity can be seen in the staging of scenes, the drama of the dialogue and the truthfulness of the writing.
The show must also be commended on its duality in portraying Monroe's life and the lives of the two stars, Karen and Ivy. Karen, the Broadway newbie played by Katharine McPhee, is innocent and sweet, but filled with raw talent and a drive to perform, similar to Marilyn when she started her road to fame and glory. Meanwhile, Ivy, the theater veteran played by Megan Hilty - an actual theatre vet - deals with family dysfunction, insecurity and the emotional underpinning that led to Monroe's demise.
The show has refrained at times from treating this dichotomy with subtlety, especially in its seventh episode, "The Workshop." But the writers and creators should be applauded for doing so with taste and elegance.
While the writing and storylines are a strong draw, the show's trump card is its star-studded cast. Emmy-award winner Debra Messing - of "Will and Grace" (1998-2006) - plays her best role yet as the lyricist Julia Houston. Her dynamic performance of Julia provides Messing with a challenge in range, as she moves from comedy to drama. There's something to be said about a picture speaking a thousand words, and in the tumultuous affair between Julia and Michael Swift (Will Chase), Messing's face says it all.
Oscar-winner Anjelica Huston proves that even many years after received her last major award, she's still got it. As the producer Eileen Rand, who is in the midst of a divorce from her conniving and malicious husband, graces the screen with style and panache that is inherent in old-style acting.
As for Jack Davenport, who plays director Derek Wills, and Christian Borle, who portrays Tom Levitt, Julia's lyricist partner, their catfights are enough to keep us entertained, as the audience knows eventually one is bound to come to a boiling point. Not much was elucidated about their contentious history together until this past episode, but the tension between the two is as thick as a musical score.
There is still plenty of drama to be uncovered on the show. The characters have already rendered an affair, treachery and role-switching in less than 10 episodes. But whatever "Smash" has left up its sleeves, viewers have been left waiting on the edge of their seats to find out about it.
