The show I am talking about is "Smash" on NBC. It's the story of a musical being made and it's produced by Steven Spielberg so that should be your first clue that of course it's good! I don't want to give too much of the plot away because if anyone hasn't seen it I don't want to spoil it since I want to convince you all to watch it! Let me give you some broad strokes though... There are many characters which I would consider to be main characters...
You have Tom & Julia who are musical writers (played by Debra Messing and Christian Borle) but you don't just see them as writers. You see how so many pieces of their life are affected by the work they do and they choices they make.
There are Ivy & Karen (played by Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee) who battle for the lead role in the musical. Again you don't just see them sing and dance you live out many parts of their life with them. Their voices are SPECTACULAR!
Jack Davenport (who I have to admit is incredibly handsome!) plays Derek the Bad-Boy Director and in many ways is the most complex of all the characters.
Anjelica Huston plays Eileen the Director of the musical who goes through more than a few trials and tribulations along the way.
Many other characters get added but I don't want to give too much away. What I will give away is that the writers of "Smash" do an impeccable job of character development so much so that you can't help but feel raw emotions for and towards the characters. You will feel empathetic for each of them at different times but then frustrated with them at others since this show is so multi-dimensional.
What's the musical you ask? Well I will give that away (well the first one at least) - it's called "Bombshell" and it's based on Marilyn Monroe's life. In many ways this musical becomes a character all in and of itself.
The show is in it's Second Season but you can buy or borrow Season 1 and get caught up!
I know this "review" of sorts is all over the place and not terribly informative but I just don't want to give away anything fantastic from the show for anyone who hasn't seen it. I watch every episode anxiously waiting to see what happens because I am so enraptured by the story. I want you to have the same experience.
I absolutely would go see these musicals if they were the real deal on Broadway especially if the Broadway show had this amazing cast!
What made me write this blog today? Well I just finished watching the most recent episode (yes I know I am a few days late but given how hectic our lives our DVR is the only way I can see any shows that I want to be sure to catch!) and all I can say is WOW! This episode pulled together all the feelings and emotions that have been building in the show and put the viewer smack dab in the middle of them all. I don't want to give any major spoilers (in case some of you haven't seen it yet) but I will tell you that I spent most of the episode in a puddle of tears.
Maybe it's the music in the show that helps people (okay well at least me) connect to the emotions of the show. There are few shows that have ever done this for me but another notable one is "Rent" so perhaps it's apropos that Jesse L. Martin has become a character in Season 2. (He was Tom Collins in the Original Broadway Cast of Rent.) There are also many parallels I could draw between the 2 shows but I'll save that for another blog.
Once you watch the show you will of course want to own the music too! (It's well played on my iPod I can tell you!)
Bottom line - you don't want to miss this show! Check it out - I can pretty much guarantee you will be hooked!
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