Let’s Be Bad

Last week, rehearsals for Marilyn began! Ivy was queen bee and Karen felt isolated. Then some chorus members took her under wing as Derek threw a party. And a Jonas brother showed up.

This week, rehearsals continue. Except they are hitting some snags. The workshop is less than two weeks away and Julia still hasn’t finished the script. It’s a bit difficult when her husband is calling her every five minutes from his teacher’s retraining retreat. Or if she wasn’t fighting the attraction she feels toward Michael. He tells her he has some concerns about how she’s writing DiMaggio and they go out after rehearsals to discuss this. And share an apple pie—namely, Julia eats all his whipped cream on him. She gets a call but doesn’t recognize the number. So she does what most people do—lets it go to voice mail.

At the same time, Tom is trying to have his date over again after it got interrupted by the performance for Lyle. But this one gets interrupted again when Tom’s phone starts to ring. He picks up and it’s Leo, Julia’s son on the other line. The viewers can see the handcuffs around his wrists. Tom hangs up the phone and asks his date what type of law he practices. Apparently, it’s the one that gets Leo off with a warning about hanging around people who are smoking pot.

Tom takes Leo home, playing on Julia’s piano. She storms in and sends Leo to his room. Tom though focuses on where Julia’s been—more accurately, who she’s been with! He says she feels guilty because she was with Michael. She argues that she feels guilty about the apple pie she ate. While Tom insists otherwise, Julia is focused more on Leo. Or more importantly, how Leo’s near arrest affects the adoption. We don’t hear perky agent’s answer but it’s not good.

In rehearsal, Derek is starting to have issues with Ivy’s performance. He makes Karen stand up and sing “Happy Birthday” a la Marilyn so Ivy can hear the vibrato. She does so and the others are impressed. Ivy is scared as she realizes what type of competition Karen had been—still is. Derek asks Karen to work with Ivy after rehearsal. Which they do and it’s awkward. And Ivy is a bitch to Karen, who tries to acknowledge that the situation is awkward. Ivy talks about Marilyn knowing “what she brought to the table” and says she knows “what I bring to the table.” Here’s what Ivy was REALLY saying: “I’m insecure but I’m going to pretend I’m not. I’m just going to put you in your place because I’m not confident in my own.”

Then she ends up crying in rehearsal when the creatives whisper after one of her performances.
The performances continue, this time with a song called “Let’s Be Bad.” This gets a full realization as we cut to how it will look on stage. It is set during “Some Like It Hot” where Marilyn is a mess. She’s unhappy, she’s late, she’s on pills, etc. The number is choreographed to represent her mental breakdown. It also reflects Ivy’s insecurities as well.

After rehearsal, everyone scatters to their respective lives. Ivy, Sam and Michael go out for drinks where Sam complains about how gay Tom is. He says that you don’t have to wear your gayness like a banner—he doesn’t. Michael and the audience are thrown for a loop and send out their gaydars for checking—Sam’s gay! Michael says that maybe Sam should wear a banner.

Ivy, though, is more focused on her relationship with Derek. She and Michael drink, commiserate and then decide to go to confront their particular love interests.

So Michael shows up at Julia’s door and gets invited by Leo for dinner. He agrees to stay to Julia’s exasperation and the meal does little to sober Michael up. He tells Leo that he and Julia used to smoke pot together after a show. Julia sends her surprised son up to her room and calls a car for Michael—again. They go wait for said car on her stoop as we learn that Julia lives in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Michael starts to sing “A Song For You” until the car arrives. Julia puts him in but he gets back out to give her a good-bye kiss. Right in front of Leo. Uh oh.

Ivy shows up at Derek’s like “So, how’s that renovation going?” They argue for a bit but reconcile. Not much else to report.

Meanwhile, Dev is still up for a promotion but he learns there is competition. And he learned it from a contact of his at a New York newspaper named RJ, who Karen is surprised to learn is actually a young woman rather than some old man. A rather beautiful young woman who has a connection with Dev. Karen is a bit suspicious.

There is another Very Important Dinner, this time on the Intrepid. Karen is complaining about Ivy and how she uses her sex appeal. She says that she was taught to be more than sex. And I get that Dev has his own problems and Karen isn’t really sympathetic, but I still don’t like that his response was that he wanted to show off his sexy girlfriend. While I would’ve told him to enjoy eating alone, Karen changes and meets him at the party after singing “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World.”

At the party, RJ manages to get Dev a seat at a good table. And only RJ. She apologizes that she couldn’t get Karen a seat. But it works out for the best. Karen ends up at another table, where she tells them she is playing Marilyn in a new musical workshop. They ask for a preview and Karen sings “Happy Birthday” to the man next to her. He corrects her when she calls him “Mr. President” and says it’s “Mr. Press Secretary.” He gives her his card and she quickly dismisses him.

In the car, Dev is thrilled that she got his rival’s name. So thrilled, they start making out—much to the driver’s displeasure.

I am really liking the Ivy-Karen competition. I wish they would show more of Ivy outside the rehearsal space. When they do, it’s just her bitching about her relationship with Derek. Fortunately, Bernadette Peters has been cast as her mother so hopefully we’ll meet her soon.