An early ad for Smash‘S Broadway Run Promised, “If You Loved the TV Series, It’S Exactly What You Want. And if you didn’t, we changed everything.” And while the stage show does pull from the songs and General Premise of the Cult-Classic nbc Series-Following the tumultuous Making of the Marilyn Monroe Musical Bombshell – it’s a different Beast Altogether. The Story, the Characters, and the Genre Are All Vastly Different, but that ut ultimately frees it from the shackles of an intense fandom’s expectations.
IT’s a new Smashbut one Holdover is Krysta Rodriguez, The Sole Cast Member from the series to Also Star in this Broadway adaptation. Rodriguez Joined The Show For Its Second Season in 2013, Coming off of Broadway Role in Spring awakening and The Addams Familyand Played Karen’s Roommate and Hit List Co-Star Ana Vargas. The Series Was Already Under An Microscopewhich made for a difficult experience. “People were were you About the show, they were dissecting the show, they were cyts bullying the show, and we had to be in the fray,” she Says. It wasn’t unil after the show was Canceled late that year that she starts to better underestand the show’s cult adoration, which has continued Ever Since-SO that the short-lived series are justify a move to broadway 12 years late. But with this new iteration of SmashRodriguez Gets to Jump From Hit List over to the Bombshell Team. In fact, Hit List – a scrappy, unearned income-esque rival to the glitzier Bombshell – is a factor at all in the stage show, where rodriguez plays one of Bombshell‘s songwriters, tracy. ITIA a new take on the roles Debra Messing Played on the Series, with the botched adoption or affirir with an actor – but one Key Similary Remains: “I have to have a scarf!”
This Show has the Difficult Task of Explaining What It Is Both to Diehard Smash fans as well as new broadway audiences who have never seen an episode. How you will you bridge that gap?
When we were getting ready to put the show up, i almost thught we might be more accceptable by People who didn’t know the show at all. It ‘s rick Elice, Bob Martin New Musical, Which Susan Stroman Directed, with Music by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. If that was billed under any other name, you’d be rushing to see that. IT’s Hard Becausee Everyone’s Written Bombshell In their Mind Already, they’ve filled in the blank of the TV show, so doing Bombshell would be a fool’s Errand. You have to do something something to say what they interestted in seeing, Rather than try to make what we think they are interested in seeing. SO I THINK IT WAS A GREAT Idea to JUST DO A HUGE SWING. I always describe it to fans of the show as Smash Fan Fiction. IT’S Characters you like in a someone Similar universe, but in a different sort of storyline.
You’re One of the Few People, and the Only Main Cast Member, Who Workhed on Both the TV Show and Stage Show – will that give you some unique insight into the world of Smash?
I’m well acquainted with the meta-relevation of it all. Susan Stroman Said Towards the End of Previews, “i’ve Never Heard the Word meta before this, and i don’t ever wants Hear the Word meta Again. ” There is a time a time things were going mad, as they always do – not insane as ours show – but i saw the wreters be kind of the series and i was like, “Oh guys, you’re learning now that that Smash is Always Smash-ing. ”
WERE YOU SURPRISED WHEN THEY FIRST REACHED OUT TO YOU ABOUT DOING THIS PRODUCTION?
I’m still surprised, i don’t know how I got it. I was a Young Thing New on the scnene back during the series, so i feeds really grateful that I was acknowledged as the performer i is am. Debra Messing Tough with Comedy When I Was Growing Up, Like Will & Grace is part of the Holy Text of Comedy, SO to Not Only Have that Mentor, butn to be Stepping in Part That She Created, It Really is a Dream Job and A Dream Role.
Steven Spielberg Showed up at the first reading. We were like, “Oh, hi!” That was like, okay, this is really getting a stamp of approval. When stroman joined on, i was like, absolutely, i Wanna be in the room with her. I’m five-foot-four, so it is rare that i could be in a room for a sesan stroman musical, Because she’s got the leggy girls. So if i can be in a room with her and will high jinks and jokes and preratfalls, then i’m a happy girl.
