'Smash' brings back Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe is ready for her close-up.

"Rolling, rolling . . . quiet please," says a voice. "And . . . playback."

On a set in a Brooklyn warehouse last month, a recording of a musical number has started up, and dancers in '50s attire leap into high gear, circling around a blonde with dark glasses and lots of va-va-voom. She whips off the shades and whaddya know -- it's Uma Thurman, in a bebop number called "Dig Deep" about Monroe and The Actors Studio, full of "West Side Story"-esque flourishes and lots of jazzy hip-hip-shoulder choreography.

But that's not the only dancing going on.

A camera operator seems to tango with a small crane, its camera at one end swooping in and out, while others spin small hand wheels round and round, cuing the camera to pan, tilt up and "Dutch" diagonally. The effects are mesmerizing, which may explain why one crew member focused on a monitor doesn't notice the back end of the crane swinging round and -- conk! -- the crane keeps going as he rubs his head, still focused on the big finish. And . . . cut.

"Woo-OOO-ooo, fantastic!" yells director Tricia Brock. "Solid gold!"

That's certainly what NBC is hoping.

SEE PHOTOSMarilyn Monroe through the years

"Smash," its heavily promoted new series about the making of a Broadway musical -- one based on the life of Marilyn Monroe -- debuts Monday at 10 p.m. It features a mix of Hollywood stars (Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston), lesser-known Broadway vets (Megan Hilty, Tony nominees Christian Borle and Brian d'Arcy James) and an "American Idol" runner-up (Katharine McPhee).

The creator and showrunner -- Theresa Rebeck -- is an established playwright-screenwriter. Tony and Grammy Award winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman ("Hairspray") are writing original music and lyrics -- like that jazzy '50s number. And the man who dreamed up the concept is none other than Steven Spielberg. Even the guest stars (like Thurman, Bernadette Peters and Nick Jonas) come from all walks of entertainment.

Talk about crossover appeal.

Spielberg's idea was to reveal the world of Broadway in a series akin to "The West Wing," "ER" or "Upstairs, Downstairs."

Not "Glee."

Authenticity is the goal

Rather than bursting into song when the spirit moves, "Glee"-style, "Smash" characters only sing at auditions, rehearsals, karaoke bars -- where it's realistic. And the voices don't sound as Auto-Tuned as those of "Gleesters," who, let's face it, sound tinnier than R2D2 or Tron.

The goal with "Smash" is to be "authentic."

"That's why we're here in New York," says executive producer Neil Meron. "The DNA of people creating the show comes from this world."

And good thing, given that Spielberg and his fellow executive producers -- including Meron and Craig Zadan ("Chicago"), and DreamWorks' Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey ("The Borgias") -- have indicated interest in producing this faux musical for real. On Broadway.

The series tracks the lives of those onstage and off, including two actresses vying to play Marilyn -- Ivy (Hilty), the theater vet with Monroe's bombshell looks, and Karen (McPhee), a newbie from Iowa with a more Norma Jean, girl-next-door quality. Messing and Borle play songwriters; Huston, a stressed producer. Thurman pops in as a starlet.

Their banter is peppered with theater jargon -- vocal terms like "a belt" or "a mix" -- the way "ER" docs called for "epinephrine . . . stat!"

Off-camera pals Hilty and McPhee know the terms. And the same anxiety.

"I look so ugly when I sing," Hilty confesses.

"What about my crying face?" McPhee jumps in, hugging her two pet Chihuahuas (beloved set regulars) to her chest.

Both women ultimately laugh off such concerns.

"You know what?" says Hilty. "It's authentic."

The "A" word again. It's popular on this set.

They write the songs

If Shaiman and Wittman aren't on set, watching shoots like this, they're home writing music. Earlier last month, when co-lyricist Wittman answered his phone, you could hear Shaiman (who writes both music and lyrics) playing piano in the background.

"Just a minute," Wittman says.

"Marc?" No answer. "Marc!" Still no answer.

"Maaaaaaarc!"

For months the two have been feverishly writing songs, which, like the pilot's stirring power ballad, "Let Me Be Your Star," must do double duty, fitting into the "Marilyn" musical while reflecting "Smash" characters' emotions.

Marilyn-as-musical works, says Wittman, because we all know the basics. "She came from nothing, became a star and expired."

Reading scores of biographies yielded poignant anecdotes, like the one concerning Monroe's often-institutionalized mother, and Mom's white baby grand piano.

"Marilyn's memories of her mom ... ," Shaiman starts, "are all tied up with this piano," Wittman finishes.

"The piano was repossessed, and Marilyn searched for it her whole life," Wittman continues. "She eventually found it -- and it was the only possession she kept till the end."

"Well, that's a song, there," Shaiman notes. "So we wrote one called 'Second-Hand White Baby Grand.' "

Their own lives, too, inspired "Smash" writers. Shaiman recalled a past workshop performance where the air-conditioning failed. "All those months of work basically became ... "

"About the heat," says Wittman.

It's now part of the plot.

Back on set, it takes hours to shoot the Uma Thurman number. Rebeck observes, then joins a meeting on a future episode.

Some execs worry that a show about show biz may be too inside. Yet Rebeck, a fan of musicals like "Gypsy" and "Sweeney Todd," doesn't buy it.

"Our characters throw caution to the wind to pursue their dreams," she says. The dream of becoming an actor or a composer might seem crazy to some, "but all dreams are crazy," she says. "Everyone has something inside they yearn for."

Which may give "Smash" universal appeal.

"When old high school classmates get in touch with me on Facebook, saying, 'Oh, my God, your life,' I'm like, 'Uhhh, it's just like yours,' " says Shaiman. "But for some reason my profession gets written about."

"We're not some crazy tribe or breed," Rebeck says. "We're a little more free-spirited, but still part of the human race. I hope this show reminds people how beautiful theater is, how much it can lift your heart."

Lifting NBC's rock-bottom ratings wouldn't be bad, either.

The insider's guide to "Smash"

Theater nerds will love "Smash's" cameos (like legendary producer Emanuel Azenberg), locations (LaDuca Shoes, the go-to shop for dance footwear) and "The Baseball Song," the pilot's sweet homage to Monroe's iconic "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," with Megan Hilty shouting "Peanuts! Hot dogs! Cracker Jack!" (Monroe shouted jewelry brands) and her spot-on imitation of Monroe's fast, breathy vibrato singing, "A baseball diamond is a girl's best friend."