Video: Robyn Hurder and Susan Stroman Discuss the Meta Nature of SMASH on MORNING JOE

On a recent visit to MSNBC's Morning Joe, director Susan Stroman and performer Robyn Hurder shed light on the new musical Smash, which is officially opening on Thursday, April 10, 2025 at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre.

"It's about a group of creatives trying to put on a musical, so the audience gets to see the backstage of what it takes to put on a musical," Stroman explains. "It's very meta because, in fact, we are a group of creatives trying to put on a musical."

In the show-within-the-show, Hurder takes on the iconic figure of Marilyn Monroe, a role that the performer approached with copious amounts of respect. "I never ever wanted to do an impression of her. I wanted to just honor her as best I could with her energy," she explained. "It is daunting, but if I look at it as Robyn playing Ivy playing Marilyn, it makes it a little bit easier..."

Storman went on to highlight the relevance of the material and how this show will connect with audiences: "It's definitely a musical for 2025. It is about a group of real people and a real time. A lot of times in musicals, we're in a fantastical situation, but this is a real group of folks..."

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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