I am enjoying Smash
a lot. I don’t know how true to life it all is, but the picture they present of a behind-the-scenes view of the development of a Broadway musical is very compelling. As is Angelica Huston, of course. Each week there’s been one new musical number for the proposed show, and some of them have been outstanding.
I like musicals, especially when they’re a little old-school.
Another element I find intriguing is that there are two actresses vying for the starring role in the fictional play the show’s about. One’s meant to be very seasoned but to somehow lack spark or star quality; the other’s meant to be inexperienced but incandescently talented. It’s an amazing thing for both actors to have to pull off, week by week–they each have to suck a little, sometimes, but in completely different ways. And, at the same time, they both have to be credible contenders for the big role.
Finally, Smash has a storyline that’s at once off-putting and completely intriguing because it’s got a one hundred and eighty degree reversal of traditional gender roles: a career-driven woman with a house-husband. The two of them are pacing through a classic storyline and she’s behaving in a very precise, classic-guy way… except with more crying.
Glee
was back this week and the gap since the last (entirely horrifying) episode was long enough that I managed to take a look. The fallout from the big Cataclysmic Thingie wasn’t as bad as I’d expected, but having said that I must also say that the “Big Brother” episode was pretty much a stinker from start to finish, except for every single moment when Artie was singing. Kevin McHale currently lives in my dictionary for “Can Do No Wrong.”
