Tag Archives: Bombshell

‘Bombshell,’ the Marilyn Monroe musical from ‘Smash,’ is upgrading to Broadway

Entertainment, News, Television, ,

Good news, Smashers! The musical within the musical drama is coming to Broadway. Of course I’m talking about Bombshell, the fictional B’way musical featured in NBC’s short-lived drama starring Katherine McPhee and Megan Hilty. After getting cut two seasons in, fans of the show we all loved to hate-watch continued to support it by buying the Bombshell soundtrack. The creatives behind the show and the music caught wind of this, teamed up with the non-profit Actors Fund, and took to Kickstarter to rake up the cash to bring the Marilyn Monroe musical to life at the Minskoff Theater for one-night only. The limited engagement sold out in minutes, and lucky fans in attendance experienced the Smash songs with more than a handful of the show’s stars belting them out, including leads McPhee and Hilty, as well as Christian Borle and Debra Messing. The show was such a success that Universal Stage Productions has decided to move forward with the idea on everyone’s minds: just bring Bombshell to Broadway already!

Smash executive producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, who also produced live adaptations The Sound Of Music and Peter Pan for NBC, will produce the new Bombshell when its hits a stage under the bright lights of New York City. Joining them as EPs are Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who wrote the Bombshell songs for the TV series. Though the behind-the-scenes crew is shaping up nicely, there hasn’t been any word as to whether or not any Smash actors are participating in this extended encore of sorts. (Please Megan Hilty, be our Marilyn!)

NBC head Bob Greenlight is excited for the work ahead: “There is a still a lot of love for ‘Smash’ and a rabid fan base out there, and we’re thrilled to be able to keep the dream alive as we work towards bringing ‘Bombshell’ to theatre audiences. ‘Smash’ was ambitious because every episode was a complicated musical for television and we also built the foundation of the musical-within-the-musical about Marilyn’s endlessly fascinating and tumultuous life. Over the course of two seasons an entire ‘Bombshell’ score was written to service ‘Smash’ storylines, and now that show will have a chance to stand on its own.”

“We are so thrilled that Smash isn’t over and that Bombshell gets to live on,” Zadan chimed in. “The Emmy-nominated songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, including the iconic ‘Let Me Be Your Star,’ are every bit the caliber of their Tony- and Grammy-winning Broadway work. The Actors Fund benefit reinforced how alive this material is on stage and how much the audience wants to see the Marilyn Monroe musical in its entirety.”

“As life imitates art, Joshua Bergasse, our brilliant Emmy-winning choreographer from ‘Smash,’ actually made his Broadway debut this season as a choreographer and was nominated for a Tony Award,” added Meron. “Now he will get the chance to reimagine his exhilarating ‘Bombshell’ dances for the theatre.”

Click here to catch glimpses of the one-off benefit concert, perhaps a window into what we can expect when Bombshell comes to Broadway for good!

[Via Broadway World]

‘Smash’s “Bombshell” explodes on Broadway, see clips from the concert inside

Entertainment, Television, Video, , ,

Bringing “Bombshell” to Broadway was a Smashing success. After amassing a whopping $318,120 for the non-profit Actors Fund on Kickstarter, the short-lived NBC musical drama Smash brought its Marilyn Monroe musical-within-a-show “Bombshell” to actual Broadway for a one-night limited engagement.

Though the star-studded concert featuring songs from Smash‘s “Bombshell” was not recorded in full due to legal reasons, Broadway.com managed to capture bits and pieces from it. Above, see Christian Borle and Debra Messing introduce the score for the musical “they wrote” in the show as songwriting partners Julia Houston and Tom Levitt. You’ll see snippets of Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee belting out hit songs from “Bombshell” including “Big Finish” and of course “Let Me Be Your Star.” After you’ve finished with this clip, jump after the break for two more! And if you’re interested in getting a full breakdown of the night, check out EW‘s inside scoop.

Obviously there’s interest not only to bring Smash back but also to get “Bombshell” as a mainstay on B’way. Though the former is likely to never happen, the latter has a glimmer of hope. Musical co-writer and director Scott Wittman shared his enthusiasm with EW to possibly make that happen: “The songs have such a life, and [on YouTube there are covers by] everyone from a drag bar in Atlanta to a 14-year-old boy in his bedroom to high school choirs and marching bands. I know there’s a life out there for it somewhere.” He added, “Even though Smash didn’t have enough viewers to allow NBC to continue it, it was still millions of people. Millions of people were hearing these songs every week, and that’s a lot of people!”

Smash executive producer Neil Meron built on top of that: “Of course we’d love to see Bombshell have a life on the stage. But we’d also like to catch our breath and then see where everyone is at.” Even Debra Messing thinks, “There’s a real musical there” and Katharine McPhee says, “[Bombshell] would make a great Broadway show. You never know.” Continue reading ‘Smash’s “Bombshell” explodes on Broadway, see clips from the concert inside →

‘Smash’ B’way musical ‘Bombshell’ comes to Broadway this summer

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Smash is coming to Broadway! Well, sorta.

NBC’s short-lived, cult musical drama was cancelled after two seasons on the air, but that couldn’t stop the fat lady from singing just yet. About seven months after the finale aired, series stars Jeremy Jordan, Andy Mientus, and Krysta Rodriguez performed songs from Hit List–a Broadway show within the show–at 54 Below, an intimate club in New York City.

And now, even more actors from Smash are reuniting to perform songs from the series’ other Broadway musical, Bombshell. The Marilyn Monroe musical, which includes the popular Smash song “Let Me Be Your Star,” is coming to real-life Broadway for one night this summer. Christian Borle, Will Chase, Megan Hilty, Katharine McPhee, and Debra Messing are locked in to hit the stage, and surprise guests are a possibility. Smash producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron also join this special reunion to produce the stage show, which will take place at the 1,700-seat Minskoff Theater.

Here are the details you really want. Tickets go on sale at Ticketmaster on April 14; they will be priced at the following intervals: $100 / $125 / $200 / $250 / $500. All proceeds go to The Actors Fund and the money will “help people in performing arts and entertainment who are in need, crisis, or transition,” according to a press release. Oh did I mention? This is actually a benefit concert on Broadway, technically speaking. To cover the cost of production, Bombshell hopped on Kickstarter to raise the funds. In under a day, it surpassed its pledge goal of $50,000 and surpassed the $200,000 mark. People who pledged $25 or more will gain early access to tickets on April 13. As of now, all pledge rewards have been accounted for, so if you’re looking to nab tickets for the big night, you’ll have to visit Ticketmaster on 4/14 along with the general public. However, you can still contribute $10 if you’re looking to lend a hand to the production.

“When we started doing the TV series, we thought it was [lyricists] Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s best work since Hairspray, and we always believed it was something that needed to be heard as an entity, instead of just hearing a song here and there,” Zadan told The New York Times. Well, Smashers, this is your chance to see Karen Cartwright, Ivy Lynn and more belt out your favorite Bombshell tunes once more–don’t miss out!