Previously, on Smash: LIZA!
We open closer to Christian Borle's face than we have any right to be.
Tom stands on a darkened stage, calling out for the company. Spotlights blaze on and as the company howls with laughter Tom realizes he's naked. He screams...
...and awakens in his bed. It was just a dream. He breathes a sigh of relief and rolls to his side, and spots Ellis in bed next to him.
Tom screams again and jerks awake. Julia rushes in and he starts to tell her about his horrible opening night dream. She tells him not to worry, that's weeks away. Tonight is “invited dress” where friends and family will be in attendance.
Derek and Ivy wake up next to each other at Ivy's place. Neither of them screams. He apologizes for staying over but she's OK with it. As they dress they chat about their respective shows. They kiss in front of her window, which backlights them like a Douglas Sirk picture. He wonders if he should come over again tonight and she's all “I'll call you!”
Julia and Tom pedeconference to the theater, each trying to assuage the worries of the other. Julia's afraid she won't be able to overcome her bad Boston reviews and Tom's scared that he'll be trapped in Derek's shadow and if the production bombs he'll never get to direct again. They meet Eileen at the door and head in.
Over at Team J/K's place Jimmy Charming is coming off of a three-day songwriting jag, producing nine probably identical ballads. Karen's sure he's hopped up on goofballs but he insists only Adderall and Red Bull. He believes that if Derek doesn't like the new material he'll take away more of Karen's material. Karen is sure he wouldn't do that but Jimmy points out that expanding the Diva role requires that their parts shrink.
While last-minute touches go on around them at Bombshell Julia asks Kyle if Jimmy's all right with the “little changes” they made to Hit List. Kyle says Jimmy was concerned that too much focus would move from Amanda but that they made sure she's still the first thing we see and that's not changing, no way no how.
Tom pops up jabbering about the transition from the horrible “Public Relations” number to the horrible “Dig Deep” number but stops short upon registering Kyle's presence. He didn't know that Julia knew Kyle. How does he not know that? How does he not know that Julia's been working with him?
But before we can get into that the house lights dim and the opening strains of “Let Me Be Your Star” begin. There are problems right off the bat, with a set of doors opening late. Then in that awful “Our Little Secret” JFK (Julian Ovendon) accidentally catches Marilyn's undergarment as he's slipping off her dress. The audience gasps as Ivy is left naked on the stage while Tom calls frantically for a blackout.
Title sequence!
The next day Sam tries to console Ivy, saying no one really noticed. As if. He backpedals that it was just one among many issues, including one involving “poor Brian” possibly being sidelined and allowing Sam to go on. Ivy just wants to put the whole thing behind her and never speak of it again, but Bobby and Jessica, waiting outside the theater with the big Broadway blogs up on their phones, beg to differ. Everyone's talking about her girls' cameo but they're also full of praise for Ivy. It makes no difference, Ivy insists, because Marilyn's been clothed all along and she's not getting naked now.
Inside, Stage Manager Linda reads a litany of technical problems to the cabal, including young Norma Jean forgetting her lines, an overly active fog machine and of course poor Brian. Also intermission is too long. Eileen believes that they have to cancel tonight's preview. Tom won't hear of it, saying that only shows that are in trouble cancel previews. He begs her not to cancel and she agrees to give him until 3:00 to fix everything.
Next item on the agenda: Ivy's wardrobe malfunction. Eileen liked it. Julia notes that JFK was the man who treated Marilyn most like an object and Eileen cites the boffo box office it's generated. Tom won't make Ivy do something she isn't comfortable doing; Eileen promises to speak with her and departs.
Tom and Julia discuss canceling the preview some more. He assures her he has everything under control and that there's nothing he needs her to do. And he swears if he doesn't have everything fixed by 3:00 he'll call off the show himself.
Over at Hit List Karen and Ana discuss Jimmy and his damage. Ana reminds her that they talked about this last week when Karen found Jimmy's blow. Karen says that a lot of it is the fear that Derek will give Karen's songs to Ana. Ana promises she would never let that happen. Karen says it's not Ana she's worried about but Derek arrives before she can finish her thought. Karen asks Derek if they're OK and he's all, why wouldn't we be?