How you look back at your Experience Making the TV Show?
Be i was in it before, it really was not easy. We hit the zeitgeist be a million other things were converging. The advent of the dvr, so People didn’t know how to count ratings, the advent of twitter and livetweing, the culture of recap – that was all new. I remember being at the premiere and seeing someone tweeting something terrible about with and tagging with in it, and being like, “Why would they do that?” It was so confusing. SO it was like, Okay, People Are Talking About This in a Certain Way, We Need to Pull the Cord and Get Out. But once it was gone everye Went, “Wait, what’d you will with my favorite show?” And we were like, “We thought you hated?”
It really was unil the show was over, i was doing First date at the time, I were out to the stage door and someone said, “We loved Smash”And i was like,“You did?“It was the first time anyone had had that, really. And I know that what was happening, but we were in the fray of the negative around it. Smash.
I’d heard about Kerry butler doing one of the workshops – is true and dream up Having to cover two roles?
Oh my God, yes. It was the best. First of all, Kerry Butler is a hero – Kerry Butler for President. Robyn Hurder Had Covid, so they brought kerry in, and then that morning the person Playing Karen Also Couldn’t come in. All of a sudden kerry is doing a show she didn’t rehearse for at all, and she’s standing there and then touring to the side and the way to the side and reading Ivy. I literally was like, this is the show. Change everything-the show is that ivy is actually insane, and it is a one-woman show. At the end we pulled back and they’re in an insane asylum and susania the acting is actually the nurse, and we’re inside bellevue the time. I became like manically inspired by this insane moment. Obiviously that not what we decided to do…
They can be that for the revival.
I Think Rick Elice Said That’s while the TV Show was a drama, actually putting up a show where things start to go workny. IT’S Absurd and Farcical, Like Kerry Butler Speaking to Herself in the Middle of the Rehearsal – You Couldn’t Dramatize that. If you make it come, it’s’ actually more aligned with how a show gets made.
Julia’s Scarves Became a Hallmark of the Series, and You’re Now Carrying That Torch on Stage. How it was deeded that tracy would also be rocking scarves?
We really don’t reference that Much about the series, but the scarves were infamous. When we did the workshop, we just wore one Costume and we clothed ourselves, so i brought in a scarf. Andn by we were well doing fittings for broadway, we were like, let’s two or three of them up just get to the way, but they were so useful. They Cover up an Outfit Underneath, They’re Easier for A Reveal, They look chic – it just workhed. My own formal wear at the end has a scarf. We’re recialimg the jabs they got on the series.
You get to perform “Second Hand White Baby Grand”-was to exciting getting to bring that song to the stage in this brand-new context?
People Remember the Big Numbers, but i love the first song of the show. I feel like that scnene is where we have kind of settle in as characters and the audience gets to rest ther on something they have ready to lean in for, and not just just stimulated by a lot of exposition, Meeting a bunch of characters, and seeing a big. And so I really Lucky to be to be in charge of that moment and guide the audience.
You also have your Own interior-design Business, and you’ve Designed the Dressing Rooms for Your Former Smash Co-Stars Jeremy Jordan and Megan Hilty-What was Your Inspiration Designing Your Own at the Imperial?
It was definitely tracy inspired. I try to do as Much Character Work as Possible, Which Sometimes Gets Challenging Because Mine and Tracy’s Styles are close but not exactly the Same. But my insoch around tracy is Very nancy Meyers, Meg Ryan – a time wephones Still existed on the upper west. I’ve tried to make her study where she is you, so it is got a lot of soft tones, a lot of Curvy Shapes.
Can we are expecting to see you when Hit List Inevitably comes to broadway?
I will be the first one there. We got to do a little Concert at 54 Below, Gosh, Ten-Plus Years Ago. We’d have to do some twist to be Becouse i don’t think we coulud do Hit Listbut it would be so fun to do something.
A Show About The Making of Hit List?
Exactly. HOPELLY EVEYONE SURVIVES THIS TIME.
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