‘SMASH’: Robyn Hurder (center) & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

SMASH
Book by Bob Martin & Rick Elice
Based on the NBC TV series by Theresa Rebeck
Music by Marc Shaiman
Lyrics by Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman
Choreography by Joshua Bergasse
Directed by Susan Stroman
Imperial Theatre
249 West 45^th Street
https://smashbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

The NBC TV series “Smash” aired for two seasons in 2012 and 2013. Now, the Tony Award-winning team of book writers Bob Martin and Rick Elice, composer Marc Shaiman, lyricist Scott Wittman and director Susan Stroman have adapted the TV series into a splashy, fun, flawed yet sublime Broadway musical, Smash.

The show focuses on the story of a make-believe Marilyn Monroe musical called Bombshell: The Marilyn Monroe Story and the colorful characters all working behind the scenes to get the production off the ground. The fictional Marilyn is established star Ivy Lynn (Robyn Hurder), a gorgeous blonde who looks the part and is so into her character that she hires a “Method”-style acting coach, Susan Proctor (Kristine Nielsen), to help her become Marilyn.

Backstage intrigue

The narrative centers on backstage intrigue at a Broadway musical, with everyone doing anything to shine in the show, with more than one actress coveting the lead role of Marilyn. Ivy hires Susan after the husband-and-wife duo Jerry (John Behlmann) and Tracy (Krysta Rodriguez) give the actress a book by the Method coach. Meanwhile, understudy Karen (Caroline Bowman) is talented indeed but considered too inexperienced to play Marilyn. Ivy and Karen become instant rivals, adding tension.

Bombshell is helmed by veteran director Nigel (Brooks Ashmanskas), with the help of associate director Chloe (Bella Coppola). Chloe is a plus-sized woman who has also memorized all of Ivy’s lines. Everyone involved in the musical must answer to the producer Anita (Jacqueline B. Arnold), a no-nonsense woman who makes sure the show adheres to the guidelines and theme her investors expect.

Insider humor

The story includes all the issues involved with mounting a Broadway musical, from managing talent and budgets to “creative differences” and coping with egos. This is all a nice recipe for a “show-within-a-show.” Does everything work? Not always, but anyone interested in theater will find plenty of insider humor to savor. Joshua Bergasse’s energetic choreography and Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman’s songs keep everything moving along at a fun, vibrant pace. Fans of the TV series might recognize some of the numbers from the NBC show, including “The 20^th Century Fox Mambo” and “Let Me Be Your Star.”

Shows-within-a-show are nothing new in theater. Shakespeare used this technique in Hamlet (when actors performed for the court), Agatha Christie used it in The Mousetrap (still playing on the West End in London) and so did the recent British comedy The Play That Goes Wrong and the 1982 farce Noises Off.  The French call the concept mise en abyme, or “placed into abyss,” and in English it’s often called “metadrama.”

A hit for director Susan Stroman?

It has been a while since renowned Tony Award-winning director Susan Stroman scored a bona fide hit, but she might just have one here with Smash. Although far from being a perfect musical, the show has so much going for it, including an accomplished cast, many of whom have been working on Broadway for decades.

Fine cast

Robyn Hurder is delightfully imperious as the self-centered Ivy who makes everyone’s life hell in the production with her diva-like behavior. Caroline Bowman is equally top notch as Ivy’s rival and understudy, Karen. Ms. Bowman is exquisite, particularly in her show-stopping number “They Just Keep Moving the Line.”

Longtime Broadway vet Brooks Ashmanskas is always outstanding in any show. However, as the middle-aged, self-deprecating gay director Nigel, Mr. Ashmanskas gives one of his finest performances yet. He has never been funnier, from his quick-witted delivery of dialogue to his dynamic stage presence. He never fails to mine the material for laughs.

Supporting cast members shine

Nearly all of the supporting-cast performances are noteworthy as well. Krysta Rodriguez and John Behlmann are both hilarious as the often-arguing, married book and songwriting duo Tracy and Jerry. Two-time Tony nominee Kristine Nielsen is almost unrecognizable as the black-clad Method coach Susan Proctor. Ms. Nielsen’s Susan is a camp delight. She plays the character (or should I say caricature?) as a pretentious theatrical sorceress, charging big bucks to coach Ivy in the acting “method” used by Konstantin Stanislavsky and Lee Strasberg.

