TDF Stages

The Broadway cutup talks about his Tony-nominated turn in the backstage show 

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Brooks Ashmanskas may not sing the showstopper "Let Me Be Your Star" in Broadway's Smash but he definitely dominates the spotlight whenever he's onstage as Nigel, the deliciously acerbic director of Bombshell, the show within this show. Like the eponymous cult TV series it's based on, Smash is a Broadway musical about the making of a Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe and all the hilarious behind-the scenes drama that ensues. Fans of the NBC show will be familiar with the glorious, old-school Broadway songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, including "Let's Be Bad," "Second Hand White Baby Grand" and "Don't Forget Me." But they won't recognize the story, which has been completely overhauled by book writers Bob Martin and Rick Elice. That includes Ashmanskas' character: In the television series, the director of the musical was a womanizing cad torn between two leading ladies. Ashmanskas' Nigel is out and proud and devoted to his star Ivy Lynn (played by Robyn Hurder) until she goes method and then MIA. As the production hurtles toward opening night, Nigel and his collaborators need to figure out who else has the talent to fill Monroe's high-heeled shoes.

That means Nigel spends much of the show in a frenzy, and Ashmanskas makes his hysteria hysterical. In fact, his celebrated performance has earned Ashmanskas his third Tony nomination after previous nods for his laugh-out-loud turns in The Prom and Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me.

A big reason Nigel is such a fabulous fit for Ashmanskas' talents is because he's been involved with Smash since the start, so his character has evolved along with the show. Plus, he's collaborating with old friends: "I had worked with Bob Martin, one of the writers, on The Prom, and they were putting together a reading right as the pandemic was lifting," he recalls. "They didn't even have a director involved yet."

Fortuitously, the director who ended up with the job was Susan Stroman, who previously worked with Ashmanskas on The Producers and Bullets Over Broadway. "When Stroman signed on, it was very exciting," he says. "That's when things sort of took off and started to happen."

Part of what happened was quite unusual: open rehearsals during the musical's development process that fans could attend (assuming they were lucky enough to win the ticket lottery). This unusual move set Reddit ablaze, creating invaluable buzz and mirroring one of the plotlines in the musical as Nigel and his colleagues try to use social media to their show's advantage.

Ashmanskas acknowledges that a lot has changed since those open rehearsals. For example, Ivy Lynn no longer dies on opening night. He credits the creative team with making Smash sing by being open to collaboration throughout the musical's evolution.

"Bob and Rick and Stroman, they're all very collaborative people," he says. "It's a great way to work, nothing is too precious. There are a lot of lines that I ad-libbed during the rehearsal process to try to figure out what was funny. I tried things and failed mostly. But every once in a while, something hit and then they would take it and pump it up. There was a lot of back-and-forth, which was fun."

Although Ashmanskas has worked with many legendary directors over the course of his 30-year career—Rob Marshall, Sam Mendes, George C. Wolfe, the aforementioned Stroman—he insists Nigel comes from the page, not backstage. "I'm not doing Casey Nicholaw here, or whoever," he says, adding, "I've been very fortunate to work with really wonderful people, to see how they work or command a room. So I had a lot of experience to dip into for inspiration."

His late father, U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald C. Ashmanskas, also knew how to command a room—he was well-known for cracking up his courtroom with his larger-than-life wit. When asked whether there's any of his dad in Nigel, Ashmanskas pauses. "I hadn't thought of that, but I'm always influenced by my father, because we have a very similar sense of humor," he says. "Obviously, as an actor, it goes through a different filter, but we have a very similar delivery."

While Nigel's over-the-top emotions and wry punch lines (when someone asks, "Who goes to Albany?" He quips, "Monsters! Monsters go to Albany!") are reminiscent of other roles he's played, Smash gives Ashmanskas the welcome opportunity to have an onstage love interest, although, like everything else in the musical, it's complicated. "It's actually really nice and an interesting part of this show," he says. "He's the director and he falls for someone working for him who's much younger. It's a delicate situation, but I like how we tackle it. I didn't suggest Nigel have a romance, but I was certainly all for it!"

Smash is the second musical comedy Ashmanskas performed in this season—he played the Wizard in the Sutton Foster-led revival of Once Upon a Mattress for a limited run last fall. "I've been very lucky this season with two shows, one revival and one new musical," he says. "To do that is rare, and I appreciate good work and try to just have fun with it."

He also appreciates that Smash is a campy love letter to his chosen profession: the stage. "As crazy as everything seems in Smash, especially to someone who's not in the industry, everything that happens I've been through to one degree or another." Ashmanskas says. "Certainly, it's turned up for the comedy. But I think every single thing"—the out-of-touch diva, the meddling acting coach, the ambitious underlings, the opinionated influencers—"is basically something that happens on every show. And all the bad things always happen at the worst possible moment. You know, that's the theatre!"

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TDF MEMBERS: At press time, discount tickets were available for Smash. Go here to browse our latest discounts for dance, theatre and concerts.

The show is also frequently available at our TKTS Discount Booths.