Ivy Lynn and her longtime understudy, Karen Cartwright, have a symbiotic relationship. That is until Lynn, a Broadway star, discovers method acting. Amid rehearsals for Bombshell, a musical in which she’s cast as Marilyn Monroe, she decides—much to the horror of her team—to hire an acting coach to help deepen her performance. Enter Susan Proctor, an eccentric armed with strange tips and a stash of amphetamines. So goes the plot of Smash, a new production inspired by the 2012 television series of the same name. Hailed by the New York Times critic Jesse Green as “the great musical comedy no one saw coming,” the show’s book is by Rick Elice and Joshua Bergasse, its score comes from the Hairspray and Some Like It Hot duo Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, and the choreography is provided by Bergasse. Susan Stroman directs. —Jeanne Malle