Marc Shaiman News

Today we are talking to one half of the supremely talented composing team responsible for ZOMBIE PROM, THE FIX, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, and, now, BROTHER RUSSIA, the lyricist of the formidable Dempsey/Rowe himself, John Dempsey. In this career-spanning conversation, Dempsey and I discuss major and minor details of his handful of skillfully written and entertaining shows written with the collaboration of composer Dana Rowe (who will also be highlighted in this column next week), in particular their affiliation with legendary producer Cameron Mackintosh and Signature Theater founder and director Eric Schaeffer, director of the US premieres of three of their musicals, including the most current one opening later this month - as well as touch on his work with Boublil & Shonberg on THE PIRATE QUEEN and his musical adaptation of the religious-themed film SAVED! As if all of that were not enough, Dempsey and I also dissect the finer points of the new Dempsey/Rowe show in previews in Washington, D.C., BROTHER RUSSIA, as he outlines its inspiration, purpose, style and the intriguing story of the new heavy metal fairy tale meta rock opera - all of that and much, much more.

Katherine McPhee's character Karen on the NBC hit 'Smash' Karen sings to a group of pre-teens at a bar mitzvah in a clip form the March 12 episode. Check out the sneak peek video here!

On the March 12th episode of the NBC musical drama series SMASH entitled 'Chemistry', Ivy (Megan Hilty) faces major problems as her voice begins to fail her. Julia (Debra Messing) struggles to avoid Michael (guest star Will Chase) - but she can't. Eileen (Anjelica Huston) explores her inner hipster at a downtown dive bar with her new pAl Ellis (Jaime Cepero), while Karen (Katharine McPhee) is an even bigger fish out of water, as she books a side gig at a bar mitzvah on Long Island. Jack Davenport, Christian Borle, Raza Jaffrey and Brian d'Arcy James also star. Will Chase guest stars. The episode airs at 10:00 pm/ET on the NBC network. Check out a clip from the episode below!

Broadway By The Bay, the Peninsula's premier musical theatre company, presents the hilariously entertaining HAIRSPRAY, running Thursday, April 5 through Sunday, April 22, at the company's home, the historic Fox Theatre in Redwood City (2215 Broadway Street, Redwood City). Press night is scheduled for Friday, April 6, 2012 at 8:00. Tickets for HAIRSPRAY range in price from $20 - $48 and are on sale now at Broadway By The Bay Box Office (851 Burlway Road, Suite 300, Burlingame), by phone at 650-579-5565 and on the Web at www.broadwaybythebay.org. Special youth, student, senior and group pricings are available.

SISTER ACT's Marla Mindelle has posted a parody of the show on YouTube - watch it below!

E! Online reports that Anjelica Huston will sing in a future episode of NBC's SMASH. Writer Scott Wittman revealed the spoiler while E! was on set interviewing SMASH star Megan Hilty.

When the sad news came out this morning that famed Disney songwriter Robert B. Sherman died yesterday, March 5, in London, some of our first thoughts here at BroadwayWorld went out to Tony-winner Marc Shaiman. Shaiman had been a huge proponent of the incredible 'THE BOYS - The Sherman Brothers' Story' documentary and it was his enthusiasm that sent us off to see the fantastic film, and our lives were better off for it. We asked Marc to put together some of his thoughts on Robert Sherman and are proud to present them below.

According to published reports, NBC's SMASH, which aired its fourth episode last night, got a slight ratings boost with almost 6.9 million viewers. Last week's audience was 4% smaller at 6.5 million viewers. The series premiere earned the show a whopping 11.5 million tuning in on February 6.

Get a first look at next week episode of the Broadway-themed SMASH below! SMASH airs Mondays at 10pm on NBC.

On last night's episode of SMASH, titled 'Let's Be Bad,' Karen discovered a new acting opportunity while attending a government party with Dev. Things got more complicated between Michael and Julia and Eileen decided to team up with Ellis. Miss the episode? Catch up below!

Select songs from tonight's new episode of the NBC musical drama series SMASH (Mondays, 10-11 p.m. ET), will be available today from NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products and Columbia Records on the iTunes store at http://www.itunes.com/NBCSmash.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Broadway legand Benadette Peters will guest star on the March 19 episode of SMASH, and the show has just released an official description that reveals some details on her appearance. As described by KSiteTV: 'Everything comes to a head as Eileen (Anjelica Huston), Derek (Jack Davenport) and the team present "Marilyn The Musical" to would-be investors. Ivy (Megan Hilty) is under pressure to perform, while her mother, Broadway star Leigh Conroy (special guest Bernadette Peters), undermines her at every turn. Karen (Katharine McPhee) must decide between the workshop and a meeting with a big-time music producer. Julia (Debra Messing) and Michael (guest star Will Chase) must face up to the consequences of their actions.'

NBC has released two new video previews from the Monday, March 5th episode of the musical drama series SMASH. In the first clip, Karen (Katharine McPhee) discovers what she 'brings to the party' in a sensual performance of James Brown's 'It's a Man's Man's Man's World'. In the second clip, Ivy (Megan Hilty) exudes Marilyn in her performance of 'Let's Be Bad', as rehearsal transforms into a Broadway fantasy.

In this Monday's episode of the NBC musical drama SMASH, guest star Will Chase's character, Michael attempts to win back the affections of his former love Julia, played by Debra Messing and serenades her with his version of Leon Russell's 'A Song For You'.

In a new interview with Reuters, NBC's president of programming, Bob Greenblatt told the news service that he was 'not at all disappointed in its performance. The expectations were never that 'Smash' would be the biggest hit on television,' Greenblatt said by telephone. 'But two years ago NBC wasn't even programming dramas at 10 p.m. To go from that to a 2.3 rating is a complete success.' (A 2.3 rating equates to 6.6 million viewers)' Regarding the show's likelihood of garnering a second season, they report that 'Greenblatt said the answer is most likely yes, but he did not rule out moving the show to a new day or time next season.'

NBC has just released a sneak peek clip of next week's SMASH episode entitled 'Let's Be Bad'. In the episode, Derek asks Karen to demonstrate to Ivy the 'correct' way to sing 'Happy Birthday'. While Karen does her best not to anger the 'Marilyn Monroe' star, Ivy still gives her a glance that suggests, 'if looks could kill!'

On the Monday, March 5th episode of NBC's SMASH entitled 'Let's Be Bad', the pressure begins to build. Check out the preview of the upcoming episode below!

Grace Gummer, daughter of Meryl Streep, will soon guest star on an episode of NBC's SMASH as Eileen's (Anjelica Huston) daughter. Zap2it just released photos of the actress in action, and you can check out additional shots here.

According to published reports, NBC's SMASH, which aired its fourth episode last night, got a slight ratings boost with almost 6.9 million viewers. Last week's audience was 4% smaller at 6.5 million viewers. The series premiere earned the show a whopping 11.5 million tuning in on February 6.

On next week's episode of SMASH, titled 'Let's Be Bad,' Karen discovers a new acting opportunity while attending a government party with Dev. Things get more complicated between Michael and Julia and Eileen teams up with Ellis. Check out a preview below!