Marc Shaiman News

Next week on SMASH, the team deals with the aftermath of the workshop. Ivy (Megan Hilty) remains in the dark about her fate, while Derek (Jack Davenport) recruits Karen (Katharine McPhee) to help him steal the musical from Tom and Julia (Christian Borle and Debra Messing). Eileen (Anjelica Huston) must face up to her ex-husband, Jerry (guest star Michael Cristofer), when their daughter Katie (guest star Grace Gummer) pays a surprise visit from India. Check out a sneak peek of the upcoming episode below! This upcoming episode marks the first time that we hear Tony nominee Brain d'Arcy James sing on the series, and you can check out a preview below!

Today we are continuing BroadwayWorld's extensive coverage of NBC's hit musical drama series SMASH with a new entry in our ever-expanding collection of interviews with the cast, creative team and guest stars of the Broadway-based show - don't forget to check out the previous InDepth InterView with songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, as well (available here) - by talking to the leading lady of the show-within-the-show on SMASH itself all about her role on the series; the blonde bombshell of BOMBSHELL, Megan Hilty. In this candid conversation, Hilty and I discuss portraying a musical Marilyn Monroe and the volatile Broadway star playing her, Ivy Lynn, as well as her own personal experiences working on SMASH as we look ahead to the upcoming episodes which will feature the biggest musical sequence on the series so far and will also include guest appearances by Norbert Leo Butz, Marc Kudisch, Uma Thurman and more as BOMBSHELL heads towards its long-awaited big Boston tryout for the season finale. Additionally, Hilty and I take a look back at her prior musical theatre appearances, winning hearts the country over in her starring roles in WICKED and 9-TO-5 on Broadway, in LA and on tour - both under the direction of master director Joe Mantello - and, also, take a look ahead to the forthcoming Encores! GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, which she will be headlining later this Spring. Plus, Hilty shares her experiences working with this week's SMASH guest star and Tony-winning legend Bernadette Peters and reflects on her forthcoming Disney animated film in the TINKER BELL series that features another dynamic diva, her SMASH co-star and fellow participant in this column, Oscar-winner Anjelica Huston (our interview coming up next week) - as well as touching on DOROTHY OF OZ (co-starring Lea Michele), her new animated TV project for Nickelodeon - ROBOTS & MONSTERS - and first news of a solo album coming soon. All of that and much, much more!

CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts Performing Arts Academy brings the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical to life. Jump back to 1960s Baltimore, where pleasantly plump Tracy Turnblad has big hair, an even bigger heart, and a huge dream to be a dancer on the Corny Collins Show. Tracy has never been part of the "in" crowd - until she wins the coveted spot and finds herself a teen idol overnight. Tracy becomes a trend setter, using her popularity to help change the show's segregation policy.

HAIRSPRAY, the Tony Award-winning musical, will be presented at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, previewing April 12, opening April 19, and running through June 17, 2012.

Last night on SMASH, everything came to a head as Eileen (Anjelica Huston), Derek (Jack Davenport) and the team presented 'Marilyn The Musical' to would-be investors. Ivy (Megan Hilty) was under pressure to perform, while her mother, Broadway star Leigh Conroy (special guest Bernadette Peters), undermined her at every turn. Karen (Katharine McPhee) had to decide between the workshop and a meeting with a big-time music producer. Julia (Debra Messing) and Michael (guest star Will Chase) had to face up to the consequences of their actions. Miss the episode? Catch up below.

Next week on SMASH, the team deals with the aftermath of the workshop. Ivy (Megan Hilty) remains in the dark about her fate, while Derek (Jack Davenport) recruits Karen (Katharine McPhee) to help him steal the musical from Tom and Julia (Christian Borle and Debra Messing). Eileen (Anjelica Huston) must face up to her ex-husband, Jerry (guest star Michael Cristofer), when their daughter Katie (guest star Grace Gummer) pays a surprise visit from India. Check out a sneak peek of the upcoming episode below!

