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[0:00] Mo Brady: You're listening to Smashed from The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out. I'm Mo Brady. And I'm Aaron Albano.

[0:26] Mo Brady: Welcome back, listeners, to our tongue-in-cheek recap of what is still the Broadway community. Today, we're talking about the NBC series that aired from 2012 to 2013.

[0:38] Aaron Albano: Smash was also an incredible glimpse into the theater community in the early 2010s, as many of the show's writers, actors, and dancers were played by real Broadway performers with real Broadway cred.

[1:01] Mo Brady: But we wanted to go back in time to see how the show has weathered what it got right and what it got very, very wrong. So let's dive in and talk about Season 1, Episode 7, The Workshop. Aaron, give us the stats.

[1:13] Aaron Albano: The Workshop premiered on March 19, 2012. It was written by Jason Grote and directed by Mimi Leder. The episode premiered to 6.56 million viewers, down about half a mil from the previous week.

[1:27] Aaron Albano: Being the Workshop presentation, we basically saw excerpts of all the original music from Bombshell by Mark Shaman and Scott Whitman that we have seen thus far. But we also saw a new song called On Lexington and 52nd Street in its entirety, which closed out the presentation.

[1:43] Aaron Albano: We also saw a cover of Colby Kelly's Brighter Than the Sun, but the tour-de-force number we got to see was Everything's Coming Up Roses from Gypsy being sung by you-know-who, who we'll get to in a second.

[1:55] Mo Brady: And what happens in this episode, Aaron?

[1:57] Aaron Albano: Man, investors are coming in tomorrow to watch the Workshop presentation of Bombshell. The flame is hot between Julia Houston and Michael Swift canoodling in the hallways outside of the rehearsal room. Ivy Lynn arrives at rehearsal with her mother, Lee Conroy, who just happens to be a veteran Broadway star in her own right.

[2:18] Aaron Albano: With only a day before the presentation, rehearsal pauses so that Ms. Conroy can wow the company of Bombshell with an impromptu rendition of Everything's Coming Up Roses. Moments later, rehearsal pauses yet again when Michael Swift's wife and son barge into the room, causing Julia to storm out of rehearsal and leave. Again, this is all happening the day before the presentation.

[2:44] Aaron Albano: With all the personal drama combined with the rehearsal buildings seemingly crumbling under their feet, Derek Wells wonders if the project is cursed. But Eileen Rand, our producer, promises him that Bombshell will be a hit because Marilyn deserved it.

[2:58] Aaron Albano: Ivy Conroy won her Tony without drugs, but it doesn't look like Ivy Lynn will be able to claim the same accomplishment, taking sleeping pills the night before the presentation. She confides in Tom Hewitt that her mother is doing everything she can to undermine her, and Karen Cartwright is being handed everything on a plate.

[3:16] Aaron Albano: The Workshop begins with Ivy singing to a swelling imaginary orchestra, but it's Karen who we see dreaming of performing the role of Marilyn. With highlights of the fantasy sequences we've seen from the TV series' first six episodes, we watch both the Workshop and the watching of the Workshop. Everyone seems to be a bit off their game, though, with Ivy falling in a lift, Karen falling off a platform, and Michael Swift falling head over heels in love with Julia. See what I did there?

[3:44] Mo Brady: I did.

[3:45] Aaron Albano: Amidst the drama, Karen Cartwright records a demo for Bobby Raskin across the street and wins over yet another potential critic with her vocals. The next morning at 6am, she gets woken up by the call that Raskin wants to meet her, but she skips it to perform in the Workshop. The rest of the ensemble questions her decision, but she says she wouldn't have missed it for the world.

[4:07] Aaron Albano: After the Workshop, Ivy confronts her mother by drawing a comparison between herself and Marilyn. Both were sad and drug-afflicted women whose mothers didn't love them. Lee tells her that she knows how difficult the business can be, and even though she wishes Ivy would do something else with her life, her day will come because she is truly talented.

[4:26] Aaron Albano: The team also contemplates the future of Bombshell, and whether Ivy Lynn or Michael Swift will be part of that future at all.

[4:33] Mo Brady: Bum-ba-bum! It is chaos down here on 52nd and Lexington. Bill Stahl, Marilyn Monroe, from Hollywood to Manhattan, and she's built Billy Wild and Demi Lovato.

[4:49] Mo Brady: All right. Favorite performance by an ensemble? And I should say, we're seeing everyone who's in the Bombshell ensemble of the Workshop, but also everyone we've seen in the fantasy sequences from Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode... So it's like, it's like the reunion. Everyone's all here.

[5:05] Aaron Albano: A lot of the numbers were really, really great. But my favorite was, I think another return from commercial was a pan of the rehearsal room where Manny Stark-Santos is giving you at least four pirouettes into like an extension of his leg. It was gorgeous. I had to rewind it and watch it again because he's that good of a dancer. And I was gagged.

