View source for A Thousand and One Nights (Smash song)

{{short description|2012 song by Smash}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:A Thousand and One Nights (''Smash'' song)}}
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{{notability|music|date=March 2023}}
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{{Infobox song
| name       = A Thousand and One Nights
| cover      =
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Smash (American TV series)|Smash cast]] feat. [[Katharine McPhee]] & [[Raza Jaffrey]]
| album      =
| released   = {{Start date|2012|04|23}}
| recorded   = 2012
| studio     =
| venue      =
| genre      = [[Pop music|Pop]]
| length     = {{Duration|m=3|s=24}} (album version)
| label      = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
| writer     = [[Marc Shaiman]], [[Scott Wittman]]
| producer   = [[Marc Shaiman]]
| chronology = Smash cast
| prev_title = [[Dig Deep (song)|Dig Deep]]
| prev_year  = 2012
| next_title = [[Second Hand White Baby Grand]]
| next_year  = 2012
}}
"'''A Thousand and One Nights'''" is an original song introduced in the twelfth episode of the first season of the musical TV series ''[[Smash (American TV series)|Smash]]'', entitled "[[Publicity (Smash)|Publicity]]". It was written by [[Marc Shaiman]] and [[Scott Wittman]],<ref>[https://www.ascap.com/Home/ace-title-search/index.aspx ASCAP Database Music Search - Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman songs] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306032310/https://www.ascap.com/Home/ace-title-search/index.aspx |date=2013-03-06 }}</ref> 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.

==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."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tvismypacifier.com/?p=23172#more-23172 | title=Recap/Review – Smash – "Publicity" | publisher=TV Is My Pacifier | date=April 30, 2012 | accessdate=February 17, 2013}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{smash}}
{{Katharine McPhee}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thousand and One Nights, A}}
[[Category:2012 songs]]
[[Category:Katharine McPhee songs]]
[[Category:Songs from Smash (TV series)]]
[[Category:Songs written by Marc Shaiman]]
[[Category:Songs written by Scott Wittman]]