‘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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‘SOME LIKE IT HOT’: Christian Borle & J. Harrison Ghee. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

SOME LIKE IT HOT
Book by Matthew Lopez & Amber Ruffin
Music by Marc Shaiman
Lyrics by March Shaiman & Scott Wittman
Directed & choreographed by Casey Nicholaw
Shubert Theatre
 225 West 44th Street
(212-239-6200), https://somelikeithotmusical.com/

By David NouNou

If you want to thoroughly enjoy and be entertained by Some Like It Hot, the new musical, you have to completely divest yourself of any attachment or sentimental feelings you have for the classic 1959 Billy Wilder movie of the same name. Although Sugar, Joe/Josephine, and Jerry/Daphne still exist, do not expect to see imitations or impersonations of Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.

The creators kept the framework and the names of the three lead characters as well as the title of the movie, for brand recognition, but wisely decided to take them on a different journey. Joe (Christian Borle) and Jerry (J. Harrison Ghee) still witness a gangland killing and are chased by the mob. In order to protect their identity, they disguise themselves in drag as Josephine and Daphne and join an all-female band, Sweet Sue (NaTasha Yvette Williams) and her Society Syncopators, and meet female singer Sugar Kane (Adrianna Hicks). No longer is the train taking the female band to Florida for their engagement and the possibility of meeting rich eligible gentlemen. The ladies are now headed to San Diego and Hollywood stardom.

The setup for the scenes is completely different. No longer is it a run from Chicago to Miami, but the trip is cross-country, with lots of stops along the way. Each stop presents a different problem for the boys running from the mob; their destination is San Diego and ultimately Mexico and freedom. Once in San Diego, freedom comes at a price. Along the way, Joe, now Josephine, has fallen for Sugar, and Daphne has captured the heart of Osgood Fielding III (Kevin Del Aguila). Complications arise even further once affairs of the heart fall into place.

Although the book lacks fresh material and jokes, and the score is unmemorable, the freshest and most memorable aspect of the show is J. Harrison Ghee as Jerry/Daphne. As portrayed in the movie by Jack Lemmon, and one of my favorite movie characters of all time, I never thought I could ever get Jack Lemmon out of my mind. Mr. Ghee has taken this role and redefined it as his own. He is handsome as Jerry, heartbreaking as the emerging Daphne, and breathtaking as the gorgeous triumphant Daphne.

Two-time Tony Award winner for Peter and the Starcatcher and Something Rotten, Christian Borle is a Broadway veteran and has livened up many a Broadway show. However, his Joe/Josephine lacks charm and charisma and falls short in the shadow of Mr. Ghee. Once he dons his wig as Josephine, he looks like the spitting image of veteran Broadway character actress Jackie Hoffman. What more can I say?

Adrianna Hicks, who was splendid as Catherine of Aragon in last year’s Six, has a tremendous voice—she is a crowd-pleaser on her solo numbers “At the Old Majestic Nickel Matinee” and “Ride Out the Storm”—but her Sugar lacks vulnerability, thus making her one note with no dimension.

However, one should not focus too much on the show’s minor flaws. Amidst all the mayhem taking place on stage, director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw has worked his magic again, as he did for Aladdin, Book of Mormon, and Mean Girls, and sorts everything out replete with a Keystone Kops finale. He has turned Some Like It Hot into a sizzling, grand old-style Broadway extravaganza.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published December 14, 2022
Reviewed at December 13, 2022  press performance.

‘SOME LIKE IT HOT’: Adrianna Hicks. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘SOME LIKE IT HOT’: Adrianna Hicks & cast. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘SOME LIKE IT HOT’: NaTasha Yvette Williams & cast. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

‘SOME LIKE IT HOT’: Kevin Del Aguila & cast. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

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‘CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY’: (left to right) John Rubinstein, Ben Crawford, Emma Pfaeffle, Jake Ryan Flynn, Christian Borle, Trista Dollison, Alan H. Green, Jackie Hoffman & Michael Wartella. Photo: Joan Marcus

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Based on the novel by Roald Dahl
Book by David Greig
Music by Marc Shaiman
Lyrics by Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman
Directed by Jack O’Brien
Choreography by Joshua Bergasse
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
205 W. 46th Street
(877-250-2929), www.charlieonbroadway.com

By Scott Harrah

It’s ironic that a musical best known for the song “Pure Imagination” has been re-conceived for Broadway with so little of it. Director Jack O’Brien, book writer David Greig and composers Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman have turned what was a flawed but colorful musical in London into a bittersweet curiosity on Broadway. The overall product will likely thrill many, but is mostly cotton candy without the substance or edgy humor of the book and original film on which it is based.

