NBC calls its new musical drama "Smash." But another appropriate title would have been "Wow."
Wow because "Smash" is just that good. Wow because of the stunning collection of talent involved in it. And wow because a show this thrilling found its way onto a network TV schedule.
The subject — the making of a Broadway musical, with two actresses competing for the lead — is as familiar as "42nd Street." But "Smash" is a uniquely modern mix of sudsy show-biz fun, dark drama and music, all built into an engrossing new spin on the "let's put on a show" framework.
Debra Messing and Christian Borle play a successful songwriting team. They have a hit musical on Broadway and plan to take a break. Then, with head-spinning speed, the idea of writing a musical about Marilyn Monroe takes off.
It's that simple, but the path to TV wasn't simple at all. Just ask Theresa Rebeck, who developed "Smash" as part of a team including producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron ("Chicago") and composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman ("Hairspray").
Famously, the idea came from Steven Spielberg.
When Robert Greenblatt, now president of NBC Entertainment, was at Showtime, Spielberg called to suggest a series about the making of a Broadway musical.
Greenblatt liked the idea enough to take it with him when he moved to NBC.
Rebeck, who wrote the backstage-Broadway play "The Understudy," had previously been interested in pitching a similar series.
"My agent told me not to bother," she recalls.
Then she got a call from that same agent.
"Spielberg read your play," she was told.
Because she has worked in both theater and television, as an executive producer on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and writer-producer on "NYPD Blue," "L.A. Law" and "Third Watch," he wanted her for the show not yet known as "Smash."
Spielberg had conceived the series with no musical element. He has always been interested in theater, he said in a statement recorded for NBC, but it's what happens "before the curtain even goes up that really fascinated me — the competition, the creativity, the fights, the arguments, the dreams, the egos, the disappointments, the energy."
Once the development team got to work, though, all agreed that "this was a magical moment" to do a show mixing music and drama, Rebeck said by phone from New York. "Glee," after all, had proved it could be done.
Then came the debates about what musical should become the show within the show.
"We all had the same passion" for the project but came at it from different angles, Rebeck said.
Shaiman and Wittman had expertise in turning movies into stage musicals, most recently "Catch Me If You Can." Rebeck confesses to a weakness for old-school family musicals with costumes and sword fighting, and offered, unsuccessfully, a "Three Musketeers" or "Kiss Me Kate" kind of concept.
"But there was a third way to go — a big, old-fashioned musical with lots of songs," she said.
Wittman threw in the Marilyn idea, but Rebeck wasn't sure.
"We had the same conversation they have in the show — 'it was a flop when they tried it before,'" she said. "Eventually, though, we realized that because she's so recognizable, it was just right."
Rebeck wasn't sure she could write a great musical about Marilyn Monroe, she said, but she was pretty sure she could write a good television show about people trying to make a great musical about Marilyn Monroe.
Wittman and Shaiman have turned out more than a dozen original songs for "Marilyn." Classic songs and contemporary pop numbers (including co-star Katharine McPhee's rendition of Christina Aguilera's "I Am Beautiful," used in the show's promos) are also featured.
But the off-stage drama Spielberg likes so much is equally important to "Smash," which goes backstage and home with its characters as they struggle with the realities of success and failure in the high-pressure world of the New York stage.
Bringing a musical to Broadway in real life takes a long time, and "Smash" had a long gestation, announced in May by NBC but making its debut nine months later.
"Having this much prep time was really helpful for us, because 'Smash' has so many moving parts," Rebeck said. "We used our time wisely."
That time included close scrutiny by Spielberg, who read scripts and watched daily footage as episodes were shot.
Is "Smash" a drama with music or a musical drama?
"Balance is a daily question," Rebeck said.
Original songs will be available after each episode on iTunes, but "big, muscular storytelling" is necessary to make the show satisfying to viewers, and "the theater is really fertile ground."
Who's who
Here are some of the characters you'll get to know and love (or love to hate) in "Smash."
Julia Houston (Debra Messing)
Julia has a hit musical on Broadway and is planning to take a break while she and her husband adopt a baby. Then the idea for "Marilyn: The Musical" takes off like a rocket.
Tom Levitt (Christian Borle)
Tom is not just Julia's songwriting partner (she's words, he's music), he's also her gay best friend. Together, they are crafting a musical about Marilyn Monroe.
Derek Wills (Jack Davenport)
An arrogant genius of a Broadway director, Derek is brought in (over the protests of Tom, with whom he's butted heads in the past) to make magic of "Marilyn."
Eileen Rand (Anjelica Huston)
Power producer Eileen is in the final stages of a different project when a bitter divorce freezes all her assets. Instead, she turns to "Marilyn" and drives it along.
Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty)
A Broadway veteran long relegated to supporting roles, Ivy (a close friend of Tom's) helps with the early work on "Marilyn" and yearns to play the lead.
Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee)
Newly arrived from Iowa and dreaming of making it to Broadway despite lack of experience, Karen isn't the obvious choice to play Marilyn, but she intrigues producers.
Jaime Cepero (Ellis)
Ellis is Tom's new assistant, whose interest in Marilyn Monroe sparks the initial idea for "Marilyn." Will he be content with a simple thank you?
Frank Houston (Brian D'Arcy James)
Frank played second fiddle to Julia as her career took off, but he's increasingly frustrated that her work leaves little time for him and their teenage son.
'Smash'
FOUR STARS
When • 9 p.m. Monday
Where • NBC (Channel 5)
More info • nbc.com/smash
