SMASH

by Garson Kanin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1980

Too bad that theater veteran Kanin didn't just write a non-fiction memoir about the evolution of Funny Girl, which he directed; this long making-of-a-musical novel bears lots of resemblances to that real-life Broadway history--but, despite a few intriguing and nasty specifics, it's largely unconvincing (often dated), tiresomely talky, and even more vulgar than previous Kanin fiction. A large part of the problem is Kanin's unpersuasive narrator: Midge Maghakian, neophyte production secretary for Broadway-bound Shine On, Harvest Moon, who winds up lavishing more attention on her sex life--lesbian one-nighter with the distraught costume designer (""Her exhalations sent a stream of cool breath to my still-quivering vulva""), infatuation with an older writer working on the show (""my vulva was not only sodden but hot"")--than on the show itself. And even more crucially, the show (about the life of long-ago star Nora Bayes) never is effectively described and never seems remotely promising, let alone a ""smash."" So there's little focus here as Midge follows Shine On from auditions to rehearsals to out-of-town tryouts and rewrites; and the long-winded disputes among the collaborators mostly fall flat. Tricky, slimy producer Art Clune forces composer Hy Balaban to interpolate authentic old Bayes songs (by making a blackmail tape of Hy's anal-sex session with an actress). Alcoholic leading-lady Jenny (who sleeps with Art) and her husband (who nearly rapes Midge) fight to make the show strictly a Star vehicle. Art forces director Larry Gabel out--till he needs Larry to come back and save the show. The Star gets temperamental; the understudy goes on. Etc., etc.--and some of the backstage specifics ring true. But many don't, and the endless bickering (""I'm a Jew--but you're a kike!"") is only occasionally nasty fun. ""Is there always this amount of deviousness and scheming and politicking and backbiting and perfidy? It is difficult to understand how beauty and magic and wonder can be born out of such a revolting morass of human behavior."" Well, Kanin projects some of the perfidy here, but none of the magic--and the result is a petty and oddly drab showbiz-arama that will be read (or skimmed) mostly by in-the-know showfolk eager to pounce on all those roman à clef possibilities.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION