Dang it.  I had convinced myself that I did not want to see Jeremy Jordan in that role mostly because it is much more difficult for me to get to NYC now.  But I really must seriously think about going to see a Saturday matinee.   

Among the handful of reviews of Broadway's Smash that I've read so far, Adam Feldman's in Time Out reads to me as the one I might most readily agree with, were I to actually see the show (which isn't beyond the realm of possibility):

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/smash-broadway-musical-review-brooks-ashmanskas-robyn-hurder

I especially like his final summation:

Quote from: Adam Feldman, Time Out 4/10/25"Behind every hit musical...is a hot mess," teases one of Smash's advertising taglines.  But what's behind a flop?  Maybe it's something like the warm mess we get here.  They throw spaghetti at the wall and, when nothing sticks, they shrug and serve the spaghetti.

Most of the less-good reviews (which notably do not include Jesse Green's NYT rave) seem to share Feldman's own good-natured shrug, noting (albeit sometimes mournfully) that Smash onstage, while not great, isn't the fiasco of mostly-unintentional camp that the original series swiftly became — and that, indeed, notwithstanding a few specific elements and moments, even intentional camp isn't really the stage version's brand of comedy.  Personally, I'd call pleasantly watchable mediocrity a significant step up from failure so frustrating it inspired the sorry concept of "hate-watching".

At the unreservedly positive end of the spectrum, along with Green, is David Cote's tickled-pink defense of the stage version, flaws notwithstanding, as sorely-needed, expertly-served escapist fluff.  HIs review also stands out for wasting fewer words than just about anyone else on comparisons, good or bad, with the original series.  If nothing else, it does sound as though taking a very free hand with the original story and characters was probably an excellent idea on the adaptors' part.

 

Floyd Collins is about to finish its second week of previews, and there are new production photos, videos and essays on its show page on the LCT website.  Here's a taste: 


I had tickets for the end of May, but they turned out to be the same night that Top Hat opens in NJ, so I will need to exchange or sell them and get new ones for a different date.  I might also start entering FC's ticket lottery: I have a feeling this will be one of those shows I'll really want to see more than once if possible.

Discount Tires has a very good reputation among my coworkers in Texas.  I am thinking of using them to get tires this year.

Such sad news - his voice was wonderful

NYT:  William Finn, Tony Winner for Falsettos, Is Dead at 73
              An acclaimed musical theater writer, he won for both his score and his book
              and later had a huge hit with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.


NYT:  The Loose Screws, Hot Flames and Infinite Joy of William Finn
              The composer and lyricist of A New Brain, Falsettos and other shows
              answered the pains of life with jaunty songs.

Thank you for sharing that! I really enjoyed it, especially the photos.

This story, chosen for New York Magazine's nightly "One Great Story" newsletter, is flagged as "free for a limited time" — which I'm guessing means it might end up behind a paywall sooner than later.  Until then, the pretty photos and entertaining anecdotes are worth a peek.

Vulture:  "Good God, It Was Fun!"
                    Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Dick Van Dyke, and more
                    legends of Broadway reprise their most memorable characters.


In addition to Streisand, Minnelli and Van Dyke, the "legends of Broadway" included here are:

Matthew Broderick	Nathan Lane	Mary-Louise Parker
Betty Buckley	Patti LuPone	Sarah Jessica Parker
William Daniels	Andrea McArdle	Estelle Parsons
Andre De Shields	Audra McDonald	Mandy Patinkin
Harvey Fierstein	Donna McKechnie	Bernadette Peters
Joanna Gleason	Idina Menzel	Lea Salonga
Whoopi Goldberg	Lin-Manuel Miranda	Tommy Tune
Joel Grey	Rita Moreno	Jeffrey Wright
Cherry Jones	Bebe Neuwirth

No dates yet, but for what it's worth — from The Hollywood Reporter:

Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Live Filmed Version of Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway
The filmed version of the show, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, is set for theatrical release.