Bella Coppola gives one of the musical’s most magnificent performances as Chloe. Watching her transform herself from a frumpy associate director to a solid replacement for the glamorous Marilyn role is one of the show’s highlights.

This may not be the stage adaptation some fans of the old TV series were expecting, but as a musical comedy loaded with wit and nonstop silliness, Smash is simply splendid.

Published April 12, 2025
Reviewed at press preview performance on April 8, 2025

‘SMASH’: (left to right) Megan Kane, Brooks Ashmanskas, Robyn Hurder, Kristine Nielsen, Krysta Rodriguez & John Behlmann. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘SMASH’: (left to right) John Behlmann, Krysta Rodriguez, Jacqueline B. Arnold, Brooks Ashmanskas, Robyn Hurder, Caroline Bowman, Bella Coppola, and Nicholas Matos. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘SMASH’: Robyn Hurder & Brooks Ashmanskas. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘SMASH’: Bella Coppola. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘SMASH’: Krysta Rodriguez & John Behlmann. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘SMASH’: Caroline Bowman & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘SMASH’: Robyn Hurder & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

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GARY: A SEQUEL TO TITUS ANDRONICUS
By Taylor Mac
Directed by George C. Wolfe
Through August 4, 2019
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
212-239-6200, https://garyonbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

One doesn’t need to be familiar with Shakespeare’s grisly tragedy Titus Andronicus to appreciate Gary, billed as a “sequel” to the epic. The show has a stellar cast and an incredible set by Santo Loquasto, and there is enough lowbrow, slapstick humor here to make the first moments of the 95 minutes pass quickly even if one hasn’t seen the show on which it is based. However, Taylor Mac’s jet-black comedy falls flat on so many levels that, despite the initial laughs, we are left scratching our heads halfway through. Other than being a star vehicle for Nathan Lane, why is Gary even on Broadway?

Set in the year 400 during the fall of the Roman Empire, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus opens with Carol (Julie White), a midwife supposedly “on the verge of death.” Shortly after she appears onstage, a mysterious liquid shoots from her hand. Is it blood? Water? Vomit? Another gross body fluid? Go figure, but it is the first of a series of repeated sight gags throughout Gary that grow increasingly tiresome.

The set is a gruesome hodgepodge featuring dead bodies and various severed limbs and other human remains all piled up. The years of bloody Roman battles are supposedly over and Gary (Nathan Lane) is a servant/clown whose job is to clean up the mess. He speaks in a cockney accent and honks a horn whenever he makes endless unfunny jokes. Helping him clean is his boss and fellow cockney Janice (Kristine Nielsen). She shows him how to insert a tube into the dead bodies to pump out the contents of the intestines and how to bend the corpses to and fro in order to release trapped gas. Of course, this is an excuse for excessive fart noises (one of the only genuinely funny moments in an otherwise dreadful evening). Gary is also hot for the corpses (he masturbates one) and in another scene, robotic soldiers, staged with “movement” created by Bill Irwin, sport metallic armor and firm erections (don’t ask). The show has fittingly creepy original music by Danny Elfman.

Gary has little to do with Titus Andronicus. Some may argue it’s a profane burlesque of the grotesque, with shades of vaudeville (hence Gary’s honking horn). Gary and Janice mostly banter and babble about power and what they would do if they ruled the world. Are they simply cleaning up the mess made from people in authority? Who knows, but one thing is certain: Taylor Mac’s narrative is dull, puerile and fails to make any real comedy out of tragedy. Like Titus Andronicus, much of Gary is written in iambic pentameter, but this is all the more confusing to anyone unfamiliar with Shakespeare’s tragedy.

Perhaps Taylor Mac is trying to make a statement about the current mess in Washington, who should clean it up and the parallels to the Rome of Titus. If so, he misses the mark. Mr. Mac has taken three minor characters from Titus Andronicus—Gary, the clown, Janice, the maid and Carol, the midwife—and attempted to create a farcical sequel to Shakespeare’s play.

