Tara And Adam's Rewatch: Smash Celebrates The Voices Of A New Generation

[Primetimer]

It's fun, but it's not perfect: rewatchers Adam and Tara decide whether to let the broken pieces go.

Read the story

[FozzyBear]

The Rent comparisons are interesting for me as an firm Anti-Renter. I really, really, really hate that show. But, I think a large part of the reason is I've never seen it performed live by a good theatre company. I've heard the music (to which I say NO! No Sir, I will not sit and listen to you sing about doing the dishes, or changing the litter box, or lighting a freaking candle, or whatever else was just going on that day. Especially not in that weird a-tonal style of Rent. I like One Song Glory and then I'm out.), and I saw the terrible movie (Jesus recast with younger actors already. I'm a fan of everybody from the Broadway production, but they were all pushing 40 by the time the movie got made. How ya gonna pay the rent? By getting a job because you're middle aged!) or seeing snippets performed at High School and College drama competitions (the horror of the experience should speak for itself.). My impression has not been great, but I have heard many people say that seeing it live, especially with the Broadway cast, is a completly different experience and when it's done right the parts of the show add up to something greater than the whole. I can see that and I think that's what Smash is going for with Hit List. This is a show that's more of an experience than a book or an album. That's sort of interesting, this idea that Broadway evolves and this sort of hard to understand on paper interactive of the moment show is an idea of modern Broadway. I'm not saying Smash did it well all the time, but I did get more on board with Hit List as S2 moved along. I started to sort of see it, see why it could be good.

[Monty]

I would be so into a musical comedy version of Dangerous Liaisons. It's basically a farce already, except that everyone's doing these things on purpose rather than by accident.

[FozzyBear]

I would be so into a musical comedy version of Dangerous Liaisons. It's basically a farce already, except that everyone's doing these things on purpose rather than by accident.

That's one of the reasons that Cruel Intentions worked so well. It's honestly one of the weaker logic points of S2. Everyone acts like a comic take on DL is a completly wack-a-do suggestion akin to doing a comedy musical of The Scarlet Letter, but many directors have interpreted DL as black comedy. I kept wondering why that take was so far off the mark. And I totally agreed with the rewatch that after hearing the songs it was hard to imagine what sort of tone they were going for if not farce.

[adam807]

How ya gonna pay the rent? By getting a job because you're middle aged!)

 

Not that the characters in Rent shouldn't get jobs (obviously they should), but the thing that I think gets forgotten a lot is that the issue isn't that they feel entitled to live rent-free in general, but that Benny, their friend who owns the building, told them they could live rent-free and then was like "actually, never mind, you owe me back rent for a year." I can still say "cry me a river, you should've gotten that shit in writing," but it's a super dick move. 

 

As for Hit List, I don't think the Rent comparison they're making is entirely an artistic one, more the path it's taking (they're even shooting at the theater where it debuted). And also...well, you'll see. 

[FozzyBear]

Not that the characters in Rent shouldn't get jobs (obviously they should), but the thing that I think gets forgotten a lot is that the issue isn't that they feel entitled to live rent-free in general, but that Benny, their friend who owns the building, told them they could live rent-free and then was like "actually, never mind, you owe me back rent for a year." I can still say "cry me a river, you should've gotten that shit in writing," but it's a super dick move.

As for Hit List, I don't think the Rent comparison they're making is entirely an artistic one, more the path it's taking (they're even shooting at the theater where it debuted). And also...well, you'll see.

Really? That's a plot point that gets totally lost in the movie. Such a bad movie.

[queenanne]

I feel like some of the Ivy/Liaisons production den mother thing, is attempted, in light of what happens at the end of the season, to either parallel her with Derek as a director figure, or to parallel her with Karen in the latter's alleged new role as the Lady Bountiful of Broadway, with her "bringing Jimmy and Kyle to the attention of Broadway".  Some things I really liked from Season 2:

 

-Jimmy and Kyle's pitch session to Derek - I felt like the showrunner drew upon that from real life.

 

-Megan Hilty is actually a trained opera singer, I have heard Krysta Rodriguez has training as an aerialist, and considering that, I'm guessing Jeremy Jordan also plays piano; and probably some others I'm missing.  I felt like before the start of the season the new showrunner had asked for the CV's of all the actors and worked their real-life talents into the season, which I liked on the whole, it's both sharp and connotes some respect.

 

-As I am given to understand it, Jimmy gives a near-perfect rendition of the practice of "negging" in the direction of Karen, which works because Karen is a masochist (off the top of my head, it happens when he admires her gold shoes at the party at his and Kyle's randomly not-condemned $4,500/month loft, and probably other places).

 

- Over the course of the season, the showrunner will also put what I call "parallel reverse conversations" of a romantic/personal/whatever they were going for at the time nature, into the mouths of, variantly Derek/Karen, Karen/Jimmy, Ivy/Derek, and so forth.  (For serious.  I know it sounds a bit off on my part, and I can't think of any examples right now off the top of my head, but if I do I'll post 'em.)  Derek might say something to Karen in one scene, and then you'll find almost his very words being parroted from Ivy's mouth down the road a few scenes, only this time Ivy is aiming the verbal expression in Derek's direction.  I vacillate between thinking whether or not it's genius parallelism, or a cheesy desperate attempt to avoid doing extra writing; but on the whole I think I like it.

 

-Pursuant to the Rent discussion, maybe this is general knowledge, but at the time of first run airings there was a bit of scandalous grumbling because the showrunner was Anthony Rapp's boyfriend in the latter's Rent development days.  A small subset of the audience felt like he was trivializing Jonathan Larson's memory (and other things), though with the appearance of Daphne Rubin Vega and Jesse L. Martin in the season, I guess that's a minority opinion to hold.  

Edited June 26, 2015 by queenanne

[allonsyalice]

Okay, Tara, you might want to cut Ronnie, and I get that sure, but Mama Makes Three and I Can't Let Go are both WONDERFUL songs!

On an aesthetic note, I LOVE Karen's Public Relations dress. That and the outfit she wore in Original are my two favourite SMASH costumes (with her Cut, Print, Moving On dress and Ivy's Smash dress taking 3 and 4.)

I'm stumped by Kyle's arc too. His ENTIRE arc. Why?

I think I need to rewatch these episode because, even while reading these, I can't remember anything.

[Zuleikha]

I feel like I somehow missed some episodes of s2. I don't remember the Ronnie arc except in vague outline, but I do remember A Letter From Cecile and most of the beginnings of Hit List.