A fictional musical used as a plot device on a fictional TV show may soon become a Broadway reality. Bombshell, the Marilyn Monroe musical from NBC’s canceled Broadway drama Smash is officially being developed for stage.
The New York Times reports:
Universal Stage Productions said Monday it will develop “Bombshell,” a musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe, into a live show. No casting was announced, and a book writer will be announced shortly.
The series Smash was about Broadway writing team (Debra Messing and Christian Borle) and their struggles in creating a musical theater hit (difficult directors, competitive actresses, flakey financiers, etc.). What they ultimately come up with is Bombshell, a musical about Marilyn Monroe with a focus on her relationship with baseball player Joe DiMaggio.
Did you miss watching it? That’s okay! It wasn’t very good! But while the plot was shaky and soap opera-y, the original music—written by Hairpray’s Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman—and vocal talent (Megan Hilty, Jeremy Jordan, Katharine McPhee) were both commendable.
“There is still a lot of love for Smash and a rabid fan base out there, and we’re thrilled to be able to keep the dream alive as we work towards bringing Bombshell to theatre audiences,” NBC’s Robert Greenblatt said in a statement.
Do we really need another fictional retelling of the life and times of Marilyn Monroe? Probably not, but at least the news is as good of an excuse as any to rewatch Megan Hilty’s stunning performance of Bombshell’s “They Just Keep Moving the Line.”
Contact the author at madeleine@jezebel.com.
Image via NBC.
DISCUSSION
Smash definitely was not the greatest show, but I will forever be grateful that it introduced me to Megan Hilty. It was almost laughable that they expected us to buy that McPhee would be a contender for Marilyn over her.