My next show show on this Broadway trip is the first of a double header for Saturday as it is the matinee of “Smash” the musical. I was dry excited to see this as it is based o the huge TV show first broadcasted in 2012. However I somehow missed the boat on its original run. As a result I only just finished watching the the whole series a few weeks ago in preparation to see this show. So the concept and characters are very fresh for me. This production is still currently in previews which started on 11th March 2025 and has an official opening night scheduled for 10th April 2025. The show has a book written Rick Elice and Bob Martin with music & lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Whittman and directed by Susan Stroman. The matinee has a start time of 2pm and a running time of two hours and thirty minutes at the Imperial Theatre.
I took my seat in the orchestra row K seat 105 of the imperial theatre, which has great stagger so any seat within the stalls is pretty much uninterrupted. I was readying myself for a stage version of a the great TV show. A to show I highly recommend if you missed the orginal run back in 2012 and are a fan of musical theatre. It is currently available on Amazon Prime in the UK to binge the whole series.
First of all I have mention how surprised and taken back I was by the total change to almost all the characters and all the supporting cast. With only Ivy Lyn and Karen viewing kept from the original TV show. This was a total shock as I was expecting a stage version of the to show. Which in a way it was but not with the same character which is what I was expecting. Even the character dynamics between Ivy and Karen were changed. Along with all new characters playing similar positions but different dynamics. For example the womanising director of of Derek Wills is replaced by a camp Nigel. A Karen is married to one of the ensamble and the writers are married. If you have seen the TV show you will release how different this was and also reflect in my disappointment of the change. Which did take some time to readjust.
For those who have not seen the show or have but want to know the full character run down. Here is a brief synopsis. We take a step into the rehearsal room of a brand new Broadway musical “Bombshell” the Marilyn Monroe musical as well as seeing some of the “bombshell” songs. It during this time we meet the leading lady Ivy Lynn (Robyn Hurder), the understudy Karen (Caroline Bowman) and the director Nigel (Brooks Ashmanskas). We are also introduced to the writers husband and wife Tracy (Krysta Rodriguez) and Jerry (John Behlmann). Along with the producer Anita (Jacqueline B. Arnold) and her assistant Scott (Nicholas Matos). During the show we also also introduced to Chloe (Bella Coppola) who nearly takes the leading role from the production team and Susan (Kristine Nielsen) who plays Ivy Lynn Marilyn’s advisor. Between all of these and the ensemble they all highlight the trails and tribulations of putting on a Broadway musical.
The overall concept although very similar if not the same to the original TV show it did have a few touches of modernisation. Mainly around the use of social media and the role that “Influencers” play on the modern world.
The set design was good and mainly in the first act switched between the rehearsal room and the bar. With the second act bringing in set boxes to represent the back stage areas of the theatre of the dressing rooms and writers rooms of the theatre. While having the occasional curtain drop to reveal the “Bombshell” song performances. The overall staging was very good and had a triangle design which worked well and along with the lighting made for very good scene definitions. During some of the “box scenes” having the rest of the stage fairly well lite meant that we were able to see the actors walk out of the scene into the rest of the stage no kind of spoilt the illusion of the scene for me. However there overall scene transfer and slickness to it was Broadway quality and was impressive.
The musical theatre part of this musical only really came form the “Bombshell” scenes. Which were lifted directly from the TV show including all music & girls and choreography. Which seemed unaltered as each song I was able to recall watching only a few weeks ago on the TV show. These include Mr & Mrs Smith, the 20th Century Fox Mambo and “I Never met a wolf who didn’t love to howl”. I for one am so glad that these remained untouched as they were amazing in the TV show and amazing in this show. There was definitely something special about seeing these songs being performed live on a broadway stage after watching them on my iPad on my daily comments a few weeks prior. There did seem to be one or two new original musical theatre pieces added to this production but I was glad they kept the orginal “Bombshell” songs. As well as the title track of “Let me be your star” my fave outer track from the whole show and still is after seeing it performed live is “Don’t forget me” which luckily has been recorded on the “Smash” YouTube channel and can be found below.
As a new Broadway musical I am not convinced that it hit the ark. Although it did have some comical parts of the script and the amazing “Bombshell” songs. I am not sure it really hit the mark and will be very interested in what the critics say in a couple of weeks time for the opening night. In my opinion they should have kept more to the original TV show characters and not just used the concept. As a musical theatre show I would rather have just seen a staging of “Bombshell” the musical. As it was only the Bombshell scenes which had the musical theatre aspects.
And now for more on some of the individuals from the cast. It was very interesting to see Krysta Rodriguez live as she is the only cast member who was in the orginal TV show. However if not a bit confusing as she was not playing her Ana character but instead one of the writers Tracy.
Robyn Hurder as Ivy seemed almost nervous during the start of the production. I am not sure if this is on purpose to highlight the progression of the character throughout the production or weather it was because the prodcution was still in previews. However I was pleased to see that by the end of the show her vocals were perfect. However I was still slightly distracted as I just was thinking that she is not Megan hilly (Who I watched live a few days prior in “Death becomes her”). Maybe this was just me and almost hindered by the fact that I have just watch end the original TV show. This view should not reflect on Robyn and a great performance.
I had a similar preconception and distraction with Caroline Bowman playing Karen as Katharine McPhee was amazing in the TV show. However Karen on this stage show did not have such a major role however Caroline vocals were spot on and amazing Tom start to finish throughout the whole show and was a great talent to witness live.
The next person who deserves a perticular mention is Bella Coppola as Chloe, a brand new character to the Smash world. Who vocals if not exactly beat Caroline or Robyn but were perfect for this role.
My final mention has to go to Brooks Ashmanskas as the very camp director Nigel. As soon as I saw Brooks bin stage I instantly remembered him from the original run of “Prom” which I watched o broadway a few years ago. He was brilliant in that and was brilliant in this and fitted this role perfectly. He brought the campness and more importantly the comedy to the production perfectly. Even though portraying a similar role his performance was great and expect another Tony nomination in his future fro this role.
Overall I give this production 2 out of 5 stars. A different skew of the orginal TV show with different characters added to the same concept. With the same great “Bombshell” songs/routines. If you haven’t seen the TV you might like it even more than I did and if you did see the TV you will love the iconic performance live.
More details on the show can be found on their website.
A SPURDLE reviews 