‘Smash’ Musical Plans to Open on Broadway This Spring
Smash is coming to Broadway this spring.
The musical, which is an adaptation of the NBC television series, will open at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre on April 10, 2025, with previews starting March 11. Robert Greenblatt, Neil Meron and Steven Spielberg are lead producing, with Susan Stroman, a Tony Award winner for The Producers, as the director.
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The show, directed by Stroman, will star Robyn Hurder (Moulin Rouge) as Ivy, Brooks Ashmanskas (The Prom) as Nigel, Krysta Rodriguez (Spring Awakening) as Tracy, John Behlmann (Shucked) as Jerry, Kristine Nielsen (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) as Susan, Caroline Bowman (Frozen) as Karen, Jacqueline B. Arnold (Moulin Rouge) as Anita, Bella Coppola (Six) as Chloe and Casey Garvin (Some Like It Hot) as Charlie.
Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Some Like It Hot, Hairspray, Only Murders in the Building) wrote the score, which includes many of the songs the two wrote for the television show as well as new material. Rick Elice (Jersey Boys) and Bob Martin (The Prom) wrote the book to the musical and Joshua Bergasse who choreographed the television series, returns as choreographer of the stage show.
The television show, which ran on NBC from 2012-2013, starred Debra Messing, Jack Davenport, Megan Hilty, Katharine McPhee and Christian Borle and followed them in their mounting of musicals for Broadway, including Bombshell, a fictional musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe. Spielberg came up with the idea for the series.
The musical will also see its Broadway characters trying to create Bombshell, but the production has said it will “also depart liberally from the series.” Jennifer Hudson, who was a guest star on the second season of the television show, has also joined the producing team for the stage show.
The Broadway show has been in the works for years. Greenblatt and other team members began talking about bringing the show to a bigger stage after a 2015 one-night charity benefit concert version of Bombshell. It was originally announced for Broadway in 2020, but delayed, and the team held a developmental workshop of the show last summer.
“Neil, Steven and I are elated to announce that Smash is definitely coming to Broadway this season, a dozen years after the series ended on NBC! We always knew Shaiman & Wittman’s fantastic score belonged on Broadway, and our show is a clever, funny adaptation of the series — with a few surprises — that we hope will delight die-hard fans as well as anyone who didn’t see the series,” Greenblatt said.
The musical will feature scenic design by Beowulf Boritt (New York, New York), costume design by Alejo Vietti (Titanique), lighting design by Ken Billington (Chicago), sound design by Brian Ronan (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), projection design by S Katy Tucker, orchestrations by Doug Besterman (The Producers) and music supervision by Stephen Oremus (Wicked).
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