Last night on SMASH, the team dealt with the aftermath of the workshop. Ivy (Megan Hilty) remained in the dark about her fate, while Derek (Jack Davenport) recruited Karen (Katharine McPhee) to help him steal the musical from Tom and Julia (Christian Borle and Debra Messing). Eileen (Anjelica Huston) had to face up to her ex-husband, Jerry (guest star Michael Cristofer), when their daughter Katie (guest star Grace Gummer) payed a surprise visit from India. Miss the episode? Catch up beow!
Sporadically shedding its former skin as a mainly musical endeavor, last night's "The Coup" episode of NBC's musical dramedy series SMASH stepped outside the box and presented a drama-focused show heavy on the plot and light on the musical numbers - with surprisingly strong results, believe it or not. As has become abundantly apparent, in the seven episodes up until this point, SMASH seems to have excelled in its musical sequences which floated high, flying, adored (like Eva Peron in EVITA) above everything else; enlivening the proceedings where the story fell short - usually, with Ivy (Megan Hilty) dominating the Marilyn Monroe show-within-the-show songs and Karen (Katharine McPhee) making the very most of an impressive melange of pop covers - but, as penned by Scott Burkhardt and directed by GLEE veteran Paris Barclay, "The Coup" showed that SMASH has legs and can sustain a character/plot-focused story from time to time, too. And, anyway, it's hard to complain too much about a lack of songs when we were presented with perhaps the most unique and stylized pop musical number to date in the form of the Top 40-ready Ryan Tedder-written potential Marilyn burlesque routine - that is, if Derek (Jack Davenport) takes the show-within-the-show in an entirely new direction and leaves Tom (Christian Borle) and Julia (Debra Messing) by the wayside. That potential prospect seems highly unlikely, though - to say the very, very least. Speaking of high, "The Coup" flew the coop as far as daring to do what many may have thought unlikely or impossible - namely, weaving in almost seamless, fully-integrated musical sequences such as Ivy & company's down and dirty bowling alley cover song set to the funky 60s sounds of Sly & The Family Stone's "Dance To The Music", or, (almost) effortlessly managing to make a contemporary song in a musical theatre milieu actually function (more or less) and come alive in the form of the sexy and titillating 'Touch Me'. Yes, "The Coup" stylistically diverged from what has come before on SMASH, but the more risks taken, the more rewards reaped. Definitely don't count all the eggs in the SMASH basket before they're hatched!
The new featured song from tonight's episode of NBC's musical drama series SMASH (Mondays, 10-11 p.m. ET) is now available from NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products and Columbia Records on the iTunes store at http://www.itunes.com/NBCSmash.
On the March 26th episode of the NBC musical drama series SMASH entitled 'The Coup' Eileen (Anjelica Huston) finds time to settle into her new hip Lower East Side apartment with the help of her new best friend, Ellis and her daughter Katie (actress Grace Gummer) who pays a surprise visit from India.
Next week on SMASH, the team deals with what happens after the workshop of Marilyn, Karen becomes an accomplice in Derek's shady strategy, Frank does his best to put Juliet at ease and Eileen receives a surprise visitor.
Watch the preview clips of the episode below!
On the March 26th episode of the NBC musical drama series SMASH entitled 'The Coup' Eileen (Anjelica Huston) finds time to settle into her new hip Lower East Side apartment with the help of her new best friend, Ellis and her daughter Katie (actress Grace Gummer) who pays a surprise visit from India.
Deadline reports that SMASH creator and executive producer Theresa Rebeck will step down as showrunner for the television show before it returns for its recently announced second season. Rebeck will remain an executive producer of the show, but will not be as extensively involved in the day-to-day production of the series.
NBC has renewed its critically acclaimed musical drama "Smash" (Mondays, 10-11 p.m. ET) for a second season, it was announced today by Robert Greenblatt, Chairman of NBC Entertainment.
Next week on SMASH, the team deals with the aftermath of the workshop. Ivy (Megan Hilty) remains in the dark about her fate, while Derek (Jack Davenport) recruits Karen (Katharine McPhee) to help him steal the musical from Tom and Julia (Christian Borle and Debra Messing). Eileen (Anjelica Huston) must face up to her ex-husband, Jerry (guest star Michael Cristofer), when their daughter Katie (guest star Grace Gummer) pays a surprise visit from India. Check out a sneak peek of the upcoming episode below!
