Smash, the Broadway show based on the TV series going behind the scenes of a Marilyn-themed musical, will close on June 22 – just two months after its opening – due to dwindling audience numbers, as the New York Times reports.
“The show announced the closing just two days after the Tony Awards. It had not been nominated for best musical, and its request to perform on the awards show was rebuffed; it was nominated for best choreography (by Joshua Bergasse) and best featured actor (Brooks Ashmanskas) but won neither.
The musical began previews on March 11 and opened on April 10 at the Imperial Theater. At the time of its closing, it will have played 32 previews and 84 regular performances.
Set in the present day, the musical depicts a development process that is thrown into chaos when the actress portraying Monroe (played by Robyn Hurder) comes under the influence of a coach (Kristine Nielsen) whose devotion to method acting causes the actress to behave impossibly in rehearsals. The making-of-a-show concept and the rehearsal room characters are similar to, but not the same as, those in the television series, which was created by Theresa Rebeck and aired for two seasons, in 2012 and 2013, before being cancelled.
Reviews were all over the map. In the New York Times, the critic Jesse Green gave it a rave, calling it ‘the great musical comedy no one saw coming.’ But there was no critical consensus, and box office grosses have fallen since the opening — weekly grosses peaked at $1 million during the week that ended April 20, and were down to $656,000 during the week that ended June 8.
The musical was capitalised for $20 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That money — the amount it cost to finance the show’s development — has not been recouped.”
So what went wrong? Over at Onstage Blog, Chris Peterson has some ideas…
“On paper, Smash should have worked. It had the name, the fanbase, the creative firepower, and the nostalgia … The early box office looked strong, peaking around one million dollars in a single week. But as spring turned to summer, the grosses started to drop … In a post-pandemic Broadway economy, that kind of performance simply cannot sustain a run.
The Tony Awards could have changed the trajectory, but Smash was left on the sidelines. It earned nominations for choreography and featured actor, but walked away empty-handed. More surprisingly, it was not included in the Tony telecast. Producers reportedly offered to cover the cost to appear, a move many shows have used to keep momentum alive.
The production was praised for its polish and energy, but the book was widely seen as the weak link. Fans noticed, too. Online discussions were filled with the same refrain: why wasn’t this just Bombshell? The Marilyn Monroe musical from the series had a built-in structure, a killer score, and a character arc audiences already cared about.
While the ensemble was talented and game (and I mean this with no disrespect), there was no A-List Broadway star in the mix … In a Broadway season where star power was everywhere, Smash was relying entirely on the title to bring people in. It turns out that wasn’t enough.
Another factor worth considering is whether the producers misjudged the level of fan engagement. The show may have a passionate following online, but that doesn’t always translate to ticket buyers. There seemed to be an assumption that the Smash name would fill seats, but that passion was never as deep or wide as expected. The nostalgia was real, but the urgency to see it live was not.
The cast worked hard … The songs were often thrilling, and the choreography popped. But the script never delivered the emotional payoff. On Reddit, one fan put it bluntly: ‘The score is bad. Smash only got to become a stage show because the songs from Bombshell are solid.’ That comment may sound harsh, but it touches on a larger truth. People weren’t asking for a reinvention. They were asking for a revival of what already worked.”
The Marilyn Report 