Marilyn Monroe was an iconic actress and singer in the 1950s. Half a century later, her impact on her culture remains so great that a recently debuted television show, Smash, focuses on the creation of a new Broadway musical based on her life.  

This much-hyped and promoted show, created by Theresa Rebeck, premiered on NBC immediately after the Super Bowl on February 6, 2012.  It features American Idol runner up Katherine McPhee as Karen Cartwright, a woman from Iowa struggling to make it in the Broadway world. She lands a successful audition with the makers of this new Broadway show and gets to the final round where she competes against Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) who has much Broadway experience. Ivy eventually is awarded with the role of Marilyn.

Tom and Julia (Christian Borle and Debra Messing) are the writers of the musical. Eileen (Anjelica Houston) produces the show, while Jack Davenport plays Derek, the demanding director.

Smash not only shows the production of a Broadway musical, but how the stars have to cope with their personal lives while dealing with the stressful ways of Broadway theatre.

“It’s nice to see an accurate portrayal of a Broadway production,” said VHS senior Cara McGinley. “Plus, I’m directing the school musical and it’s nice to see that they’re dealing with all the nightmares that I’m dealing with but on a larger scale. It is also an entertaining show with story lines instead of just singing and dancing.”

11.4 million viewers tuned in to see the premier of Smash, and it was the third highest rated new drama debut in 2011-12. Since then, ratings have been up and down with its 10 p.m. time slot. However, many critics give it high praise. Tim Goodman from The Hollywood Reporter said it was better than Glee, while praising the acting and singing of the show.

Smash is produced by many people including Steven Spielberg, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and is a production of DreamWorks Studios. It is set to have 15 episodes aired for the first season to match up with The Voice which precedes it on NBC from 8-10 p.m. on Mondays.

For the first season, NBC signed a deal with Columbia Records for the musical soundtrack in which they have full rights to for this season and all following seasons.