Playbill.com: Producers of NBC-TV's The Wiz Live! said Nov. 17 that their next project will be the promised stage adaptation of the Marilyn Monroe-inspired musical Bombshell, which was born from the NBC series "Smash."
Following the success of the one-night-only June 8 Broadway concert staging of Bombshell, Universal Stage Productions had announced that the property was in development as a full-length stage musical.
4 comments:
The fact that the producers of "Bombshell" are keeping it alive does not surprise me. When I watched "Smash" on NBC a few years ago I definitely saw the potential of a stage musical as many others did which led them to the stage concert. The producers were right that there still is a following of the show and the concept, however I'm not sure if that concept will translate to a multi-million dollar Broadway show. I think that they found the perfect solution with the concert. It was something that brought back "Smash" for people that missed it, attracted the right audience, and still brought in revenue. The article states that there will be a stage musical but it is a little confusing because it also says that it is coming from the same people who are producing "The Wiz Live!" which is stated to have a stage musical coming later in 2016. So I guess we can see how that does and if "Bombshell" will follow.
I read this article, and all I could imagine was how disappointing the production of Peter Pan Live! was to watch, and how much more disappointing The Wiz Live! will be. Truly, I hope I’m wrong, and I recognize that I am by no means an authority on this issue, but I don’t think that NBC is in the position right now to successfully broadcast a live musical theatre production of The Wiz. Though an incredibly interesting and thought provoking interpretation of The Wizard of Oz, I believe that it’s very hard to capture the essence of that interpretation, and coming close won’t cut it. We had similar struggles here with the same show, and though it was entertaining, I don’t think that CMU was highly successful in creating a production that genuinely took us into the world of Oz through the lens of African American culture, it certainly didn’t take me there, and NBC will almost certainly fail to create that world for me. Whenever I hear about these productions, I get sad, because I know how much time and money goes into preparing them. And people watch, because of course they’ll watch, a major TV network is producing broadcasted live theatre for free, why wouldn’t theatre goers be interested. But to me, all that time and money can and should be put to use in some other more productive and interesting way. NBC’s live productions, for what they are, I guess they’re ok. But it’s a testament to the lack of creativity commercialism brings to the table.
I think its great that Bombshell is going to be turned into an actual stage musical. When I was watching Smash I remember thinking that both of the fictional musicals in the show would be incredibly fun to see. Bombshell was the more fleshed out of the two and its story line and music some of the best parts of that show. As much as I would like to see a stage version of Hit List (the second musical in the show) I don’t know if it would be as easy. It was much less well fleshed out and even though its music was good its storyline was always kind of vague. Over the course of Smash most of Bombshell was laid out so I can see how they turned it into an actual show. Most of the songs already have choreography and a lot of the scenes are already written. Whereas for Hit List only some of the songs where choreographed and they never showed that many full scenes.
I have really mixed feelings on the live theater TV specials. Last year when I watched Peter Pan Live, I was very very disappointed. I thought that it was not casted well at all, the creative team took sets too far, and costumes were not right for the characters, and it just totally missed the mark. Because of that I do not have any good expectations for any more of these live theater TV specials. I think that Bombshell is a really good show, that I have not seen live, but I am hesitant to watch when it does air because of how poorly they have gone in the past. I have read that the upcoming The Wiz Live has a really great cast, but even now I am still hesitant to watch. I love the idea and trying to bring theater to an audience it does not normally get to, and in a way that it is available to everyone, but they have not in the past do any of the show justice.
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