Smash

- Season 1

(2012)

With their latest show "Heaven on Earth" still running on Broadway, the song and book writing team of Julia Houston and Tom Levitt have decided to take a professional break, in part to give Julia and her husband Frank time to go through an adoption process and in turn allow Julia to be a stay-at-home mom. But a germ of an idea from Tom's new assistant Ellis Tancharoen leads to the thought of writing a new musical based on Marilyn Monroe. A further move by Ellis which could kibosh the idea before it even gets off the ground instead generates buzz around the new project. On board is ...

Ivy and Karen learn that they are the final two auditionees standing for the role of Marilyn. After an excruciating four day delay, they learn that they are being called back for yet another audition instead of hearing the definitive news of if they got the part. In the lead up to that audition, Dennis, a dancer friend of Ivy's, acts as her unofficial spy in the enemy camp. And Karen makes a decision about her rehearsals that could jeopardize her relationship to Dev. Behind the scenes, Derek still believes Karen is the better candidate, as her freshness and ...

With Ivy cast as Marilyn and Karen cast in the ensemble, the production moves into the workshop phase, the $200/week paycheck per person which causes some unspoken issues among many of the cast. For Karen, a trip back to Iowa for a friend's baby shower places her life into perspective for her, her friends and her family. Ivy's own insecurities surface as she wonders if she only got the part because she is sleeping with Derek. With the principal female lead cast, the casting moves to the three male leads, the first being Joe DiMaggio. The name that comes to mind for most is ...

Karen must learn to advance in the high-stakes world of Broadway, as Derek hosts a party for hot young star Lyle. Eileen tries a sly new strategy for raising funds, while Tom goes on a first date.

In the workshop, Derek seems to be changing both his professional and personal allegiance from Ivy to Karen, which places both women in an awkward and embarrassing situation. While Ivy continues to take her frustration out on Karen, Karen seeks support from Dev, who provides little as he is focused on his own issue of a job promotion. Despite Karen feeling that one of Dev's professional associates has her sights on him, Karen is able to funnel her energies and channel a little bit of Marilyn in helping Dev in his cause. Meanwhile, Leo gets into a situation with the ...

The workshop is being shown to potential investors. It's not good timing for either the creative team or Ivy has she has come down with a vocal stress issue, which is affecting her ability to sing. Ivy is prescribed steroids to overcome the issue, but since she is hypersensitive to drugs, she has to make the decision to let the stress heal itself without the drugs which means probably allowing Karen to take over the lead for the workshop and potentially for the show, or to take the steroids and face the side effects. Meanwhile, Karen reluctantly accepts a gig that was...

In the lead up to showing the workshop to potential investors, things don't seem to be going well for anyone involved with the show except Karen, whose biggest issue is if her allegiances lie with the show or furthering her music career, as a big time music producer, who only has a limited time to see her, can only do so during the investor's show. Eileen is having problems with the building manager and getting the boiler repaired in time for the show as the building is like a furnace. Eileen gets some help on this matter from an unexpected source, which may add a ...

It's been two days since the workshop was presented to potential investors. Since, Derek and Eileen have gone into relative hiding, not responding to any left messages. Is silence a good thing for those involved in the show? There is one person who does know his fate regarding the show. One other person has heard from the producing/directing team. Derek asks Karen to prepare and present some new music without telling anyone, but most specifically Tom and Julia, about what she's doing until it is presented. Karen is concerned about the secrecy revolving around this ...

With Derek and Eileen's experiment to take the show in a different direction musically a failure, everything about the show truly is up in the air. With much work ahead of them before anything substantive can be shown, Derek isn't sure he can wait and thinks about quitting. Eileen has her own idea of directors to replace him. The one thing that they can agree on is that a star is needed to headline the show. Ellis believes that his behind-the-scenes work in getting that star will provide him with the ammunition he needs to get his career to that next level. Despite ...

The Marilyn project has a new title and a new star: "Bombshell" with movie star Rebecca Duvall in the lead role. The production still has short term problems in that Rebecca is stranded in Cuba and potential investors won't provide the money until they see some of the finished work. As such, Derek names Karen the understudy, she who is to work on the role to show the investors the project's progress in Rebecca's unavoidable absence. Ivy, who is angry that she wasn't given the understudy position but understanding of the reason why, tries a different tact to get back ...

Rebecca Duvall has finally made it to rehearsals. Many in the company are in awe of working on a project with such a big star. But Rebecca turns out to be less than the perfect leading lady for this project: she isn't a strong singer, and her many demands include having more book and less song in the production. The creative team have to decide how to deal with Rebecca, which may work to Ivy's benefit. Ivy is hoping that Rebecca crashes and burns so that she can work her way back into the lead role. This situation brings her together with Karen in an interesting ...

As Rebecca immerses herself further into the project, she demands change after change to turn it more into a play and less as a musical to work toward her own strengths, or more precisely to steer away from her weakness as a singer. Rebecca also befriends Karen, who, to the media, becomes Rebecca's new BFF to the point of speculation that they are lovers. Regardless, Karen welcomes her new friend, being able to bask in the media limelight for whatever reason and enjoy the trappings associated with being with a movie star. However, the "forever" part of BFF might not ...

The production has moved into the tech phase, with the first show in two days in Boston. Derek is already stressed with all he has to do to get the show ready, which is not helped by their leading man giving immediate notice since he got another job. The easiest thing to do would be to bring Michael Swift back. Although Julia is at home with Frank trying to repair their marriage, Michael back in the show may throw a wrench into those repairs. Julia and Eileen have a standoff on the issue, Julia who threatens to quit if Michael returns, while Eileen still figures that ...

In the lead up to tonight's first preview of three in a row in Boston, many things going on behind the scenes are preoccupying the minds of the cast and creative team. Julia has returned from her hiatus, but is not talking to Tom, who she believes should have stuck up for her in demanding that Michael not return to the show. Frank and Leo accompany her for support, and to ensure that Michael, who Julia avoids at all cost, does not move in on Julia himself. While Derek told Ivy only three days earlier that he loves her and she now learns that he is sleeping with ...

Now that Rebecca has decided not to return to "Bombshell", the creative team, beyond the need for Tom and Julia to rewrite the ending which will include one more song, has a major decision: whether to cast Ivy or Karen in the lead role for tonight's preview, the decision which could affect the show's future. Karen is the official understudy, but the understudy, as is generally the case, does not rehearse the role until after the previews have been completed. And Ivy knows the role more comprehensively at this stage having been in the lead earlier in the project's ...