“Broadway, Here I Come!” said the musical adaptation of the late NBC show “Smash,” which Variety can exclusively reveal is planning a workshop for the summer, according to producer Robert Greenblatt.
The musical was first confirmed to be in the works in May of 2020, with Tony winner Bob Martin (“The Prom”) and Tony-nominated Rick Elice (“Peter and the Starcatcher”) writing the book. Greenblatt is aiming for a Broadway opening in 2023, with the show being titled either “Smash, A New Musical” or “Smash: The Musical.”
“They’ve delivered a draft that I’m very excited about, and we’re now in the process of putting together our first workshop, which is, you know, the earliest step in a musical where you just get a cast together, read the script and perform the score just for the producers,” Greenblatt told Variety. “That will most likely happen at some point this summer. So it’s the first step, but things are moving along really nicely.”
Greenblatt added that the workshop’s cast will probably consist of “actors who are friends of ours, that will do us a favor. It’s really not meant to be the cast for the show yet. So we’re a few steps away from getting to that stage.” He declined to name any picks he has for a dream casting of the live production.
As previously reported, the team also includes Steven Spielberg and Neil Meron (“Annie Live!”), who both served as executive producers on the series. Greenblatt was chair of NBC entertainment at the time and championed “Smash” as his own passion project. Tony- and Grammy-winning pair Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who wrote most of the series’ score, are also set to work on the musical, along with choreographer Joshua Bergasse. Meron, Greenblatt, Shaiman and Wittman are also collaborating on the Broadway adaptation of the 1959 film “Some Like it Hot,” which is set to open later this year.
“That’s the team so far, we don’t have anybody else on board yet until we sort of start to put this show on its feet, which won’t happen until after the first workshop,” Greenblatt said, adding that the next role to fill will likely be that of a director.
“Smash” ran for two seasons in 2012 and 2013 to an extremely divided response from critics and audiences. The show’s first season followed the making of the fictitious Marilyn Monroe biopic musical “Bombshell” and centered on the casting of the lead role, with newcomer Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee) and chorus girl Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) fighting for the job.
The musical will follow writers Julia and Tom (played on TV by Debra Messing and Christian Borle) as they create “Bombshell,” but the storyline will differ.
While “Smash” the series featured both original music and a melange of covers (who can forget McPhee’s Bar Mitzvah performance of “Shake it Out”), Greenblatt confirmed to Variety that the musical will feature only the show’s original music, “probably” with a new song or two in the mix. He also confirmed that fan-favorite “They Just Keep Moving the Line” will be in the musical, along with the previously-reported classic, “Let Me Be Your Star.”
“It’s most of the songs that Shaiman and Wittman wrote for the television show,” Greenblatt said. “They’re all being used in different places and sung by different characters in this new version, but it’s that score from the TV show.”
A longtime lover of Broadway, Greenblatt (who has produced musicals such as “9 to 5” and “Dear Evan Hansen”) said the possibility of producing a “Smash” musical is “in some ways, kind of more exciting” than overseeing the series.
“I actually think that this incarnation of the show, putting it up as a Broadway musical, may be — well, I don’t want to say the best version of the show — but it’s really translating well to the stage,” Greenblatt said. “And it’s a different experience than a TV show, but it’s going really well so far.”
“Smash” is one of a select group of original musical television shows produced over the last decade — alongside “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and “Schmigadoon!” — pitched to networks at the time as an adult follow-up to the success of “Glee” on Fox. But the series was plagued by disputes among the creative team, especially with creator Theresa Rebeck — she was fired after the show’s first season, and Joshua Safran (“Gossip Girl”) was brought in for Season 2. Though “Smash” debuted to strong ratings, as time went on it became a favorite for hate-watchers and the subject of much internet ridicule. Even as it aired, though, the show had a dedicated cult following, which has only grown stronger.
With the 10th anniversary of the show’s premiere coming up on Sunday, Greenblatt reflected on the impact of the show, and how difficult it was to bring into existence in the first place.
“It seems like the audience is still really rabid about the show,” Greenblatt said. “I think if it were on a streamer today it would probably still be running, because you don’t need massive ratings to justify a show’s existence.”
“People used to love to take potshots at the show and there was a lot of negative social media on it,” Greenblatt continued. “But the complexity of coordinating the writing of the scripts and writing of the music and the production of the music and the choreography and the shooting of it and all of that is so, so difficult that you can’t understand that until you work on one of these things.
“You’re never going to please everybody, but the complexity of these things, it’s just enormous. Which also makes it really rewarding.”
Now that Greenblatt has a producer credit, he said he’s enjoying the process of working on the show up close. But he’s aware of the risks that come with that.
“I had final say as the head of the network on a lot of stuff, but there’s so many decisions that were made by the producers, and we had great producers,” Greenblatt said. “But I do get to have more involvement with every little detail, which is exciting. So I guess people will have me to blame if it doesn’t work. It’s my fault if they hate it.”
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