Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The inspired stage adaptation of SMASH is an obsessive love letter to musical theater and the creative process

• By drediman
• April 11, 2025
• No Comments

After what has seemed like a long and winding road, the stage version of Smash at long last opened on the Great White Way on Thursday night at the Imperial Theatre. Although the musical bears the same title, songs, and broad premise — a chronicle of the travails of the creation of the fictitious show Bombshell, an in-development Broadway-bound bio-musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe — of the cult series that aired for two seasons in 2012/2013, little else of the television show remains. Simply put, the musical at the Imperial is an ingenious total reinvention and reboot of a property that’s in essence an obsessive love letter to the crazy business called show and the alchemy that is the creative process.

The success of the musical is tied directly to the smart and very funny book by Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone, The Prom) and Rick Elice (Jersey Boys, Peter and the Starcatcher), who in my mind deserve MVP awards for their efforts here. In this iteration of Smash, the plot firmly drives the hilarity and the songs only arise within the context of the characters actually singing rather than them bursting inexplicably into song. As such, the musical is grounded in refreshingly sturdy character-building and feels much more integrated than your typical musical theater fare. Most importantly, the show has heart. Suffice to say, Martin and Elice’s inspired work is a complete tonal shift from and a vast improvement on the tiresome soapy melodrama that characterized the television series. As mentioned, the songs by the veteran team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman — most of them written in the mode of 1950s pastiche — have been kept intact, albeit largely reassigned to different characters, and they sound absolutely thrilling in Doug Besterman’s orchestrations for a luxurious 18-strong orchestra.

Highly accomplished theater director Susan Stroman masterfully keeps the narrative’s multiple threads in check (no spoilers here!), seamlessly incorporating Joshua Bergasse’s crisp and dynamic choreography to create a theatrical tapestry that lovingly unfolds with effortless confidence. Dare I say, it’s her finest directorial work since The Producers. Stroman directs a sensational cast led by the terrific Robyn Hurder — a true triple threat if there ever was one — in the role of Broadway star Ivy Lynn. Other standouts in the production’s slew of finely-crafted performances include the ever caustic Brooks Ashmanskas, who as Bombshell‘s moody director is giving perhaps the best performance of his career, as well as Kristine Nielsen and Jacqueline B. Arnold as an acting coach from hell and a sassy boss woman producer, respectively.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

SMASH
Broadway, Musical
Imperial Theatre
2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Open run