Playwright Theresa Rebeck’s (NYPD Blue, Trouble) musical drama series, Smash, is being adapted for Broadway, Deadline confirms. Having premiered its first season in February of 2012, the NBC show lasted two seasons on the network before it was cancelled in its second season in May 2013.
Yet, Steven Spielberg (E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws), an executive producer on the original show, is ecstatic about restoring the short-lived series as one of its lead producers once again on Smash: A New Musical. He mentioned in statement that he is “beyond thrilled to be working with this incredible creative team and my producing partners, who began the Smash journey with me over ten years ago,” Deadline claims.
Produced by Universal Television, Smash revolved around a fictional New York City theatre community that was attempting to cultivate a Broadway musical, Bombshell, about Marilyn Monroe. Smash’s original score included talents such as Debra Messing (Will & Grace, Dirty Dancing), Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Talented Mr. Ripley), Katharine McPhee (The House Bunny, Scorpion), Christian Borle (The Sound of Music, The Bounty Hunter), Megan Hilty (Tinker Bell, Sweet Mountain), Anjelica Huston (The Addams Family, John Wick: Chapter 3), and Leslie Odom Jr. (Harriet, Murder on the Orient Express).
Executive producers that featured on Smash will join this new creative endeavor include Robert Greenblatt, WarnerMedia Entertainment’s chairman, and Neil Meron (The Wiz Live! A Raisin in the Sun) as lead producers. Marc Shaiman (Hairspray, Mary Poppins) and Scott Wittman (Hairspray, Mary Poppins) who wrote more than 20 songs for the 2012-2013 series, will write the musical’s score, with a book co-written by Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone, The Prom) and Rick Elise (The Addams Family, The Cher Show). Also returning to the Smash revamp is Emmy Award-winning choreographer, Joshua Bergasse (So You Think You Can Dance, Uprooted: The Journey of Jazz Dance), who starred as one of the talents on the show, according to Deadline.
The cast for Smash: A New Musical has not been announced. Production dates for the new project are also currently unknown due to the Broadway industry being temporarily halted by coronavirus restrictions.