He calls the rehearsal to order, grumbling about Jimmy's tardiness just as Jimmy shows up. They're sarcastically formal with each other, addressing each other as “Mister Collins” and “Mister Wills”. As Ana readies herself for her new song Jimmy wanders up and plants one on Karen, to Derek's annoyance.
Eileen and Tom speak with Ivy about the possibility of incorporating her nudity into the show. She was in Hair so she's been naked on stage before, but only as one of a crowd. She's also concerned that the nudity will overshadow the rest of her performance. Eileen launches into some spiel about how Marilyn is nudity or some damn load of nonsense. Ivy asks for time to think about it and, as the fog machine goes nuts again, Eileen gives her until tonight's performance.
Everyone at Hit List applauds wildly for Ana, who's just finished the new number. Derek agrees to put it in. Kyle, sitting with Julia, is worried. He says Derek never makes snap decisions; he draws them out as a form of torture. He does his best Derek impression and Julia cracks up.
Derek saunters over to them and Kyle scurries off to help Jimmy teach everyone the new song. Derek mentions the things he's heard about Bombshell but Julia has complete confidence in Tom. She in turn asks after Hit List and Derek confesses he doesn't feel the connection to it as he used to. Julia tells him she doesn't know what's up with him and Karen but when she ended her stupid affair with stupid Michael Swift she saw the show more clearly than she ever had since she was free from the distractions. “And you know what happened then.” Yeah, you got a stack of shitty reviews that made everyone question your talent. Great story, Julia. Very helpful. She suggests he run the show right now. He protests that they have a run-through for Richard Francis that evening but she convinces him to go ahead.
After the run-through Derek declares the show “brilliant”. He does have a couple of notes. Some song should be moved and Jimmy should reprise another song at the end of Act I and oh, the beginning should be totally restructured so that the show is told in flashback like Sunset Boulevard or All About Eve. Team J/K protests that this will give away the ending but Derek walks Ana through it. There's some business with a gun and Ana sings the first few lines of Karen's song, “Broadway, Here I Come” and then “fires”.
Karen weakly protests that that's her song and Jimmy's furious, having worked for three days straight so that Derek wouldn't take any of Karen's songs away. Karen pipes up again that this is her favorite song and asks him not to give it away. Derek practically snarls, “I just did.”
It's 3:00 and Tom and Stage Manager Linda have ironed out the problems with little Norma Jean and the fog machine (alas, poor Brian is still out) but when the curtain opens for Act II the plane for that horrible “Public Relations” number is not in place. “Why couldn't Marilyn have taken a bus?” Tom moans.
Julia joins them and learns that intermission is still twice as long as it should be. Eileen arrives for a final decision. Julia says it's not gonna happen but Tom interrupts that canceling is not going to happen. Eileen departs and Tom and Stage Manager Linda reset while Julia gives Tom the stink eye.
Scott questions the wisdom of making a huge structural change the day that Richard is set to watch a run-through. Derek insists that it's the best time if it takes the show from being a “Romeo and Juliet clone” and makes it more iconic. Meanwhile Jimmy's still fuming, saying Derek broke their deal. Derek impatiently explains the concept of show development but Jimmy insists that this is all because Derek is mad at Karen and him. Derek growls that he left Broadway to go back to “high school”. He should be at his first preview but instead he's teaching them Theatre 101.
Scott jumps in to point out that he's the one who has the most on the line with this being his first show for the theatre, so bitches need to get it together for the NYT and then they can fight all they want somewhere else. Jimmy refuses to do the new opening and Derek insists that he will. Scott turns to Kyle for his opinion. Jimmy's stunned when Kyle sides with Derek.
