SMASH fundamentally misunderstands what it is to be a musical

Anything can happen in a musical. A carnivorous plant can take over the world. A little mermaid can become human. A missionary can fall in love with a gambler! And we believe it all—because the story is told through song.

But if you look at Smash, not a single major storyline is actually told through music. All the (very many) storylines are expressed purely through dialogue. The songs exist purely as diegetic numbers from Bombshell, a fictional musical we never really get to experience. As a result, the audience has no emotional investment in the musical numbers, because they’re never tied to the wants or needs of the characters.

The stage adaptation captures the "Who is our Marilyn?" conflict from the TV series, but it completely misses the heart of the show—the ongoing tension between Ivy and Karen. That rivalry was the emotional core of Smash, and without it, Let Me Be Your Star loses its impact. In the show, it was electric because it embodied their struggle. Having the song exist only as a solo in the musical feels like a huge missed opportunity.

The cast is really top-notch and I can only recommend this if you want to hear the songs from Smash beautifully sung.