Musical theater world’s infighting exposed

Of the many American TV drama series that debuted this last season, “Smash” was of particular interest to theater buffs, because it “exposed” the fierce behind-the-scenes turmoil and to-the-death competitiveness that revolves around the conceptualization and production of a new stage musical.

The musical (its final episode aired recently but the whole season is being replayed and a second season is coming) was about the tragic life of the iconic Marilyn Monroe. “Smash” focuses not just on the two women aspiring and fighting for the plum role, but also on the new show’s producers, director, writer and other members of its creative team. The subplots also included some members of their families, their significant others, etc.!

Expectedly, the series’ storytelling sometimes came off as a bit of a mess. But reliable players like Debra Messing and Anjelica Huston did a lot to galvanize the action, and changed it with uncommon bite and verve.

It goes without saying that, since the series tackled the creative process in musical theater, it featured a lot of songs and production numbers. This made the production trendy, along the lines of “Glee” and “The Kitchen Musical”—but, for a decidedly more mature audience.

Fact is, the series’ musical requirements took up quite a lot of its running time, so its “spoken” scenes sometimes had to be abridged and done in a kind of “shorthand,” to fit everything in. Since some of the songs in the series weren’t exactly show-stoppers, we sometimes felt that the show could do better with fewer but better musical numbers.

The big gamble was the decision to entrust the key role of the newcomer who gets cast as Marilyn to “American Idol” find, Katharine McPhee. Some viewers and reviewers have faulted McPhee for not “getting” Monroe’s unique persona, but we beg to disagree. The fact that, in one fell swoop, she added dancing and acting to her range of performing skills was, in our view, more significant than her inability to look exactly like Marilyn Monroe.

Before the series concluded its run, it featured a guest performance by Uma Thurman, our favorite actress, also as Marilyn.

Obviously, Monroe is physically a stretch for Thurman to embody but she was creative and perceptive enough as a performer to make even an “approximation” more than worth our while.

Other key roles included that of the musical’s director, who wasn’t above seducing his stars to get them to do their best work, and the principal production department heads portrayed by Messing and Huston.

McPhee might have done really well in the show, but her more senior costars ended up outpacing her with their bravura characterizations. It certainly didn’t look like they intended to upstage her, but they’re such forces of (creative) nature that their vivid intensity couldn’t be denied. We imagine that McPhee had to do her best work all the time, just to keep up with them.