 Gary is haphazardly directed by George C. Wolfe. Mr. Lane, who was absolutely brilliant last year as Roy Cohn in the Angels in America revival, is a huge disappointment as Gary. Here, Mr. Lane mostly hams it up for laughs, and he can only do so much with the paper-thin material.  Kristine Nielsen gives a far more convincing performance as Janice. Ms. Nielsen’s Janice is full of energy and she delivers dialogue with razor-sharp wit and timing. Tony Award winner Julie White has lots of spunk as midwife Carol, but her talents are mostly wasted.

With Gary, Taylor Mac attempts to mimic the absurdist sensibility of Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco. However, the jokes and visual gags here seem more like “gross-out” stuff from early John Waters films, but Mr. Waters’ shameless antics were at least funny.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 21, 2019

‘GARY: A SEQUEL TO TITUS ANDRONICUS:’ Nathan Lane. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

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‘PRESENT LAUGHTER’: Kevin Kline & Kate Burton. Photo: Joan Marcus

PRESENT LAUGHTER
Written by Noël Coward
Directed by Moritz Von Stuelpnagel
Through July 2, 2017
St. James Theatre
246 West 44th Street
(877-250-2929), LaughteronBroadway.com/

By David NouNou

No one does drawing-room comedy better than Noel Coward. Having seen Present Laughter now for the fourth time, I can honestly say that this production, although unevenly cast, is the definitive version and a must-see. Having seen George C. Scott, Frank Langella, Victor Garber, all brilliant actors playing the central role of Garry Essendine, I must give top honors to Kevin Kline. Being semi-biographical, Mr. Kline taps into the heart and soul of Noel Coward. He is vain, narcissistic, self-indulgent, prone to tantrums, sexually busy, and needing constant reassurance (no, I’m not talking about an elected official. I’m talking about Mr. Coward). Mr. Kline imbues him with an additional trait, expert athleticism.

Written in 1943, it is a comedy of both good and bad manners. Of course it was different times and as Mr. Coward has written in so many of his plays: (Private Lives, Hay Fever, Design For Living), being a snob and spoiled is not necessarily a bad thing. Case in point:Garry Essendine has a loving ex-wife, Liz (Kate Burton), who pampers and spoils him and still knows when to come and rescue him; a doting secretary, Monica Reed (Kristen Nielson), who attends to his daily needs; close confidants, producer Henry Lyppiatt (Peter Francers James) and director, Morris Dixon (Reg Rogers); and a swarm of admirers who lose their latch keys in order to be close to him, especially the devious Joanna Lyppiatt (Cobie Smulders), married to Henry and the innocent, hapless, and foolish Daphne Stillington (Tedra Millan). Also let’s not forget he has two devoted staff members; a butler, Fred (Matt Bittner), and a Swedish housekeeper, Miss Erikson (Ellen Harvey) who is more Teutonic than Scandinavian. In this mix is also a confused and crazed failed playwright, Roland Maule (Bhavesh Patel), who is obsessed with Garry and we really don’t know why. You could say Garry has a charmed life; he is the sun and all the planets revolve around him.

Moritz von Stuelpnagel, who directed the brilliant Hand to God, has a talent for the absurd and throws just the right touch of mischief to the proceedings. In the center of it all is Kevin Kline, who always adds a touch of class to all his performances. Here his deftness in narcissism touches on his previous roles in the musicals On the 20th Century and The Pirates of Penzance, one of the many reasons we fell in love with him in the first place. He makes vanity and conceit an art rather than a deadly sin.

Kate Burton as Liz is charming, vivacious and smart; she knows she has a handful with Garry. Kristine Nielson is such a lovable actress and has given so many wonderful performances that it is difficult to say that she is miscast as an Englishwoman. Reg Rogers, who usually plays an Englishman, is also one of the miscast victims. He is more hysterical than floundering as the cuckolded director who is in love with the vampish Joanna. Cobie Smulders, making her Broadway debut, makes a striking Joanna. Tedra Millan is adorable as the annoying, foolish young groupie, Daphne.

