SMASH!
Funny yet true story. NBC was showing a golf game and it ran into Smash’s time slot. Rather than start Smash late, they decided to have us join it “already in progress.” But thanks to Hulu, I got to see what I missed. It’s Ana and Karen staring at the “Hit List” marquee (it’s playing at the Ethel Barrymore) before meeting their adoring fans at the stage door. We hear Karen sing “Pretender” in a club where everyone wears white to get in while Jimmy plays the piano. As Karen sings, she pulls up some backup dancers. One of whom is Daisy. Hmm…In the back, Julia tells Derek he made a good call putting Daisy into the show. Double hmm…
The song ends and the scene continues on stage. Sam has been given the role of a sleazy manager who is trying to rep Amanda/Nina. He introduces her to “The Diva,” who is late for her cue. Ana stumbles out and says her lines but in the back of the house, Derek grimaces. He says she’s been making a lot of mistakes but Julia says she’s just getting used to the new theater. Derek’s not so sure.
Across town, Lindsay Mendez belts out a song I believe is called “Mr. and Mrs. GI Joe.” Oh, guess what? I saw Lindsay in Godspell so…
Cast Members AB Has Seen Live
Christian Borle
The dancer from “Grenade”
Will Chase
Michelle Federer
Ann Harada
Nick Jonas
Norbert Leo Butz
Terrence Mann
Marc Kudish
Annaleigh Ashford
Krysta Rodriguez
Mara Davi
Lindsay Mendez
We only hear a bit of Lindsay’s song, which is a shame because she is one of Broadway’s up and coming powerhouses. Tom thanks her for being a part of this tribute to him and Julia. She says it is an honor and jokes she’ll probably be the only one there without a Tony. He points out that neither he nor Julia have won a Tony either. Tom might be bitter. Lindsay leaves as Eileen and Daphne enter. They talk about Bomshell’s chances and how great this tribute will be before Eileen asks where Julia is. He explains that Julia was asked to help with “Hit List’s” transfer since Kyle is, you know, dead.
The “Hit List” creative team is sitting at Table 46 chatting away. Jimmy is very excited and the others wonder if he is on something. Just excitement and adrenaline. (And maybe Red Bull). He wants to get Kyle a Tony. Aww, how sweet but didn’t everybody trash his book? Derek though is still focused on Ana. Jimmy and Julia still think she just needs time to get used to the new theater. Julia goes to talk to the Bombshell people and Jimmy goes to talk to Karen. She’s interested in flirting but Jimmy shuts her down. He just wants to be professional. Meanwhile, Derek talks to the stage manager for “Hit List.” He says he wants to give Ana a day off to rest and to put Daisy in. Derek then walks past Daisy and tells her it is done.
dun dun DUN!
Meanwhile, Jimmy and Julia talk about how to make the show appealing again. She agrees to meet with him the next day to work on it. Meanwhile, Daphne talks to Ivy, Tom and Eileen. She reveals there will be a blind item printed about a blonde leading lady who had had problems with alcohol, drugs and had slept with a co-star’s fiancé. Season 1 Ivy is coming back to haunt Season 2 Ivy. So Daphne tells Ivy she must be a saint from now until the Tonys. Ivy promises to be on her best behavior.
The next day, Ana is in a funk due to being out on rest. Karen tells her to stay calm and trust Derek. Ana’s not very inclined to do so. Karen leaves her sulking roommate behind.
Sam goes to visit Ivy on the set of her car commercial. They chat and Ivy talks about the gossip piece. Sam reminds her it was a blind item but she shows him some message boards on her phone. Turns out everyone on the internet guessed it was talking about her. Ouch. Sorry, Ivy. Sam cheers her up and tells her the Tony voters won’t be swayed by gossip. She hopes he’s right before running to a Doctor’s appointment.
Tom has a new idea for his and Julia’s concert but Daphne has bigger fish to fry. The blind item that’s really about Ivy wasn’t the only rumor to hit the gossip rags. Nope. Someone told them about Tom and Julia’s professional divorce. Everyone wants to deny it but Daphne points out it is difficult to do so when Julia is always in enemy territory.
Where she is now! Julia and Jimmy go to the apartment and the little pile of mail by the door tells Julia Jimmy hasn’t been there since Kyle died. She asks where he is staying but he kinda just blows her off. I half expected Julia to invite him to live with her. But she doesn’t and Jimmy goes searching through Kyle’s things for whatever it is they are looking for. Apparently, it’s a stack of NECCO wafers. Oh no, wait, those are brightly colored index cards. My bad. They are all of Kyle’s rejected ideas. Uh…weren’t they rejected for a reason, guys? But they go through this stack in order to “spice up” the show.
