Lach

I wish! I would watch anything Megan Hilty is in, preferably another TV show about musical theatre; I just find myself absolutely in love with Ivy Lynn and would love to continue to follow her journey. I admire Megan as a person very much, but I just have this feeling of resentment towards McPhee, now I know that she is not the only problem with Smash, but she was one of the obvious ones. Plus the fact that she always come across badly in interviews and the recent 'incident' with the married director just cemented my resentment (Doesn't help when I came across some forum discussing her from her idol days when people found her unlikable). Now I would be nice to Katharine McPhee if I ever have the chance to meet her or interact with her in anyway, because I am not the type of person who would be rude (and I don't know her), but I just can't help how I feel about her as of now. No doubt both girls worked very hard on Smash, I do believe it, seeing as how McPhee's performance on the pilot was better than the rest of the series, I do believe that she wanted this role and worked hard, she just lacks the skills (no sympathy when she didn't complete her education and went auditioning for idols, also when she apparently didn't improve when she has the time between season 1 and 2). McPhee worked very hard to learn everything and was able to speak her lines and hit her mark, but Megan was able to do all that and more. I mean, in the end, people don't really score according to how much effort you put in, otherwise everyone would be an EGOT, that's just how it is. Though, usually there is a correlation between how much effort you put in and the outcome.

For those of us who couldn't be there, according to this interview (around 13:20), a live album of Megan's Cafe Carlyle show was recorded!!

Yes, I do recall seeing Marc Shaiman on Facebook telling people to message him if they want the mp3 of Megan's don't forget me right after the opening night episode, I suspect too many people asked so he just puts up the link openly for people to download. Soon after that he had a status update saying that he had to take the link down, because the studio was going to put it up on amazon and iTunes for purchasing. I just thought they'd rather pocket the money than saving Kat's face. I did download Marc's free version, but ended up buying it off iTunes as well, just because I really want to show my support for Megan/Ivy. It was sneaky to put it up without anyone noticing, though I am not quite sure how these things work, do they ever make announcement specifically for each songs? I assume they just tell people that songs can be purchased on amazon/iTunes (I could be wrong, really have no clue). Maybe they didn't plan to put Megan's version up so the song wasn't queued, and therefore didn't go up the same week as the episode, and people just assume that they are not putting it out. They also put Megan's Don't Dream It's Over, the demo of SHWBG (Christine Ebersole), Smash (Jane Krakowski) and NGATH (Megan Hilty) on the complete season 2 album on iTunes. I have a friend who wanted Megan's Don't Dream It's Over since she heard it on the show and was so surprise when I told her that the whole song is on iTunes. The three demo was on the target deluxe edition (thought it was target exclusive) but now it's also on iTunes. Don't know what's up with that, but it's a good thing. It only someone would put Megan's Gravity on iTunes as well. *sigh* Ideally, I want Megan's version of all the bombshell songs she didn't sing (we already have DFM and NGATH, I am thankful for that), but I figured since LMBYS has already made it into Megan's repertoire, we should have a greater chance of getting a studio version of that. It is still very unlikely, hopefully one day Megan would have another album deal and decided to do a Musical theatre album with a solo LMBYS, likely to be a different arrangement but I'll take it. If we are very very very lucky, she might even do other bombshell songs she didn't record because we don't need two versions of the same song. Or maybe Marc, Scott and Megan would want to re-record wolf because they added the last verse after it was recorded! One could dream, right? Marc Shaiman said that they originally had another song written for the season 1 finale but the producer didn't like it or something, so they wrote DFM in a hurry. I am just not a big fan of DFM, thought they would make some changes but they didn't. So I would really love to have a listen to the originally song, I'd be happy with just a demo. I know I am being very greedy. :P I don't mind pitch problems all that much because at least they are not conscious decisions, nobody want's to be off pitch but sometimes it just happens, I can empathise with that (I have not listen to that much of Kat's live performances, so I can't tell if this is a persistent problem of hers). But the slurring clearly would be a choice Kat made, to give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she is too used to her pop style of singing and did it subconsciously, or that she feels the whole thing is too musical theatre/broadway, and wanted to add a breath of fresh air to the programme (which I find to be disrespectful to Marc & Scott, but she has good intentions). :/ It just really bugs me for some reason, also don't like all the little breaths she was taking DURING a phrase, is she trying to be more Marilyn or something? And the staccato-y singing, bugs me even back in season 1. Edit: Megan singing Moving the line at the same event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C-x_21p6zc Bonus songs from hairspray: You can't stop the beat - as many hairspray OBC as they could get + Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman The end was cut early but the second one shows the very end of the performance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn61PIoG5Ns http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trFUjDnQ8ws I know where I've been - Jenifer Lewis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFRAcix22N8 Amazing!

