SMILE: The Musical - History

SMILE is a musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch (A CHORUS LINE, THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG) and book and lyrics by Howard Ashman (LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, THE LITTLE MERMAID, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ALADDIN). The musical is based loosely on a 1975 film of the same title, with a screenplay by Jerry Belson. The original production opened on Broadway on November 24, 1986 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and closed on January 3, 1987 after 11 previews and 48 performances. It was directed by Ashman with musical staging by Mary Kyte. Among the original cast were Marsha Waterbury, Jeff McCarthy, Anne Marie Bobby, Michael O'Gorman, and Jodi Benson. It received a Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical as well as Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Michael O'Gorman) and Outstanding Costume Design (William Ivy Long). The television show "60 Minutes" followed the production from workshop, to out-of-town tryout, to Broadway. SMILE was being looked at as the great hope for American musicals in a time when all the biggest hits were coming from England. Unfortunately, the critics didn't buy SMILE. They were quick to point out the similarities between Marvin Hamlisch's other big show, A CHORUS LINE. The show had no major "star" and was unable to find the audience it needed to survive. However, SMILE is vastly considered one of the most underappreciated musicals of the 1980s and is referred to as a "lost" musical. Not every musical that closes early does so because it is not good. Sometimes the material is ahead of it's time, sometimes there's a lot of other shows opening at the same time, and sometimes it is just not the critics flavor of the month. SMILE is one of those musicals. As the original Broadway tag line read, SMILE has "the look of a winner."

SMILE is considered a "lost" musical because no official cast recording was ever made. However, there does exist a demo CD which is a primary source for groups performing the show. Some of the songs from the show, "Disneyland," "Smile," and "In Our Hands," have been released commercially in compilations of songs from little-known musicals