Katharine McPhee Will Make Her Broadway Debut in Waitress

The Smash and American Idol star will play Jenna in the Sara Bareilles musical.

Katharine McPhee, who played a Broadway hopeful turned star in the NBC series Smash, will get her chance at the real Great White Way this year. The actor and recording artist will make her Broadway debut as Jenna in Waitress beginning April 10.

The American Idol star succeeds the show’s composer Sara Bareilles in the title role. She'll play a limited engagement at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre through June 17.

While Waitress will mark McPhee’s Broadway debut, she does have a history with musical theatre. McPhee attended Boston Conservatory for three semesters and starred in an L.A. production of Annie Get Your Gun before auditioning for the fifth season of American Idol, ultimately placing as the runner-up.

On Smash, McPhee played Karen Cartwright, an aspiring actor from Iowa in contention for the role of Marilyn Monroe in the fictional musical Bombshell. In the second season of the NBC series, Karen starred in the experimental musical Hit List, subsequently earning a Tony nomination. (As a replacement, McPhee will not be considered eligible for the real-life Tonys.) McPhee performed a handful of songs from Bombshell in a one-night-only concert at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre in 2015.

McPhee currently stars in the CBS series Scorpion, now in its fourth season.

Read: KATHARINE McPHEE'S 7 FAVORITE THEATREGOING EXPERIENCES

Based on the 2007 film and with a book by Jessie Nelson, Waitress tells the story of a Southern diner employee who dreams of escaping her abusive marriage by channeling her passions into her inventive pies—and an affair with a new-to-town doctor. The cast currently includes Drew Gehling as Dr. Pomatter, Tony nominee Christopher Fitzgerald as Ogie, Joe Tippett as Earl, NaTasha Yvette Williams as Becky, Caitlin Houlahan as Dawn, Lee Wilkof as Joe, and Benny Elledge as Cal.

