It's a Smash!

This February NBC begins a new television show and they've released the Pilot early for free on iTunes (and watch-series and so on and so forth).  I of course had to see what kind of show this was going to be.  After watching the pilot I see a LOT of potential.  We have a cast and crew that is chalk full of awards from Oscars to Grammys.  It get's me to thinking maybe they have a chance.

Beginning with crew we have Executive producer Steven Spielberg.  He's sorta well-known in the movie world as being freaking awesome!  You can definitely tell he has a hand in this because of all the panache.  The dance scenes are extremely flashy and fun.  Still I don't think they overdo it, (Glee).  They will go back and forth from reality to the stage version but I think they show what it would actually look like in a Broadway show so it works.




The composer has done a lot of movies though not all are making me believe he can write for broadway.  His main claim to Broadway fame is his work on Hairspray.  Him and the lyricist Scott Wittman who also worked on Hairspray are the meat of this whole show so hopefully they can come out with some good original stuff.

The writers of the show are less well-known.  Theresa Rebeck has written a little for Law and Order but not much other than that.  Scott Burkhardt hasn't done anything substantial so if the storyline sucks we'll know why.

The show revolves around a new idea for a musical: The life of Marilyn Monroe.  The characters have to pull in a lot of help to make it happen and of course, find their Marilyn.  This brings us to two main characters: one, Ivy Lynn, is an upcoming actress with experience under her belt and a great set of lungs.  Oh yea and she looks just like Marilyn.  Basically the shoe fits for just about everyone except the director Derek Wills.  He wants a Marilyn who has less experience because that was who Marilyn Monroe was a the beginning of her career.  Enter Karen Cartwright, a nobody who moved to New York with the dream of being a Broadway star.  After being turned down time after time she comes to the audition and the director falls in love with her.  While she doesn't have the looks or experience she has the pipes.

Moving to the cast things look really good!  Debra Messing plays the lyricist Julia Houstin.  She is in the middle of an adoption when the idea of Marilyn the musical enters.  Messing is most famous for Will and Grace showing she works well with gay men bringing us to Christian Borle.  Borle plays composer Tom Levitt.  He is gay and loves the idea of Ivy playing Marilyn.  He is willing to do everything to make it happen.  Jack Davenport plays director Derek Wills.  Davenport is most famous for playing Commodore Norrington in Pirates of the Caribbean.  There is something about Cartwright that Derek really likes as an actress and a person.

Other cast members include Jaime Cepero who plays Ellis Tancharoena an assistant with his own reasons for wanting to join the team and Anjelica Housten who plays producer Eileen Rand.  She is going through a divorce and has no money but is somehow paying for the production.

Who's to say this show won't crash and burn or live great for a season then burn (Glee)?  It's all left up for chances.  My favorite part of it is that it's definitely Broadway!  This is a professional show if I've ever seen it.  It has drama, music, acting, and choreography.  My only main worry is that this is the life of Marilyn Monroe.  The woman wasn't the most chaste actress by a long shot.  How will they keep any value in this?  Will they even try?  There was one number in the pilot that was a little too racy for my taste.  Don't take my word for it though.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

The show could be a smash or get smashed.  Which will it be?  Stay tooned.