Superstar filmmaker Steven Spielberg will follow his eagerly-anticipated big screen re-working of West Side Story by making his debut as a lead producer on a Broadway musical with the stage version of hit TV show Smash.
Spielberg is part of the high-powered team of producers (with Neil Meron and Robert Greenblatt) who developed the original NBC series and are reportedly set to serve as lead producers on the stage re-working of the cult show.
The trio are joining forces with Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), the writers of the songs featured in the show-within-the-show at the heart of the series which premiered in the US in 2012.
According to US media, the musical’s book will be written by Tony Award-winner Bob Martin (The Prom) and Tony-nominee Rick Elice (The Cher Show) and will expand on the series storyline about the making of a fictional Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe.
The news of real-life Broadway debut for the series which ran for two seasons and featured Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty as the actresses vying for the starring role as Marilyn follows on from last week’s fundraising US streaming of Bombshell In Concert.
Presented by The Actors Fund in association with People.com, the special one-night only streaming event reunited cast members from the series and was introduced by Renée Zellweger.
Five years since the sold-out Bombshell In Concert which featured songs from the fictional musical and seven years after the series ended its two-season run, the recording of the concert at New York’s Minskoff Theatre was the centrepiece of a special event that also included a virtual reunion of the cast from the original series.
Aimed at supporting those within the industry suffering hardship due to the Covid-19 crisis, the event starred McPhee and Hilty along with fellow cast members Christian Borle, Jaime Cepero, Will Chase, Brian d’Arcy James, Jack Davenport, Ann Harada, Raza Jaffrey, Jeremy Jordan, Andy Mientus, Debra Messing, Leslie Odom, Jr., Krysta Rodriguez and Wesley Taylor.
Angela Thomas
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