Marc Shaiman News

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.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Nick Jonas will reprise his guest starring role as Lyle West in the May 14 season finale of SMASH on NBC.

CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts Performing Arts Academy brings the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical to life. Jump back to 1960s Baltimore, where pleasantly plump Tracy Turnblad has big hair, an even bigger heart, and a huge dream to be a dancer on the Corny Collins Show. Tracy has never been part of the "in" crowd - until she wins the coveted spot and finds herself a teen idol overnight. Tracy becomes a trend setter, using her popularity to help change the show's segregation policy.

The Acting Company of New York will present the special event PATTI'S TURN!, a tribute to Patti LuPone, at 7pm tonight at the Kaye Playhouse.

Today we are talking to one half of the supremely talented composing team responsible for ZOMBIE PROM, THE FIX, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, and, now, BROTHER RUSSIA, the lyricist of the formidable Dempsey/Rowe himself, John Dempsey. In this career-spanning conversation, Dempsey and I discuss major and minor details of his handful of skillfully written and entertaining shows written with the collaboration of composer Dana Rowe (who will also be highlighted in this column next week), in particular their affiliation with legendary producer Cameron Mackintosh and Signature Theater founder and director Eric Schaeffer, director of the US premieres of three of their musicals, including the most current one opening later this month - as well as touch on his work with Boublil & Shonberg on THE PIRATE QUEEN and his musical adaptation of the religious-themed film SAVED! As if all of that were not enough, Dempsey and I also dissect the finer points of the new Dempsey/Rowe show in previews in Washington, D.C., BROTHER RUSSIA, as he outlines its inspiration, purpose, style and the intriguing story of the new heavy metal fairy tale meta rock opera - all of that and much, much more.

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!

On the March 12th episode of the NBC musical drama series SMASH entitled 'Chemistry', Ivy (Megan Hilty) faces major problems as her voice begins to fail her. Julia (Debra Messing) struggles to avoid Michael (guest star Will Chase) - but she can't. Eileen (Anjelica Huston) explores her inner hipster at a downtown dive bar with her new pAl Ellis (Jaime Cepero), while Karen (Katharine McPhee) is an even bigger fish out of water, as she books a side gig at a bar mitzvah on Long Island. Jack Davenport, Christian Borle, Raza Jaffrey and Brian d'Arcy James also star. Will Chase guest stars. The episode airs at 10:00 pm/ET on the NBC network. Check out a clip from the episode below!

Broadway By The Bay, the Peninsula's premier musical theatre company, presents the hilariously entertaining HAIRSPRAY, running Thursday, April 5 through Sunday, April 22, at the company's home, the historic Fox Theatre in Redwood City (2215 Broadway Street, Redwood City). Press night is scheduled for Friday, April 6, 2012 at 8:00. Tickets for HAIRSPRAY range in price from $20 - $48 and are on sale now at Broadway By The Bay Box Office (851 Burlway Road, Suite 300, Burlingame), by phone at 650-579-5565 and on the Web at www.broadwaybythebay.org. Special youth, student, senior and group pricings are available.

SISTER ACT's Marla Mindelle has posted a parody of the show on YouTube - watch it below!

E! Online reports that Anjelica Huston will sing in a future episode of NBC's SMASH. Writer Scott Wittman revealed the spoiler while E! was on set interviewing SMASH star Megan Hilty.

When the sad news came out this morning that famed Disney songwriter Robert B. Sherman died yesterday, March 5, in London, some of our first thoughts here at BroadwayWorld went out to Tony-winner Marc Shaiman. Shaiman had been a huge proponent of the incredible 'THE BOYS - The Sherman Brothers' Story' documentary and it was his enthusiasm that sent us off to see the fantastic film, and our lives were better off for it. We asked Marc to put together some of his thoughts on Robert Sherman and are proud to present them below.

According to published reports, NBC's SMASH, which aired its fourth episode last night, got a slight ratings boost with almost 6.9 million viewers. Last week's audience was 4% smaller at 6.5 million viewers. The series premiere earned the show a whopping 11.5 million tuning in on February 6.

Get a first look at next week episode of the Broadway-themed SMASH below! SMASH airs Mondays at 10pm on NBC.

On last night's episode of SMASH, titled 'Let's Be Bad,' Karen discovered a new acting opportunity while attending a government party with Dev. Things got more complicated between Michael and Julia and Eileen decided to team up with Ellis. Miss the episode? Catch up below!

Select songs from tonight's new episode of the NBC musical drama series SMASH (Mondays, 10-11 p.m. ET), will be available today from NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products and Columbia Records on the iTunes store at http://www.itunes.com/NBCSmash.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Broadway legand Benadette Peters will guest star on the March 19 episode of SMASH, and the show has just released an official description that reveals some details on her appearance. As described by KSiteTV: '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.'

NBC has released two new video previews from the Monday, March 5th episode of the musical drama series SMASH. In the first clip, Karen (Katharine McPhee) discovers what she 'brings to the party' in a sensual performance of James Brown's 'It's a Man's Man's Man's World'. In the second clip, Ivy (Megan Hilty) exudes Marilyn in her performance of 'Let's Be Bad', as rehearsal transforms into a Broadway fantasy.

In this Monday's episode of the NBC musical drama SMASH, guest star Will Chase's character, Michael attempts to win back the affections of his former love Julia, played by Debra Messing and serenades her with his version of Leon Russell's 'A Song For You'.

In a new interview with Reuters, NBC's president of programming, Bob Greenblatt told the news service that he was 'not at all disappointed in its performance. The expectations were never that 'Smash' would be the biggest hit on television,' Greenblatt said by telephone. 'But two years ago NBC wasn't even programming dramas at 10 p.m. To go from that to a 2.3 rating is a complete success.' (A 2.3 rating equates to 6.6 million viewers)' Regarding the show's likelihood of garnering a second season, they report that 'Greenblatt said the answer is most likely yes, but he did not rule out moving the show to a new day or time next season.'

NBC has just released a sneak peek clip of next week's SMASH episode entitled 'Let's Be Bad'. In the episode, Derek asks Karen to demonstrate to Ivy the 'correct' way to sing 'Happy Birthday'. While Karen does her best not to anger the 'Marilyn Monroe' star, Ivy still gives her a glance that suggests, 'if looks could kill!'