Words by Léna Fontaine

A musical adaptation of the NBC Series “SMASH” is said to be in the works with Steven Spielberg, Robert Greenblatt and Neil Meron as lead producers.

The news was announced shortly after the Bombshell In Concert benefit stream featuring the two show’s stars Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty. The online concert featured songs from the fictional musical which played on Broadway for one night only in 2015.

After writing over 20 songs for the NBC Series inluding “The 20th Century Fox Mambo” and “Let Me Be Your Star”, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman will write the musical’s score, with a book co-written by Bob Martin (The Prom) and Rick Elice (Jersey Boys). Also returning to the show is choreographer Joshua Bergasse (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

Fans will be thrilled to welcome back some familiar characters including the two aspiring Marilyns, Karen Cartwright and Ivy Lynn, as well as writers Tom Levitt and Julia Houston. But according to the creators, the musical will “depart liberally” from the original SMASH serie.

Though casting for the stage version hasn’t been announced yet, we can only hope for a five-star casting just like the series who starred Debra Messing, Jack Davenport, Katharine McPhee, Christian Borle, Megan Hilty, Anjelica Huston, Leslie Odom Jr., Jeremy Jordan, Krysta Rodriguez, Andy Mientus, Raza Jaffrey, Brian d’Arcy James and Jaime Cepero.

The musical adaptation will also marks the return of Steven Spielberg as a lead producer. He was also the one who originally pitched the idea to NBC.

“I am personally thrilled to be a part of this musical and its road to Broadway. Smash is near and dear to my heart, and it seems fitting that a new musical inspired by what we did on the show would eventually come to the stage.”

Though SMASH only lasted for two seasons on NBC, the show became a fan-favorite even after it was cancelled, with a unique 2015 Broadway concert version of Bombshell – the fictional Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe developed in the series – selling out in just 15 minutes.