Over at the theater, Derek is rehearsing with Daisy so she can take over Ana’s role. Karen confronts him about taking her friend out. And Derek unloads on her. He says he’s trying to put on the best musical he can but is meeting resistance from Jimmy, who doesn’t want to change a word Kyle wrote. Even though until a few episodes ago, everyone thought everything he wrote sucked. So he’s trying to do his best and that includes resting Ana. Karen accepts it.
Meanwhile, Ivy is at her doctor’s office when she gets a call from Tom. He explains his new idea for his and Julia’s tribute show. It will be a revue, set in a down-on-its-luck vaudeville hall. Instead of singing “Let Me Be Your Star,” Ivy will now be portraying an aging stripper singing “Grin and Bare It.” She balks because it seems the last thing she should be doing after the blind item. Is she going to let gossip drive her career? Did she stop stripping down in Bombshell? But Tom pretty much sweet talks her into doing it. Now he needs to sweet talk Julia into showing up.
Instead, he is just angry at her because she’s still working with Hit List. But she and Jimmy have settled on their solution: Social media interaction. He said Kyle had had this idea—it was the one he left Tom’s bed for to write down. So they put it in…without consulting the director. I guess Derek won’t care. Once everything looks good, Julia runs out to meet Tom.
Backstage, Ana finds Karen. She reveals that Daisy is one of the dancers who had sued Derek at the start of the season. But she’s dropped the lawsuit and Ana’s not dumb. So Karen goes to confront Derek. He admits to sleeping with Daisy and now she’s blackmailing him for a part in Hit List. Karen is disgusted with him and storms off to get ready.
At the benefit, Tom is furious because he hasn’t seen Julia yet. To prove it, he leaves her an angry voicemail. He runs into Lin-Manuel Miranda and it is hysterical. They clearly hate each other and have such a passive-aggressive argument, it’s the type of entertainment Smash could’ve offered the entire time. Tom escapes Lin-Manuel and approaches Eileen. He explains he’s offered several different explanations about where Julia is. Eileen assures him Julia will be there.
She then goes backstage to talk to Ivy, who is still having doubts about performing the number. Eileen tells her to forget the critics, forget the gossip and just give it her best performance. Ivy thanks Eileen and then goes out to wow them with “Grin and Bare It.” Watch it:
I’m not sure why she was so worried. She barely stripped down! Her back up dancers took off more than she did!
Over at Hit List, Daisy is wowing them as the Diva. We get to see “I’m Not Sorry,” a duet between Nina and the Diva at the Video Music Awards. Ooh, according to the plot synopsis I read, Nina is supposed to embarrass the Diva at the VMAs which leads to the Diva’s downfall and drives her need for revenge. And all I see is…Mara Davi taking Katharine McPhee to school. So, when does Nina embarrass the Diva? Anyone? Bueller?
Standing in the back of the house, Ana can see the writing on the wall. She storms out as the new social media aspect is introduced. Tweets, text messages, Facebook posts, etc. Phones start going off and it’s annoying sitting at home. I lean more to it being disruptive than immersive. But the people in the theater applaud and you know, it’s not a bad way to go to intermission. Jimmy watches it from the wings as Karen exits. She tries to get his attention but he’s focused on the show. Now that he’s ignoring her, Karen wants him to notice her. Karen’s a bit needy, isn’t she?
At the tribute revue, Julia finally shows up! She apologizes to everyone because she’s about to sing. And though Debra Messing isn’t the best singer in the cast, she’s still able to put a great deal of emotion behind the words. It’s quite the tearjerker. The two seem to be in a better place afterwards.
Julia then runs into Jimmy, who tells her the idea worked perfectly. She congratulates him and he says they have to write more. But Julia says she can no longer work on “Hit List” and has to focus on “Bombshell.” Which has already opened. And how goes “The Great Gatsby”? Guess we’re not talking about that again. Ever. Jimmy returns to his natural state—being angry when people don’t do what he wants—and storms off.
At Table 46, everyone gathers again. Ana approaches Ivy and asks her about her sexual relationship with Derek. Ivy is annoyed Ana knows about it and goes to tell off Karen. Karen’s like “Yeah, I gossiped with my roommate, so what?” Ivy's like: “What about Page Six?” Karen’s like: “Que?” They snipe at each other until they declare “May the best actress win.” Karen storms off while Ivy answers her cell phone, which has been ringing nonstop. She answers it snappily and the person on the other end says she’s from Ivy’s doctor’s office. What doctor has a receptionist who calls that late? Also, I think they may still be beholden to federal laws which prohibit business calls after 9 PM. Anyway, the receptionist tells her she is pregnant. Ivy’s “Oh, Crap” face ends the episode.
Phew! I am really dragging out Smash, aren’t I? Only two more episodes left though! Yes, I’m treating both “The Nominations” and “The Tonys” as two separate episodes. Keep your eye out for them!
Read Playbill’s “Smash” report here
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