This upcoming episode marks the first time that we hear Tony nominee Brain d'Arcy James sing on the series, and you can check out a preview below!
Last night on SMASH, everything came to a head as Eileen (Anjelica Huston), Derek (Jack Davenport) and the team presented 'Marilyn The Musical' to would-be investors. Ivy (Megan Hilty) was under pressure to perform, while her mother, Broadway star Leigh Conroy (special guest Bernadette Peters), undermined her at every turn. Karen (Katharine McPhee) had to decide between the workshop and a meeting with a big-time music producer. Julia (Debra Messing) and Michael (guest star Will Chase) had to face up to the consequences of their actions.
Miss the episode? Catch up below.
Next week on SMASH, the team deals with the aftermath of the workshop. Ivy (Megan Hilty) remains in the dark about her fate, while Derek (Jack Davenport) recruits Karen (Katharine McPhee) to help him steal the musical from Tom and Julia (Christian Borle and Debra Messing). Eileen (Anjelica Huston) must face up to her ex-husband, Jerry (guest star Michael Cristofer), when their daughter Katie (guest star Grace Gummer) pays a surprise visit from India. Check out a sneak peek of the upcoming episode below!
The new featured song from tonight's episode of NBC's musical drama series SMASH (Mondays, 10-11 p.m. ET) is now available from NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products and Columbia Records on the iTunes store at http://www.itunes.com/NBCSmash. NBC also provides episode recaps, games, photos, videos, musical performance highlights and even fan challenges each week at http://www.nbc.com/smash/.
Tonight on SMASH, everything comes to a head as Eileen (Anjelica Huston), Derek (Jack Davenport) and the team present 'Marilyn The Musical' to would-be investors. Ivy (Megan Hilty) is under pressure to perform, while her mother, Broadway star Leigh Conroy (special guest Bernadette Peters), undermines her at every turn. Karen (Katharine McPhee) must decide between the workshop and a meeting with a big-time music producer. Julia (Debra Messing) and Michael (guest star Will Chase) must face up to the consequences of their actions.
In the video below, special guest star Bernadette Peters visits 'The Today Show,' where she chats about her upcoming appearance. Click below to check it out!
Since NBC's musical drama series SMASH is kicking into high gear as the Marilyn Monroe musical that forms the core of the show's story approaches its first workshop presentation on Monday night's episode - with the highly awaited appearance of Broadway legend Bernadette Peters coming next week, as well; playing the mother of the Marilyn musical star, Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) - now is the ideal opportunity to, well, "Fade in on a girl / With a hunger for fame / And a face and a name to remember," to quote Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's crown jewel in a diadem of a songstack for the show-within-the-show, BOMBSHELL. The show-within-the-show is better that most scores on Broadway these days and that is a credit to the Tony-winning tunesmiths and their ability to make musical theatre that is polished and professional, yet totally fun, bawdy and accessible, as well. Look no further than this week's "History Is Made At Night" or last week's "Let's Be Bad" - to say nothing of the pilot's twofer of titanic theatrical prowess in the form of "The National Pastime" and the afore-quoted "Let Me Be Your Star". Plus, we have to remember, SMASH has not one Marilyn, but two, so the future possibilities of who will be singing these songs and how they will be presented is totally unknown. As we shall see in the clips below, "Let Me Be Your Star" will now have its third iteration on the show, acting as the opening number in the workshop presentation as Ivy Lynn belts it to the rafters, ballad-style - not unlike the Karen/Ivy stage sequence presented in Episode 2 as a dream. Using just the example of "Star", we can see how rich and rewarding it is to further explore the depths of drama and heights of wit amply apparent in the sometimes caustic, sometimes campy and always enjoyably, embraceable unique work of Shaiman & Wittman on their songs for SMASH. The story setting them up, drama surrounding and contained within them - with the meta-narrative of the behind-the-scenes going on we are privy to acting as another layer - makes the production numbers the most brightly glittering stars of the SMASH universe. Katharine McPhee's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", "Call Me" and "Rumor Has It", as well as Hilty's "Crazy Dreams", were all viable and entertaining covers in their own right, yet the original songs are what make SMASH really sing - and zing, sting and ring-a-ding-ding.
