Playbill's weekly recap, with notes and comment, of the latest episode of the NBC musical drama series "Smash," about the dreamers behind Broadway musicals. Here's a look at the March 26 episode, "The Bells & Whistles."
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Bombshell, the new musical about Marilyn Monroe, has a certain negative stink on it from events that happened during its development in Season One (and the first parts of Season Two) of NBC's "Smash." Events such as: A Hollywood star being poisoned by a spiked smoothie and later claiming that the director sexually harassed her; the librettist sleeping with the show's leading man, breaking up her marriage; the producing reins shifting in some cryptic personal-legal negotiation involving husband-and-wife producers, their daughter, lawyers, a district attorney and others too obscure to name; the young starlet quitting the lead role of Marilyn in favor of a grungy downtown rock musical called Hit List; the Tony-winning director quitting the show for the same grungy downtown rock musical; the composer taking over as director. You know, just like what happens with most Broadway shows. (These are probably roughly the same events that happened with Ankles Aweighback in 1955.)