When a big Broadway star like Bernadette Peters makes her way onto a national TV program, Broadway babies await it with abated breath. Yet, when a big Broadway star like Bernadette Peters appears on an actual musical TV series like SMASH, Broadway babies have reason to throw an all-out bacchanal - and, last night, they most certainly had a reason cause celebre. While GLEE has spoiled us with a plethora of guest stars from Broadway and Hollywood over the course of its three seasons - Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Carol Burnett and Patti LuPone among them - the presence of two-time Tony Award-winner Peters - to say nothing of the forthcoming appearances by Norbert Leo Butz and Marc Kudisch - is a gift from the theatrical gods that instantly makes SMASH must-see-TV for the theatrically attuned among us (which, let's be honest, is most of us). Playing Ivy Lynn's blithely selfish and calculating former star of a mother, Leigh, Peters wrought every last ounce of bravado out of her bravura performance recreation of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from GYPSY - a show she famously starred in under the direction of Sam Mendes earlier this century - and made her thorny scenes with Megan Hilty blossom; her overall star turn giving the entire affair a cold, brusque but all-too-believable bloom - ice in veins all too tangibly real to feel. The tension was certainly thick for the first workshop performance of the show-within-the-show on SMASH, as well, but Hilty still managed to set fire to her scenes and songs - and McPhee shows considerable promise with her burgeoning pop music career (and next week's Ryan Tedder-composed "Touch Me" sequence seems certain to deliver on the sultry, sexy siren of song front as McPhee comes closer to getting the role of Marilyn). And, speaking of songs knocked out of the park for the umpteenth time by this all-star musical team responsible for SMASH, besides the slowed down grand slam ballad version of "Let Me Be Your Star" - given a bluesy Broadway belt only the very best, like Hilty, could possibly provide - we were also treated to a striking and wholly stylistically unique new Marilyn Monroe/Joe DiMaggio song in the form of the arresting "On Lexington & 52nd Street", another homerun to tick off on the perfect scorecard for songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman on SMASH so far; Will Chase's best (and, apparently, last) showcase. Film noir with a pulsating, almost atonal, steely and terse tinge, this is the sort of character number that seamlessly presents plot development and character exposition simultaneously in a purely, thrillingly theatrical manner and the type of dramatic and musical merging of storytelling SMASH excels at most of all, time after time after time after time. While "Everything's Coming Up Roses" was a strong cover of a classic Broadway barn-burner on account of Peters, "On Lexington & 52nd Street" expertly showcased the type of entertainment entity SMASH can ultimately be at its very best, firing on all axels - and how utterly enthralling in its layers of meta-narratives the real-life/showbiz soap saga that make it all come together it can fascinatingly be. Additionally, the workshop musical montage was the best example yet of how excitingly combustible and hot SMASH can really be when the boiler at its core is at full blast as it was sporadically last night in the appropriately titled "The Workshop" episode - almost always fueled by the simply spectacular songs for the show-within-the-show.

The new featured song from tonight's episode of NBC's musical drama series SMASH (Mondays, 10-11 p.m. ET) is now available from NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products and Columbia Records on the iTunes store at http://www.itunes.com/NBCSmash. NBC also provides episode recaps, games, photos, videos, musical performance highlights and even fan challenges each week at http://www.nbc.com/smash/.

Tonight on SMASH, 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. In the video below, special guest star Bernadette Peters visits 'The Today Show,' where she chats about her upcoming appearance. Click below to check it out!

Broadway veteran Brian d'Arcy James stopped by NBC's New York Live to discuss SMASH. Find out what he has to say about what's to come this season and about his upcoming films in the interview below!

This spring's sparkling, stellar production of Hairspray-the musical tale of one Tracy Turnblad, a "stout" girl who loves to dance and loves people no matter their shape, size, color or way of life-is as entertaining a production of the hit musical as you could ever hope to see. Led by a crazy talented bunch of youthful performers (if this were the 1930s, you can bet your bottom dollar they'd be requisitioning somebody's barn for a colorful musical spectacle) who perform their collective heart out for enthusiastic audiences, the production is satisfying on every level.