[5:29] Aaron Albano: I want to talk about, do you think he was choreographed to do that? Or do you think they were just like, everyone get ready for the workshop. Do whatever, just like you're rehearsing. Boom, boom, boom, boom.

[5:41] Mo Brady: Hmm.

[5:42] Aaron Albano: I mean, it was gorgeous and it was definitely in the background. It probably was just him fooling around. The thing you have to think about is that the people who play ensemble dancers on a television show are so far down the totem pole. When you are working on a shot, you are wondering if the camera is going to work correctly and the audio is working and this and the lights, right? And the makeup and the cut, like whatever Manny's doing in the back is probably like at the bottom of the list of figs. So I can only imagine that either the choreographer, Josh Burgas, was like, Manny, do some turns. Or someone was like, just warm up. And then he did turns and they got put out.

[6:25] Aaron Albano: I secretly hope he was just like fooling around and pirouetting. And it just happened to be on camera. And that's the take that they used. And it was top notch. Good job, Manny.

[6:34] Mo Brady: I'm not saying it on TV.

[6:36] Aaron Albano: Other favorite ensemblist moments, Aaron?

[6:38] Mo Brady: Oh, yes. Two scenes that are just so real to life was A, when Bobby and Karen are just pre-workshop, where they're just like behind the curtain and looking at who's there and then talking about when they spot the agent from CAA. So they spot who's in the audience from behind the curtain and then just start talking and talking about all of his clients on who could replace Ivy. It was so shady but also so real. Anybody and everybody would do that. After the workshop, when they're all just kind of kiki-ing and sort of reliving the workshop, especially when Karen falls off the platform and they're all giving her crap about it. I was like, this is the community.

[7:27] Aaron Albano: Yeah, that was like the most real moment of the entire series. Especially like, everybody knows each other's business. All of them are like, happy for Karen and chiding her for missing her meeting. But like, happy for her. Everybody's all supportive. Everyone's reliving what they all just did. It was great.

[7:45] Mo Brady: That feels so theater. Like, let's go do the thing and then immediately afterwards talk about how we just did the thing.

[7:52] Aaron Albano: It would only be more perfect if they were like at Denny's, just talking about it.

[7:58] Mo Brady: All right, so I have two Obano fact checks this time.

[8:02] Aaron Albano: Okay, great.

[8:03] Mo Brady: The first is in rehearsal when Jessica says to Linda, the stage manager, Karen needs to take off an hour or two. Is that going to be okay?

[8:13] Unknown speaker: She says an hour or two?

[8:15] Unknown speaker: Yeah.

[8:15] Unknown speaker: Okay.

[8:16] Unknown speaker: Okay, so this is so she can go record.

[8:18] Unknown speaker: Have you ever gone to a stage manager and said, I need to leave rehearsal for an hour or two for another job?

[8:25] Unknown speaker: Here's the thing. If it were the day before the workshop, probably not. First couple days within the work, like into the workshop, I think sure. Just because what I do love about Linda and her attitude toward here, I was like, Linda is the most forgiving stage manager I've ever seen.

[8:43] Unknown speaker: Oh, yeah.

[8:44] Unknown speaker: Where she was like, it should be fine. I'm like, I'm sure we're running the show at some point today. Probably an hour or two would not be great. But like, at the same time, I'm like, if there's anybody who understands these actors, if they're getting paid something higher, if they have an audition for something that will be paying them higher than here, they gotta go. Of course, there's a grace period where that's okay. In the first week, the day before the presentation, no.

[9:13] Unknown speaker: Day before the presentation, you are in the building. I don't care what you got. You are all called. It's like the high school musical. Everyone has to be there, sitting around the cafetorium. Whether you're not, you're on stage because we just need to run the thing. We just need to run the thing. Get your head in the game and do the show.

[9:32] Unknown speaker: My other Albano fact check is when Bobby, our truth teller, Wes Taylor, says, you're making $200 a week for this. You're in the chorus and Bobby Raskin wants to meet with you. My question is, is that amount of money accurate? In order to be in a workshop, would you get paid $200 a week? Probably somewhere between $600 and $900. Definitely not $200.

[9:56] Unknown speaker: So enough that would make you think, oh, I should stay here and not walk out of the room.

[10:02] Unknown speaker: Well, definitely not if you just are leaving without telling anyone. The one thing that I do love when Karen is like, I wouldn't do that. Good. Good. That's great that you wouldn't do that because that's shady as F. I think that my guilt-ridden conscience would be like, if I leave, even if they give me permission, I will never get hired for the show ever again. I either need to show up for this production or be willing to let it go.

[10:29] Unknown speaker: The way Jessica and Bobby were like, this is nothing. You should just go. Wow, what kind of etiquette are you guys promoting right now? But there's those ensemble people who have another offer coming down the pike.

[10:42] Unknown speaker: Sure.

[10:43] Unknown speaker: When you're hot, you're hot. When you're Jessica and Bobby...

[10:46] Unknown speaker: They can just walk into any Broadway show.

[10:48] Unknown speaker: Yeah. And act however they want. I think we should address the red-headed...