He's still mad back at the apartment, accusing Kyle of not supporting the team while Kyle's angry that Jimmy never pays attention to his ideas. Jimmy counters that he only ignores Kyle's ideas when they're bad and Kyle comes back that maybe it's Jimmy who can't see the show any more. Jimmy says he sees it just fine and that Derek is only changing things up because he's jealous of Jimmy and Karen. “Which if we're gonna be real honest here, so are you.” Oh no he did not just play the “you're secretly in love with me” card! Kyle says that as hard as it is for Jimmy to believe Kyle knows what he's doing now and no matter how much Jimmy bitches, he's still wrong.
Sam and Ivy wait in the lobby, wondering if Sam will get picked to go on tonight. Sam also wants Ivy to promise not to go nude. Ivy's mom is totally in favor as long as Ivy's young enough to be deemed hot. He says if she goes nude that's all anyone will recall about her performance. He knows whereof he speaks, having appeared in Take Me Out. “Do you remember the plot?” He asks. Ivy: “I remember...penis.” Sigh, me too, girl. She continues, “I see your point,” to which he replies “Everyone saw my point and that is all anyone talked about. To this day, you Google 'Sam Strickland' you know the first thing that comes up?”
The first thing that comes up.
She replies that her nudity would just be a moment, not a 15-minute shower scene. It shows Marilyn's vulnerability. He replies that she doesn't have to be naked to be naked and she can play vulnerable with a bag over her head. He fields a call from his agent and tries again to make her promise to tell Tom no but she won't commit.
In the moments before the Hit List run-through Ana apologizes to Karen, saying she didn't want to take another of her songs. Karen's all, don't worry about it, he only did it because he's mad and when he calms down he'll give it back. Ana's like, wow, thanks for believing in me.
Preparations continue for Bombshell and Tom snags Ivy to ask if she's seen Sam. She guesses Sam doesn't want to talk to him since on a scale of 1-10 he's at “pissed”. Tom explains that this was based entirely on seniority. Stage Manager Linda has Ivy report to hair and lets Tom know that the intermission is still long. Tom ponders writing an extra-long entr'acte. Stage Manager Linda poo-poos the idea because there's no time to orchestrate it and teach it to the musicians, having forgotten the endless series of musical numbers that materialize on practically a daily basis.
Julia wanders up and Tom admits she was right. He frets about being taken seriously as a director but Julia hushes him because she's just had another of her starrific ideas. Over some doodles of music Tom walks the company through the idea which involves them crawling over seats in the house which I'm sure the patrons will just love. With that sorted out we jump ahead to the final moments before the curtain opens.
After the Hit List run-through Richard congratulates Derek and Scott, As that group disperses Karen chases after Ana saying that Ana said she wouldn't let Derek give her any more of Karen's songs. Ana reads her for filth: “You know this whole time I've been telling myself it's OK to just hang around and accept whatever I got 'cause you're the star and I'm your friend. I just never thought you felt that way too.” She follows with “It's not my fault if Derek thinks I'm talented and wants to use me” and closes with “I guess you should have slept with Derek when you had the chance.” Ladies, the library is closed!
Scott rushes into Bombshell in time to catch the second act, including this new intermission shortener. It opens with Lee Strasberg and that horrible “Dig Deep” with the ensemble crawling over the audience and Marilyn popping up in the tenth row. Where are the people who were displaced by the actors? Wasn't “Public Relations”, the song about her arriving in Hollywood, the Act II opener and wasn't there a problem with the transition from that number to this number, which is about her leaving Hollywood, before? I have no idea how this show is structured any more. Which I wouldn't mind if I didn't hate all the songs that are confusing me.
But the number does feature Bobby screaming “Stella!” Brando-style and performing a backward roll to a hand stand and that is wonderful so I am prepared to forgive.
Backstage he and Ivy have a quick costume change and he notes that only a few scenes remain before JFK. Will she go “nude or prude”? She doesn't know yet herself. Jessica: “Ooh, a cliffhanger!” “Bobby: “There's nothing quite like live theatre!” Wesley Taylor, will you marry me?
"Yes. Yes I will marry you."
