She still has something beautiful to give! Composer Marc Shaiman shared a brief clip from the newest reading of SMASH the Musical, an adaptation of the NBC television show.
The show, which followed the creation of a new musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe, was cancelled in 2013, but rumors surrounding a realized production of the musical at the center of the story, Bombshell, have persisted through Actors Fund concerts and social media campaigns. In 2020, the project was finally confirmed to be in development, and a reading was held May 20. Now centered in the "SMASH multiverse" the reading included onscreen Marilyn Megan Hilty alongside Broadway favorites including Brooks Ashmanskas, Beth Leavel, Krysta Rodriguez, and Bonnie Milligan.
The eight second clip shows brief flashes of Hilty, Leavel, and Milligan, with a caption promising updates to come.
Shaiman wrote this caption to accompany the video.
"So, this past Friday, we had a reading of “SMASH - The Musical” a new Broadway show that takes place, well, to be au courant, in a SMASH “multiverse." Surrounded by a hysterical script by @bobmartin9000 & Rick Elice, @scottwittman & I got to hear our songs for BOMBSHELL (the Marilyn Monroe Musical we wrote for SMASH) come alive again, with a brilliant gathering of performers. Who knows if we’ll ever get a cast like the one we had on Friday, but let me tell you, if you wanna hear if your script is working, get Brooks Ashmanskas, @bethleavel, @danielbreaker, @krysta_rod, @kristinenielsenofficial, @christianthompsonactor, @maddiebaillio, @beltingbons and, yes, @meganhilty to read it for you. Then add in @steoremus’ sight-reading ensemble of my dreams. The drama, the laughter, the tears just like pearls…We laughed, we cried, we plotzed!"
"Scott & I wrote a new song as well (maybe more to come) and when you come back to the table after getting up to play said new song and co-producer Steven Spielberg (do you like how I just subtly dropped that name?) GRABS and SQUEEZES your hand to convey how the song made him feel, well, that is a rush I wish I could bottle."
"Much thanks to our producers Steven Spielberg, @bobgreenblattpics & @neilmeron for affording us a great week of work that culminated with something that does NOT always happen, and that is, when the reading was over, EVERYONE STAYED IN THE ROOM! No one scurried out the door to avoid talking about it! We have no concrete plans yet, this was just the first reading, but I think I can safely say that, unless the world ends soon, you really will get to see SMASH on Broadway sooner than later! Kinahora, poo poo poo, God willing!"
