- Jimmy Fallon's Game of Desks. Rockefell rises!
- "Under Pressure," the number from Smash which opened the show's series finale. Should people on the streets in future generations ask you "what went wrong?", focus on Debra Messing's line readings to understand the gaps between what this show could have been, thought it was, and ultimately was.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
VIRAL AND ANTIVIRAL: Two NBC videos worth seeing, for equal and opposite reasons:
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Ah, Smash. What went wrong was the lack of Smash Williams.
ReplyDeleteBut as ridiculous as it was, plot-wise, I would buy an mp3 of the "Falling through the Sky" unplugged Tony number. That's always been my favorite song from Hit List, and I really loved that version of it.
After all that tsuris, did we really not get to find out who won best director?
My assumption was that Diane Paulus won for (apparently a revival of) Color Purple. And yes, that "Broadway, Here I Come" was lovely--indeed, all the songs from Hit List are nice--they just don't add up to a coherent whole---with Bombshell, we at least know the broad strokes of Marilyn's life.
ReplyDeleteFor as much as Smash did wrong, I have to give it credit for damn fine use of NYC locations and introducing broader audiences to some great talent (Borle, Hilty, Iconis--who wrote the Hit List Songs). Heck, it may have sold me a ticket to First Date, which will feature Krysta Rodriguez as the girl and Zachary Levi as the guy.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED the finale. There, I said it. My girls and I will truly miss this show. My only disappointment was that Daphne Rubin-Vega didn't join in on "Pressure." She's got a voice on her. Ugh... so sorry it's over.
ReplyDeleteSide note: my 12-year-old, so inspired by the show, sang "That's Life" in her music class the other day (both parts of the Karen/Ivy duet). It was great listening to her rehearse in the shower.
I haven't watched the finale of Smash yet, but I have to admit that I will miss it. It became much stronger in season 2 - Ivy finally became a somewhat consistent character, they dropped a lot of the problematic supporting characters and subplots, and the addition of a second show really helped. I also liked that nearly all of the songs sung in season 2 were done in context of a show or onstage performance rather than the random "I'm walking down the street singing," that they overdid in season one. (The exception is Kyle walking down the street singing before the hit and run.) The plot of Hit List never quite came into focus for me, but I enjoyed the somewhat false contrast between Broadway and downtown musicals (false because Hit List didn't seem *that* edgy, and some of those downtown musicals transfer to Broadway eventually). And as a theater person, I loved the inside jokes and cameo performances (like Shaiman/Wittman in the lobby on the opening night of Bombshell, or Daphne Rubin-Vega playing a publicist who never sings.)
ReplyDeleteThey did develop a full plot for Hit List in the writers' room(http://www.vulture.com/2013/05/smash-hit-list-plot-revealed.html), though I don't know that the full plot makes a whole lot of sense.
ReplyDelete