Since NBC's musical drama series SMASH is kicking into high gear as the Marilyn Monroe musical that forms the core of the show's story approaches its first workshop presentation on Monday night's episode - with the highly awaited appearance of Broadway legend Bernadette Peters coming next week, as well; playing the mother of the Marilyn musical star, Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) - now is the ideal opportunity to, well, "Fade in on a girl / With a hunger for fame / And a face and a name to remember," to quote Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's crown jewel in a diadem of a songstack for the show-within-the-show, BOMBSHELL. The show-within-the-show is better that most scores on Broadway these days and that is a credit to the Tony-winning tunesmiths and their ability to make musical theatre that is polished and professional, yet totally fun, bawdy and accessible, as well. Look no further than this week's "History Is Made At Night" or last week's "Let's Be Bad" - to say nothing of the pilot's twofer of titanic theatrical prowess in the form of "The National Pastime" and the afore-quoted "Let Me Be Your Star". Plus, we have to remember, SMASH has not one Marilyn, but two, so the future possibilities of who will be singing these songs and how they will be presented is totally unknown. As we shall see in the clips below, "Let Me Be Your Star" will now have its third iteration on the show, acting as the opening number in the workshop presentation as Ivy Lynn belts it to the rafters, ballad-style - not unlike the Karen/Ivy stage sequence presented in Episode 2 as a dream. Using just the example of "Star", we can see how rich and rewarding it is to further explore the depths of drama and heights of wit amply apparent in the sometimes caustic, sometimes campy and always enjoyably, embraceable unique work of Shaiman & Wittman on their songs for SMASH. The story setting them up, drama surrounding and contained within them - with the meta-narrative of the behind-the-scenes going on we are privy to acting as another layer - makes the production numbers the most brightly glittering stars of the SMASH universe. Katharine McPhee's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", "Call Me" and "Rumor Has It", as well as Hilty's "Crazy Dreams", were all viable and entertaining covers in their own right, yet the original songs are what make SMASH really sing - and zing, sting and ring-a-ding-ding.

Yesterday, I had the exceptional privilege of talking to Oscar-winning stage and screen star Anjelica Huston and Broadway sensation Megan Hilty all about the new NBC musical series SMASH and their roles in it, and, while both their complete Spotlight On SMASH InDepth InterViews will be coming in full next week, we have some breaking news to share with you now that is certain to excite the many SMASH fans here on BroadwayWorld and beyond!

Next week on SMASH, 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. Check out a sneak peek of Peters singing 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' from the episode below!

Next week on SMASH, 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. In the video below, Peters chats about her upcoming guest spot. Click below to hear what she has to say!

Joshua Bergasse, choreographer of NBC's musical drama SMASH, has found an outlet for the sort of work inspired by the old MGM musicals he grew up watching. "Those old shows used dance as part of the story,' he said, 'and I try to make the dance sequences part of the SMASH story."

Next week on SMASH, 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. Check out photos from the episode 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.

On last night's episode of the NBC musical drama series SMASH entitled 'Chemistry', Ivy (Megan Hilty) faced major problems as her voice began to fail her. Julia (Debra Messing) struggled to avoid Michael (guest star Will Chase) - but she couldn't. Eileen (Anjelica Huston) explored her inner hipster at a downtown dive bar with her new pal Ellis (Jaime Cepero), while Karen (Katharine McPhee) was an even bigger fish out of water, as she booked a side gig at a bar mitzvah on Long Island. Miss the episode? catch up below!

Last night, March 13, The Acting Company of New York presented the special event PATTI'S TURN!, a tribute to Patti LuPone, at the Kaye Playhouse. The all-star event saluted the career of one of Broadway's finest actresses and musical theater performers as evidenced by her two Tony Awards and legions of fans. BroadwayWorld was there for the big event and brings you full photo coverage below!