Video: Robyn Hurder Talks SMASH Opening Night and 20 Years on Broadway

Smash star Robyn Hurder joined The Jennifer Hudson Show to celebrate the opening night of the much-anticipated new musical. "[Opening night] went as well as any opening night could go," she shared on the show. "Sometimes opening nights can be a little stuffy, [but] everyone was there filled with love, and there was so much applause, so much laughter, so much joy."

Hurder went on to reflect on her long journey to playing leading roles, marking 20 years on Broadway this month.  "I started out in the ensemble [and] worked my way up, performing in the ensemble in some Broadway shows, and then... covering principal roles and then doing principal roles regionally," she explained. "I've always felt like I've been able to do it, I just haven't had the opportunity yet."

Hurder went on to highlight the incredible resilience required to succeed in show business. "You need to have a really, really tough, think skin for this business because there is so much rejection [but] there's also so much triumph." Smash is now running at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway. Watch the full conversation now.

Smash features a score by Tony, Emmy and two-time Grammy winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who wrote over two dozen songs for the television show, many of which will be used in the musical, in addition to new material they have written for the stage. With a book by two of Broadway’s most seasoned craftsmen, four-time Tony nominee Rick Elice and Tony winner Bob Martin, Emmy-winning and Tony-nominated choreographer Joshua Bergasse, who choreographed the television series, reprises his role for the stage adaptation.

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