A Thousand and One Nights (Smash song)

"A Thousand and One Nights" is an original song introduced in the twelfth episode of the first season of the musical TV series Smash, entitled "Publicity". It was written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman,^[1] but in the episode, it's presented as a character's fantasy of a Bollywood musical number so the songwriter is unnamed.

In the episode, Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee and her boyfriend Dev (Raza Jaffrey) are having a tense dinner with movie star Rebecca Duvall (Uma Thurman) at an Indian restaurant. Rebecca has taken over as the lead in the Marilyn Monroe musical Bombshell, while Karen is her understudy. However, Rebecca has taken Karen out for quite a bit of partying, which has caused tensions between Karen and Dev. During the meal, Rebecca and Dev start to argue about who is the one harming Karen. An uncomfortable Karen starts watching a Bollywood movie on one of the screens, and then imagines herself in a Bollywood-style movie with first Dev, then herself singing the song, with practically the entire rest of the main cast and various supporting players of the series performing as backup. The song is sung in the style of an Indian Bollywood song, with the performers dressed in Indian clothes.

The song is currently available as a single from iTunes.

Critical reception

TV Is My Pacifier described the number as "all kinds of wrong. I understood how Karen wanted to go to a happy place when a friend and your boyfriend are fighting over you like you aren’t there. But apart from that, the clip of the song was just all kinds of wrong. And I thought Raza Jaffrey got lost in the dancing, while Katherine McPhee did a terrific job."^[2]

References

Smash Episodes Season 1 "Pilot" "The Callback" "Enter Mr. DiMaggio" "The Cost of Art" "Let's Be Bad" "Chemistry" "The Workshop" "The Coup" "Hell on Earth" "Understudy" "The Movie Star" "Publicity" "Tech" "Previews" "Bombshell" Season 2 "On Broadway" "The Fallout" "The Dramaturg" "The Song" "The Read-Through" "The Fringe" "Musical Chairs" "The Bells and Whistles" "The Parents" "The Surprise Party" "The Dress Rehearsal" "Opening Night" "The Producers" "The Phenomenon" "The Transfer" "The Nominations" "The Tonys" Music albums The Music of Smash Bombshell Original songs "Never Give All the Heart" "The National Pastime" "Let Me Be Your Star" "The 20th Century Fox Mambo" "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" "History Is Made at Night" "I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn't Love to Howl" "Let's Be Bad" "On Lexington & 52nd Street" "Touch Me" "Don't Say Yes Until I Finish Talking" "Dig Deep" "A Thousand and One Nights" "Second Hand White Baby Grand" "Smash!" "Don't Forget Me" "I Can't Let Go" "Heart Shaped Wreckage" "Rewrite This Story" "I Heard Your Voice In a Dream" Other Smash (novel) Bombshell (musical) Hit List (musical) Characters Category