There are two English comedies currently running on Broadway; one of them is sheer mayhem; the other is a classy, lively revival by Noel Coward and starring Kevin Kline. Cheerio.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 9, 2017
Reviewed at press performance on April 8, 2017

‘PRESENT LAUGHTER’: (left to right) Kristine Nielsen, Kate Burton & Kevin Kline. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘PRESENT LAUGHTER’: Kevin Kline. Photo: Joan Marcus

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SAGA OF THE SYCAMORE FAMILY TREE: (left to right) Annaleigh Ashford, Reg Rogers, Elizabeth Ashley, Kristine Nielsen, Mark Linn-Baker, James Earl Jones & Patrick Kerr. Photo: Joan Marcus

YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU
Written by Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman
Directed by Scott Ellis
Through February 22, 2015
Longacre Theatre
220 West 48th Street
(212-239-6200), www.YouCantTakeItWithYouBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Eccentric, quirky and zany characters in funny comedies are hard to come by these days, but a brilliant revival of the 1936 Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman comedy has just arrived and is setting off fireworks both figuratively and literally. Sure, the plot line is a bit over the top by today’s standards, but who cares when you are in the company of such expert comedic actors? You are here to laugh, have a good time and enjoy the foibles of people who enjoy their life by doing nothing but enjoying life, themselves and each other. It was an elixir to make people laugh for the depression era and it is still a tonic to be enjoyed in our troubled times.

Grandpa Vanderhof (James Earl Jones), head of the household, hasn’t paid his taxes in 24 years and doesn’t feel he should for the government isn’t good at handling money. Penny Sycamore (Kristine Nielson), his daughter, sits and writes ludicrous plays all day long because a typewriter was delivered to her address by mistake eight years prior and she took up playwriting. Penny is married to Paul Sycamore (Mark Linn-Baker); he creates fireworks and explosives for the 4^th of July weekends with his house guest, Mr. DePinna (Patrick Kerr) who moved in eight years earlier.

The Sycamores have two daughters: daffy Essie (Annaleigh Ashford), equally wonderful here as she was in Kinky Boots, makes candy all day called “Love Dreams,” and does all her movements through the art of ballet. She has been training deplorably for eight years to be a ballerina and is married to Ed (Will Brill), her marimba-playing musician husband. The only sane person in this loony bin is the lovely Alice (Rose Byrne). She knows her family is nuts, but she loves them through thick and thin.

Alice is also in love with Tony Kirby (Fran Kranz), who is straitlaced upper crust. She feels her family is way too eccentric to be accepted by his uptight parents: Mr. Kirby Sr. (Byron Jennings), who owns the company she works in, and Mrs. Kirby (Johanna Day). Throw in with this zany bunch Boris Kolenkhov (Reg Rogers), Essie’s boorish revolutionary ballet instructor who has been there for dinner for the last eight years. Gay Wellington (Julie Halston), an alcoholic actress who is auditioning for one of Penny’s plays, but has passed out before the play started; and the ever enchanting Elizabeth Ashley as the Grand Duchess Olga, cousin to the Czar of Russia, who is now working as a waitress at Childs Restaurant (famous chain in the 1930s). This is her day off and since she is an expert blintz maker, it takes her no time to whip up a batch of blintzes for the entire household. Throw in the IRS, G-Men, the police, a couple of kittens, some background snakes, a dinner party set on the wrong date that goes horribly wrong and you’ve got an evening of nonstop revelry.

This revelry is paced by the ever-competent director, Scott Ellis. He has a knack for the madness that ensues and has fine-tuned all his actors to be up to par for the occasion. Kudos should also be given to David Rockwell’s excellent revolving set of the seedy Sycamore home.

When you have the opportunity to spend some time with James Earl Jones, Annaleigh Ashford, Elizabeth Ashley, Rose Byrne, Kristine Nielson, Reg Rogers, Mark Linn-Baker, Patrick Karr, Byron Jennings and Johanna Day, how can you go wrong? None of us will probably ever be invited to the Sycamore household and maybe it’s just as well, but it was a hell of a night watching all their mirth and shenanigans.

GRANDPA KNOWS BEST: Rose Byrne & James Earl Jones. Photo: Joan Marcus

ECCENTRIC KINFOLK: Kristine Nielsen & James Earl Jones. Photo: Joan Marcus

MADCAP MOMENT: (left to right) Byron Jennings, Johanna Day, Fran Kranz & James Earl Jones in ‘You Can’t Take It With You.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 3, 2014
Reviewed at press performance on October 2, 2014

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