[10:54] Unknown speaker: Are we here?

[10:55] Unknown speaker: ...curly-haired...

[10:56] Unknown speaker: Are we here?

[10:57] Unknown speaker: Oh my god, Bernadette Peters.

[10:58] Unknown speaker: ...icon elephant in the room. Bernadette Peters is here.

[11:03] Unknown speaker: I was waiting for this episode. Just like you, Aaron, we can tell that Smash has such a boner for Bernadette Peters.

[11:13] Unknown speaker: Bernadette Peters plays Ivy Lynn's mother, Lee Conroy. I love that she has a stage name, or Ivy has a stage name. I love they don't have the same last name. I love that they don't address it. Whose last name is whose last name? Do you think Ivy Lynn's real name is really Ivy Conroy?

[11:29] Unknown speaker: It's gotta be Ivy Conroy, right? She is billed as special guest star Bernadette Peters. She comes in, and in her first scene on Smash, they just have her sing a number from a Broadway show that she was in.

[11:44] Unknown speaker: There's just no hiding the fact that everyone has a boner for Bernadette Peters.

[11:48] Unknown speaker: Literally.

[11:49] Unknown speaker: Which is right and good. Everything is right in the world. You know, live, everyone was gagged when she walked onto the screen. Everyone was like, oh, Bernadette's here, just like I was. And you're like, oh man, it would be great if she sang from Gypsy. And just how much fan service there is.

[12:09] Unknown speaker: My favorite thing about Lee Conroy entering the room is she is an explanation of the person that Ivy has become. What was great about having her on the show, and especially in the scenes where it was Ivy and Lee, Megan and Bernadette equals titans. Because they were stellar together.

[12:32] Unknown speaker: What did you think of the workshop of Bombshell, what we got to see of it? Do you think it's a good show?

[12:36] Unknown speaker: I liked it. I will say.

[12:38] Unknown speaker: I do too. I really liked it. I thought it was a really strong, despite the heat, I thought it was a really strong presentation. I literally wrote down, because I forgot about the last scene, yeah, this show would absolutely get funding.

[12:52] Unknown speaker: Right, isn't that the point? But then we don't talk about it. That's not like...

[12:56] Unknown speaker: Apparently it gets reviewed, which I was like, when is a workshop presentation reviewed? I think it's a fine show. But then in the very last scene, we're not talking about the success of the show. We're talking about whether Ivy's going to stay on with it. We're talking about whether Michael's going to stay on with it. It's so fast, because they immediately start talking about...

[13:15] Unknown speaker: Because apparently, despite us watching a great presentation, with tons of potential, all of the reviews or the buzz is bad for it. So they're like, okay, let's figure out how we can fix this. Which, yes, does it need work? Everybody was saying it needs work, sure. But I was like, to immediately go to replacing your only two principals in your workshop...

[13:39] Unknown speaker: Oh, yeah. Oh, my favorite part of the workshop is the two actors that come out and do bows at the end. I was like, who are they? Who are you? Why have you never been called at a rehearsal that I've seen? Literally, I haven't seen you at all. I can't believe that they can't find backing for a Marilyn Monroe musical written by these great musical theater writers who have a show currently on Broadway, shows that have been in London. You would think that through their Broadway successes, they would have built up cred with investors, so they wouldn't have to be working so hard.

[14:15] Unknown speaker: Fair.

[14:16] Unknown speaker: The other thing that I thought about is, what world is this Broadway in? So few shows are looking for investors like this from a workshop. Let's be honest. They're looking for a regional theater to go do an out-of-town tryout for it. That's how it would really work in the real world. They would do this presentation, and then ART, or La Jolla, or Old Globe, Paper Mill, any one of these regional theaters would be like, great, let's do a production. Then they would do a production, then they would be able to get the capital for it. That's actually how Broadway works in the 21st century.

[14:52] Unknown speaker: Fair.

[14:53] Unknown speaker: That's real. That's absolutely real. This sort of fake way of 7 million or nothing.

[14:59] Unknown speaker: No, totally. It's like, either we need 7 million, or the thing can't happen at all.

[15:05] Unknown speaker: The traffic stops for the queen of the movies. The center falls live in the flesh. So get a ringside seat. You wanna see what her husband sees. Just wait for the next subway breeze. Right here on Lexington and 52nd Street.

[15:35] Unknown speaker: Special thanks to Aaron Albano for joining us for this mini-series. The Ensemblist was produced today by me, Mo Brady. Meanwhile, to stay part of our ongoing Smash analysis, be sure to watch the next episode, The Coup, before next week's recap. You can find all episodes of Smash either on the NBC app or at NBC.com. Please help others find out about The Ensemblist by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. You can also download episodes wherever you get your podcasts or at TheEnsemblist.com. Follow The Ensemblist on Instagram to see the latest posts from our website where we share the stories of talented artists working in Broadway ensembles and the latest episodes of Smashed. Thanks for listening, guys. Until next time!