A video of Kat McPhee and Megan Hilty singing together in the New York Pops 31st Birthday Gala honouring Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman finally made it's way to youtube. Kat sang Don't forget me and was then joined by Megan in Let me be your star. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZuUqrIYLUI Is it me or is Kat's slurring really annoying during Don't forget me? I would kill to have a studio version of Megan singing Let me be your star solo, and she has sang that solo in many of her concert, but after hearing this, I gotta say that it does sound better as a duet. (I still want that solo version, though)

Discuss the music of Smash here.

Wow, never actually thought about it this way! That's interesting. I was just surprise that Derek was the one trying to make amends, at the time I feel that Derek was an arrogant, self-centered and self-absorbed womanising douchebag, don't get me wrong, he is, I just didn't think he would soften up and ask her to stay. In the workshop, it was Derek who tried and asked Ivy if they are 'good', too. Derek seems to be the one really trying to get back together with Ivy even in season 1, so props to Safran for writing Derek seeking Ivy as well. I still hate Derek for hurting Ivy in the worse way possible, but thinking about Derek crawling back to Ivy all the time makes me feel better.

Thank you so much for sharing with us, WilsonCat! I am always under the impression that Megan and Kat are really good friends, probably from all the interviews I read and their social media interactions, but I guess its hard to tell how their relationship is really like from these stuff. *shrugs* Since Kat's acting in season 2 got worse, I often wonder if Megan and Kat ever 'share' acting tips, or if it's the elephant in the room and they just dance around it. But I guess it's just difficult to teach someone with little talent, I was an oboe teacher and have taught both kids and adults, as much as I love to say that anyone can play well if they worked hard enough, it's simply not true from my experiences. Then Kat has always come across as quite smug (could be her eyebrows), maybe she just isn't aware of her limitations. It is fascinating to read a bit about Megan and her approaches to her craft! That just shows how much work a real artist puts into their performances! As a musician, I really relate and understand how much dedication and energy you put into your craft. I have had my share of experiences with people playing favourites or playing dirty simply because they don't like you, so I cannot in a million years forgive Spielberg for his actions towards Megan. In any case, I am just happy that Smash showcased Megan's talent for the world to see. *cough* Poking fun at the interview of Kat saying how she is happy to be on Smash cause it showcases her. *cough* Oh, I am sure Jack Davenport is more than impressed with Megan's work, It shows in interviews. Still hate Derek though. :P

Ooh. I get it now, it makes sense, for some reason I thought it was a character discussion thread, still getting used to it here. :P

Thank you Cranberry for moving my posts, though, I am not sure discussing about how Megan's parent feel about Kat in the Ivy league thread would be appropriate or is it okay?

Sure, I will do that. Just wasn't sure if that thread was for discussing the character only. Oh, that's a wonderful idea, especially now that Megan is really pregnant, they don't even need to make those fake baby bum for her! I could end with Ivy/Megan giving birth, a new broadway star is born! Let's give the baby a spin off. Just curious, do you know how Megan's parents feel about Kat's acting ability/ Karen as a character? I know Megan and Kat are best friends and wouldn't want people bad mouthing about Kat, but let's face it, they certainly must know that someone with lesser talent is being pushed as the biggest star ever while their daughter was being thrown under the bus. I guess it'd be awkward to ask, so I understand if you didn't talk about it.

Hello everyone! I'm a long time lurker at the TWoP Smash thread and also imdb smash board. I was at the imdb Smash forum and saw someone posting a comment from datalounge and I just had to make an account and post this. It seems to be an insider talking about Spielberg's dislike for Megan Hilty. Not sure if I should start a rumour thread or if it's okay to talking about it here, but here goes (If this should indeed be in a separate thread, just let me know and I will create one or someone can make it): Thoughts: I knew Spielberg wanted Megan gone from the 'How Smash became the biggest train wreck' article, just never thought he'd play so dirty, guess I just don't know Hollywood well enough. Never going to watch anything Spielberg related ever again, that's for sure!