"Smash" Musical Bombshell Headed to the Stage

Following the success of the one-night-only June 8 Broadway concert staging of the Marilyn Monroe-inspired musical Bombshell, which was born from the NBC series "Smash," Universal Stage Productions has announced that the property is in development as a full-length stage musical.





"Smash" producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who presented the June 8 Actors Fund concert presentation that reunited original cast members from the series, will executive produce the theatrical entity.

According to the creative team, "no one from the cast of 'Smash' is involved in the stage musical at this point." A timeline for Bombshell's theatrical debut has not been announced.

Bombshell features a score by Tony Award-winning songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Standouts from the score include "Let Me Be Your Star" and "Hang the Moon." A bookwriter for the stage production has not been announced.

Bombshell in Performance! See Smash Stars Come Together on the Broadway Stage Bombshell in Performance! See Smash Stars Come Together on the Broadway Stage 13 PHOTOS

Joshua Bergasse, who earned an Emmy Award for "Smash" and also co-directed and choreographed the Broadway concert, will return to create the dances for the stage production. Steven Spielberg, who was executive producer on "Smash," will be involved in Bombshell's ongoing musical developments.

"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," said Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, in a statement. "'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 said in a statement. "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. Now he will get the chance to reimagine his exhilarating Bombshell dances for the theatre," Meron added.

Playwright Theresa Rebeck created the series and wrote the pilot for "Smash," which set the backstage story of Bombshell in motion.

The producing team will also include Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank and Chris Herzberger.

Bombshell was one of two musicals central to the plot of "Smash," which gave viewers a dramatically compacted (and often overly heightened) insider's glimpse of the making of a new Broadway musical.

The June 8 concert featured original "Smash" stars Christian Borle, Will Chase, Megan Hilty, Katharine McPhee, Debra Messing, Jaime Cepero, Brian d'Arcy James, Ann Harada, Jeremy Jordan, Donna McKechnie, Leslie Odom, Jr. and Wesley Taylor.

Flip Through Bombshell's Broadway Playbill

Click here to read Playbill's play-by-play of the June 8 event, and then watch (or re-watch) "Big Finish," "Don't Forget Me," "Never Give All the Heart" and the finale below.

And, don't forget to click here to learn about the six unexpected moments from the evening!

"Big Finish":

"Don't Forget Me":

"Never Give All the Heart":

"Finale":