By James Jorden
Garson Kanin wrote this novel a clef called Smash, a tale of a ruggedly handsome director’s trials in getting ready for Broadway a musical based on the life of a legendary vaudeville star, featuring a difficult young diva in the leading role—well, as you can see, the clef is pretty much a skeleton key, since among Kanin’s many credits was his helming of the original production of Funny Girl starring Barbra Streisand. My dog-eared copy of this sex-and-scandal potboiler disappeared about five moves ago, but I remember there was one line that should be inscribed over the doorway to every rehearsal room in every theater in the world. (more…)