Who Will Be Marilyn?

Last week, Ivy Lynn and Karen were waiting to hear who would get to play Marilyn in a new musical being created by Tom and Julia, produced by Anjelica Huston and directed by Derek.


This week…Ivy Lynn and Karen are waiting to hear who will get to play Marilyn in a new musical being created by Tom and Julia, produced by Anjelica Huston and directed by Derek.


Karen even sings about it in her mind, performing Blondie’s “Call Me.” Much to the dismay of her customers, who had gone without coffee until Karen’s coworker took pity on them. She sympathizes with Karen. Ivy Lynn is also nervous as her fellow actor friends try to comfort her. Meanwhile, everyone is debating about Ivy Lynn and Karen. Well, Tom is dead set on Ivy Lynn while the others debate about her. They decide to have another callback audition—to see how Karen dances and to hear both women read scenes.


Ivy Lynn is slightly disappointed, but soldiers on. Karen takes this with some optimism, encouraged by boyfriend Dev. Who isn’t thrilled to learn that Derek is also the choreographer. And British. But he warns Karen that men with power will try to abuse their authority. Which leads to…Dev talking about a Very Important Dinner with a Deputy Mayor. Which could lead to a Big Promotion. Karen promises to make it.
Derek puts Karen through her paces. It might seem harsh, but I’m sure there were theater people remembering similar experiences. We see Karen try and try to nail the routine. Derek tries not to get too exasperated with her and releases her for the day. As she leaves, Ivy Lynn arrives to practice working on the scenes. One of the dancers greets her and assures Ivy that Karen can’t dance. I would think this would be unprofessional until Derek introduces the two contenders and then closes the door on Karen midsentence.


Ivy, meanwhile, impresses Derek when she shows up with a book about Marilyn. The episode shows that Ivy’s been doing her research. It makes her look more professional than Karen. But it is also shown to be a detriment. The production/creative team agree that they don’t want a Marilyn copycat. They want someone who embodies Marilyn’s essence. Right now, Ivy is pressing too close to copycat. There is even a scene where she tries to mimic Marilyn’s style of talking, freaking out a costar.


Ivy, also, ends up in a sexually tense scene with Derek. It’s an interesting contrast. Karen, the naïve Midwesterner who is new to Broadway, turns the director down when in this situation. Ivy, the ten year veteran, ends up in bed with him. I don’t know if they were playing it as “Ivy has genuine feelings for Derek” or “Ivy is desperate enough to sleep her way to the top.”


But Karen doesn’t give up. She keeps dancing. Whenever possible. She dances as Dev reminds Karen of the Very Important Dinner. He can’t pick her up so she’ll have to get there on her own. She promises to come straight after rehearsal. Unfortunately, Derek asks her to stay to run some scenes. She is hesitant but decides to do it, hoping it won’t take long. But Derek isn’t thrilled with her scene work and makes her keep working.


Dev sits in the restaurant with his coworker, his girlfriend/wife, waiting for Karen to show up. They hope she does because they like her and think the Deputy Mayor and his wife will as well. But we see the Deputy Mayor and his wife arrive but still no Karen. By the time she arrives, the restaurant is closing. Dev is angry and yells at Karen for not texting. And it comes off as “Oh, Dev is angry at the time Karen is putting into her work” but it’s not. He says that the last text he received was that she was on her way and he was worried something happened to her. It’s legit. As for Karen’s reason for not texting? Same. While it may have been possible to ask for a few seconds to send one, Karen knew Derek wasn’t thrilled with her anyway. She didn’t want to upset him.


But Dev takes Karen’s hand and all is well for now.


The day of the second callbacks arrive. People swarm Ivy to wish her luck, leaving Karen all alone. Julia takes pity on her and sits with her for a bit. The creatives head inside and Karen comes in to do her dance scene, “The 20th Century Mambo.” It’s where Marilyn makes herself over to be favored by the studio. We see Karen become Marilyn like Ivy became her for “The National Pastime.”


So, Julia and her husband’s quest to adopt a baby continues. Except the perky social worker informs them that it can take upwards of two years to happen. And Brian d’Arcy James starts to re-evaluate the situation. He decides he doesn’t want to adopt the child, but Julia and their son Leo still do. Brian wants to go back to work as a science teacher and Julia supports him. But she also goes to the adoption support group to read a letter to her future child’s birth mother. Which everyone loves, including Brian—who suddenly showed up.


And now the final debate starts. In the end, Marilyn is chosen. As everyone leaves, Derek needs to talk to Anjelica. Her ex-husband wants to proceed with “My Fair Lady” and wants Derek back. And Derek’s been working for 3 years on the musical. Yes, it’s possible. I took a directing class in college and I have a binder full of notes on “The Diary of Anne Frank” just to do one scene. I can only imagine all the research Derek has on “My Fair Lady.” But he turns Jerry down because he’s fully committed to “Marilyn the Musical” and to Anjelica. This re-enforces an earlier scene where Anjelica and Derek eat out, running into Jerry. He tells her she’s wasting her time and Anjelica tosses a Manhattan into his face. She gets up and tells Derek, who had been called over by other producers for a brief conversation, that they need a new restaurant. He agrees without question.


And in the end, our Marilyn is…Ivy! Tom comes to tell her the good news in person. She is thrilled and goes to celebrate with friends. By singing a Carrie Underwood song. As we see a shot of Karen crying in Dev’s arms as she holds an unopened bottle of wine. Aww.


Anyway, I was slightly disappointed as a member of Team Karen. But then the musical theater aficionado in me took over. And it agreed with the casting of Ivy. She’s more experienced and has put in her dues to be a leading lady. And, frankly, she looks and sounds more like Marilyn than Karen in costume. It’s the better of two options. And I’m sure Karen is still in the show—perhaps even the understudy and in the ensemble. In a year or so when Ivy’s contract is up, Karen may be the one who moves in to play Marilyn. Being a replacement isn’t so bad and it can get you noticed—look at Megan Hilty, who plays Ivy. She first came to people’s attention as a Glinda replacement in “Wicked.”


But the question is—what’s going to happen now? I’m sure most people were expecting the Ivy vs. Karen thing to last longer than two episodes. However, the show is about everything that goes into putting in a musical. So, we shall see.

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