Next week on SMASH, Everything comes to a head as Eileen (Anjelica Huston), Derek (Jack Davenport) and the team present 'Marilyn The Musical' to would-be investors. Ivy (Megan Hilty) is under pressure to perform, while her mother, Broadway star Leigh Conroy (special guest Bernadette Peters), undermines her at every turn. Karen (Katharine McPhee) must decide between the workshop and a meeting with a big-time music producer. Julia (Debra Messing) and Michael (guest star Will Chase) must face up to the consequences of their actions.
Check out a sneak peek of Peters singing 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' from the episode below!
Next week on SMASH, Everything comes to a head as Eileen (Anjelica Huston), Derek (Jack Davenport) and the team present 'Marilyn The Musical' to would-be investors. Ivy (Megan Hilty) is under pressure to perform, while her mother, Broadway star Leigh Conroy (special guest Bernadette Peters), undermines her at every turn. Karen (Katharine McPhee) must decide between the workshop and a meeting with a big-time music producer. Julia (Debra Messing) and Michael (guest star Will Chase) must face up to the consequences of their actions. In the video below, Peters chats about her upcoming guest spot. Click below to hear what she has to say!
Next week on SMASH, Everything comes to a head as Eileen (Anjelica Huston), Derek (Jack Davenport) and the team present 'Marilyn The Musical' to would-be investors. Ivy (Megan Hilty) is under pressure to perform, while her mother, Broadway star Leigh Conroy (special guest Bernadette Peters), undermines her at every turn. Karen (Katharine McPhee) must decide between the workshop and a meeting with a big-time music producer. Julia (Debra Messing) and Michael (guest star Will Chase) must face up to the consequences of their actions. Check out photos from the episode below!
As we near the halfway point for Season One, it is evident now more than ever that SMASH has established a pretty clear-cut style, structure and overall dramatic direction - each week we can depend upon most if not all of the following in one form or another: a fabulous Marilyn Monroe-themed musical production number; a soul-baring rehearsal scene or three; a pop cover or two (both a classic and a current one, if possible); some Derek (Jack Davenport) and Ivy (Megan Hilty) diva drama and hand-wringing; cattiness, backstabbing and shade thrown in the direction of, and almost always directly affecting, sweet-as-pie Karen (Katharine McPhee), an all-too sympathetic character who just can't seem to catch a break (bar mitzvah tween audiences excluded); a peek into the lives of the Marilyn musical songwriters, Julia (Debra Messing) and Tom (Christian Borle), currently developing the show-within-the-show before our very eyes and ears; Julia and Tom's subsequent respective romantic relationships and entanglements (showmances and otherwise; though it seems there are many more of the former than the latter with these two); and, of course, Anjelica Huston being both poignant in one way or another in her delicate portrayal of Eileen and also just plain divine as only she can be, kicking ass and taking names as the lead producer of the show-within-the-show. All in all, the show-within-the-show based on Marilyn Monroe acts as the real machine running SMASH and keeping it all connected. And, that about sums it up. Shake, stir and serve - there you have SMASH in a sentence or two. Better still, this formula really works - and also really works wonders, from time to time, too. Each week dishes up its fair share of surprises, as well. I mean, who could foresee that scintillating scene with Julia and Joe DiMaggio (Will Chase) post-rehearsal paralleling the Marilyn/DiMaggio duet just rehearsed? Or, furthermore, Karen positively killing Florence & The Machine at a bar mitzvah like she most certainly did? Best of all, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman provided another tantalizing and terrific new Marilyn song with a fiercely fresh style and sound in the spectacular form of the romantically rapturous, late-50s doo-wop-hued duet "History Is Made At Night", given a particularly playfully seductive performance by Chase and Hilty as the undeniably perfect Monroe and Joe DiMaggio (though Chase's character does not seem like he will be sticking around much longer). Plus, how badass was Eileen (Anjelica Huston) at the very end of the episode and how all around awesome was her delivery of the final line? Shoot to score, indeed - and, on 'Chemistry', there was more focus on the scoring, both in the musical and sexual senses, than on anything else. Above all, last night's SMASH showed that one aspect of show business shall always remain a viable, hot-cross-bun-level-hot commodity: sex.
Katherine McPhee's character Karen on the NBC hit 'Smash' Karen sings to a group of pre-teens at a bar mitzvah in a clip form the March 12 episode. Check out the sneak peek video here!
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