Anyone who saw the 2013 London musical adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory knows the show’s shortcomings could have been easily “tweaked” for American audiences. There have been four major incarnations of Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel, a whimsical moral fable, from the delightful cult classic 1971 film adaptation with Gene Wilder to the digitally infused, Tim Burton 2005 remake with Johnny Depp, a West End musical adaptation and now this retooled and revamped reboot for Broadway. This “doctored” musical-comedy interpretation of Charlie is the weakest by far of all the adaptations. It lacks the charm of the 1971 movie, and also the sophisticated touches of the West End show.

Of course, there are spectacular production numbers that depict, with high-tech wizardry and Scott Wittman and Mark Shaiman’s effusive songbook, the classic tale of a group of children touring Willy Wonka’s magical chocolate factory.

Charlie closed in January at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and was a tourist staple. This reviewer saw Charlie in the United Kingdom two years ago and felt at the time that act one was too long for its own good, but the second act made up for it with songs and scenes depicting the dark, twisted fates of Augustus Gloop (F. Michael Haynie), Veruca Salt (Emma Pfaeffle), Mike Teavee (Michael Wartella) and Violet Beauregard (Trista Dollison).

The big change from London is the opening number, “The Candy Man” (the Leslie Bricusse-Anthony Newley song made famous by Sammy Davis, Jr.), which was in the 1971 film but not in the West End version at all. Instead of beginning at a dump, this Broadway edition opens in a candy store with Charlie (rotated by Jake Ryan Flynn, Ryan Foust and Ryan Sell in certain performances) and a surprisingly lackluster Christian Borle as Willy Wonka. He’s all ham and camp because he’s been given such flimsy material with which to work, and his portrayal of Willy suffers as a result.

Jackie Hoffman (fresh from her acclaimed role as Mamacita on “Feud”) is Mrs. Teavee, a pill-popping 1950s-style cartoonish mom, and she gets plenty of laughs. Ms. Hoffman is also less outrageous, in a good way, than she has been in some of her past Broadway work.

Grandpa Joe (John Rubinstein) is featured prominently here. There are the iconic kids who’ve won golden tickets, from spoiled rich brat Veruca Salt (here she’s a Russian girl) and her number “When Veruca Says” to gum-chewing Violet Beauregard’s “The Queen of Pop” (in this version she’s also an African American hip-hop girl, but the song “Double Bubble Duchess” was more fun in the London edition). TV-obsessed Mike Teavee sings “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” with his mother and the ensemble.

As with the films, the true excitement doesn’t really start until we visit the Chocolate Factory with Willy Wonka. The British stage version was darker, more literal and more technically vivid, but here things are more colorful and—dare I say it? —cheesier. Of course, there are also the winsomely disturbing Oompa-Loompas (represented by actors in special costumes, a clever touch by puppetry designer Basil Twist).

While the London show had marvelously futuristic sets for the Chocolate Factory scenes, the Broadway sets by video and production designer Jeff Sugg and lighting designer Japhy Weideman lack the “wow” factor of the West End production. The song “Vidiots,” featuring various TV sets, had the gleeful, streamlined futurism of a pop music video or live concert in London, but is not as impressive here.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory isn’t as cerebral as that other Roald Dahl musical adaptation, Matilda, but it is still fun, particularly seeing the warped ways that Augustus Gloop, Veruca, Violet and Mike face grisly retribution for being annoying, self-centered children. However, director Jack O’Brien and book writer still David Greig have not solved the main problem that plagued the West End version: The awkward first act. What’s shocking is that, with all the changes made, no one could think of a way to make Act One more enjoyable.

The story of Willy Wonka and Charlie is timeless, but this Charlie and the Chocolate Factory adaptation will be disappointing for fans of the film and the Roald Dahl book. It is truly a shame the people behind the show simply did not come up with fresh ideas to make this a more memorable musical.

Edited by David NouNou
Published April 26, 2017
Reviewed at press performance on April 25, 2017

‘CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY’: (left to right) Kristy Cates, Madeline Doherty, Paul Slade Smith, Emily Padgett, John Rubinstein & Ryan Sell. Photo: Joan Marcus

“CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY’: Ryan Foust. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY’: Jake Ryan Flynn & Christian Borle. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY’: Ryan Sell. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY’: Christian Borle. Photo: Joan Marcus

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