Derek enters the Hit List Wardrobe Room of Transgressions as Karen is grabbing her coat. She asks if he cast her as Marilyn because of her talent or because he wanted to sleep with her. He answers, “Your talent” and she takes his too-fast answer to mean the opposite. Derek just flips through a magazine, clearly as bored with this nitwit as I am. He rats out Jimmy on his drug debt and lack of a Social Security number and made up name. Karen just thinks he's jealous.
That awful “Our Little Secret” number is finally underway with its lyrics cribbed from “Do It For Our Country” from Grease 2 which is the only thing it has going for it. The moment comes and Ivy decides to keep her undergarment on. But “the next morning”, after cajoling and threatening JFK as he tries to leave, Marilyn drops the sheet she's wrapped in to make a final literal naked plea for him to stay. JFK leaves anyway and Marilyn re-dons the sheet.
Tom exits the theatre after the show and a couple of unwitting patrons comment on how wonderful it was. Tom spots Sam and apologizes for not being able to put him on. Sam has been reflecting on his career. He's been in seven Broadway shows and a national touring company and now he's a swing. He's moving in the wrong direction and he'd rather be unemployed than work for Tom.
Sam leaves and a gofer exits the theatre to fetch Tom to go to drinks with the cabal. He has to see something first. He turns to the stage door and watches Ivy emerge. Photos are snapped and autographs are given. Tom catches her eye and they have a moment.
Karen finds Jimmy at the after-show party and questions him about lies and drugs. He doesn't want to have this conversation but she insists. He tells her that his past is past and that he's only interested in the here and now with her. Before she can respond Kyle and Ana approach with the NYT story on their phones.
Uptown Scott and the cabal toast Ivy: “Girl's got balls.” I think she definitively proved to a packed house that she doesn't. Tom hauls out his phone to check the notices. It's a sickness, he can't help it. He finds the NYT article on Hit List, which makes comparisons to Bombshell and how Marilyn informs both shows. The various characters read off bits of it in turn, the salient point being that Bombshell is of the past and Hit List is of the now and the future.
Eileen is livid at Richard and Tom is chagrined to learn that Julia has been serving as Hit List's unofficial dramaturg. Again, how can he not know this? How can this never have come up in conversation? Tom throws a hissy about how Julia spent time helping Derek and she reasonably responds that it was only at times when he specifically said that he did not need her. Tom can't accept this; he downs his drink and flounces out.
At her office Eileen dresses down Richard, who's mystified since he put Bombshell on the cover of Arts & Leisure like he promised and he said Bombshell and Hit List were the toasts of the season. No, she replies, he said that Hit List was the toast of the season and Bombshell was the past. She can't stand the sight of him and orders him out so she can stare dramatically at the giant Bombshell billboard across the way.
Jimmy apologizes to Kyle for being a dick. He should really preface every sentence with that. They hug it out and Jimmy points Kyle at Blake. The gay boys share a quick smooch right in the middle of the Family Hour.
Aaawww!
Karen's up next and Jimmy has not changed his stance on opening up and sharing his past. Karen finds this unacceptable and walks away.
Ana exits the theater and runs into Wife Beater, whom we learn is called Adam. He asks after Jimmy and Ana says he's just missed him and they're all flirty with each other and I would be all over that pairing if he weren't so utterly sketchy.
Ivy arrives home to find Derek on her stoop. He congratulates her on a great show, saying he knows she wouldn't allow it to be otherwise. She asks if this thing they have going is strictly casual and he says it is, showing her that he's set the alarm on his phone for 3:00 AM. She takes the phone and shuts off the alarm and invites him in.
With a couple of false notes this was yet another strong episode in a string of strong episodes. I am continuing to love how Ivy and Derek are relating to each other and all the character moments like the look between Ivy and Tom. I really enjoyed the exchanges about whether Ivy should go nude and her decision to use it as a weapon for Marilyn (albeit a desperate weapon) rather than as a mark of objectification. And Ellis popping in out of nowhere is the funniest damn thing ever.
