If we can't have Patti and NLB, I'll take this.
The New York-based creators of “Smash” - an NBC fall season prospect about the making of a Broadway musical - have concluded filming and editing the one-hour pilot episode and expect to meet soon with their executive producer, Steven Spielberg, to finish a final cut to deliver to NBC, according to “Smash” head writer Theresa Rebeck.
The creators are hoping for an answer from NBC by mid-May, Ms. Rebeck said in an interview; if they get the green light, filming for the series would probably begin in New York in July - meaning a possible boon of extra and ensemble work for theater actors who have been missing all those “Law & Order” gigs since the original installment of the crime franchise ended last spring after 20 seasons.
“Smash” is overstuffed with New York theater talent, including Ms. Rebeck, a much-produced playwright (Broadway’s “Mauritius,” Off Broadway’s “The Understudy”), and the songwriting team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Broadway’s “Catch Me If You Can,” Tony Award winners for “Hairspray”). The Tony-winning director Michael Mayer (“Spring Awakening,” “American Idiot”) made the pilot, and Ms. Rebeck said he would probably direct more episodes if the series is picked up.
The pilot stars Debra Messing as a musical theater lyricist creating a show about Marilyn Monroe; Ms. Messing began her career Off Broadway (“Collected Stories”) before breaking out as an Emmy winner on NBC’s “Will & Grace.” Christian Borle, currently in Off Broadway’s “Peter and the Starcatcher,” plays a gay composer who is Ms. Messing’s songwriting partner; Jack Davenport (“Pirates of the Caribbean”) is the musical’s director; Anjelica Huston (“Prizzi’s Honor”) is its producer; Brian d’Arcy James (the title character in Broadway’s “Shrek the Musical”) is the husband of Ms. Messing’s character; and Megan Hilty (Broadway’s “Wicked”) and Katharine McPhee (an “American Idol” contestant) are two actresses vying for the Marilyn role.
While television industry insiders have described “Smash” as NBC’s answer to the Fox music-filled hit series “Glee,” Ms. Rebeck said that the two shows would be quite different, in no small part because “Smash” would involve original numbers that Mr. Shaiman and Mr. Wittman would write for the Marilyn musical. Each episode of “Glee” usually involves three or four big production numbers, usually based on hit pop songs and existing Broadway standards, but Ms. Rebeck said that “Marc and Scott simply can’t write that many new songs on a weekly basis.” Rather, some episodes of “Smash” would look at the complexity of blending music, choreography, set design, and acting into a single number.
“I think we have a really strong pilot to show NBC, and a set of compelling characters who take you inside the theater world in funny and dramatic and emotionally real ways,” said Ms. Rebeck, who is also a veteran television script writer for “NYPD Blue” and other series.
Ms. Rebeck said she was “cautiously, very cautiously optimistic” that NBC will pick up “Smash” for the 2011-12 television season. In her favor (though she didn’t say as much), beyond the involvement of Mr. Spielberg and Dreamworks TV, is that NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt is a huge Broadway enthusiast. He was very much a hands-on lead producer of the Broadway musical “9 to 5” in 2009; Ms. Hilty played the role made famous by Dolly Parton in the 1980 film on which the show was based.
“Bob Greenblatt has been great throughout the process of making the pilot,” Ms. Rebeck said. “I’m really hopeful.”
Last year HBO set in motion another Broadway-themed pilot, called “The Miraculous Year,” but the outcome wasn’t so miraculous; the network passed on making it a full-fledged series, despite the involvement of such high-profile talent as director Kathryn Bigelow, screenwriter John Logan, and the actors Patti LuPone, Norbert Leo Butz, and Frank Langella.
Source
Brian d'Arcy James and everyone else listed here--that's still a pretty name good cast. Also, Shaiman, Scott, and Mayer? Yes, please.
The creators are hoping for an answer from NBC by mid-May, Ms. Rebeck said in an interview; if they get the green light, filming for the series would probably begin in New York in July - meaning a possible boon of extra and ensemble work for theater actors who have been missing all those “Law & Order” gigs since the original installment of the crime franchise ended last spring after 20 seasons.
“Smash” is overstuffed with New York theater talent, including Ms. Rebeck, a much-produced playwright (Broadway’s “Mauritius,” Off Broadway’s “The Understudy”), and the songwriting team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Broadway’s “Catch Me If You Can,” Tony Award winners for “Hairspray”). The Tony-winning director Michael Mayer (“Spring Awakening,” “American Idiot”) made the pilot, and Ms. Rebeck said he would probably direct more episodes if the series is picked up.
The pilot stars Debra Messing as a musical theater lyricist creating a show about Marilyn Monroe; Ms. Messing began her career Off Broadway (“Collected Stories”) before breaking out as an Emmy winner on NBC’s “Will & Grace.” Christian Borle, currently in Off Broadway’s “Peter and the Starcatcher,” plays a gay composer who is Ms. Messing’s songwriting partner; Jack Davenport (“Pirates of the Caribbean”) is the musical’s director; Anjelica Huston (“Prizzi’s Honor”) is its producer; Brian d’Arcy James (the title character in Broadway’s “Shrek the Musical”) is the husband of Ms. Messing’s character; and Megan Hilty (Broadway’s “Wicked”) and Katharine McPhee (an “American Idol” contestant) are two actresses vying for the Marilyn role.
While television industry insiders have described “Smash” as NBC’s answer to the Fox music-filled hit series “Glee,” Ms. Rebeck said that the two shows would be quite different, in no small part because “Smash” would involve original numbers that Mr. Shaiman and Mr. Wittman would write for the Marilyn musical. Each episode of “Glee” usually involves three or four big production numbers, usually based on hit pop songs and existing Broadway standards, but Ms. Rebeck said that “Marc and Scott simply can’t write that many new songs on a weekly basis.” Rather, some episodes of “Smash” would look at the complexity of blending music, choreography, set design, and acting into a single number.
“I think we have a really strong pilot to show NBC, and a set of compelling characters who take you inside the theater world in funny and dramatic and emotionally real ways,” said Ms. Rebeck, who is also a veteran television script writer for “NYPD Blue” and other series.
Ms. Rebeck said she was “cautiously, very cautiously optimistic” that NBC will pick up “Smash” for the 2011-12 television season. In her favor (though she didn’t say as much), beyond the involvement of Mr. Spielberg and Dreamworks TV, is that NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt is a huge Broadway enthusiast. He was very much a hands-on lead producer of the Broadway musical “9 to 5” in 2009; Ms. Hilty played the role made famous by Dolly Parton in the 1980 film on which the show was based.
“Bob Greenblatt has been great throughout the process of making the pilot,” Ms. Rebeck said. “I’m really hopeful.”
Last year HBO set in motion another Broadway-themed pilot, called “The Miraculous Year,” but the outcome wasn’t so miraculous; the network passed on making it a full-fledged series, despite the involvement of such high-profile talent as director Kathryn Bigelow, screenwriter John Logan, and the actors Patti LuPone, Norbert Leo Butz, and Frank Langella.
Source
Brian d'Arcy James and everyone else listed here--that's still a pretty name good cast. Also, Shaiman, Scott, and Mayer? Yes, please.