Fade in on a girl... and you'll see it's Katharine McPhee, stopping by Playbill's virtual studio to chat all things Smash with Playbill social media director Felicia Fitzpatrick!
Check out the video above, in which she talks about working on the series, its surprising after life, and the Broadway musical workshop where she first met future Smash songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Then tune in to the streamed 2015 concert of Bombshell, in which the cast of the NBC musical drama reunited at the Minskoff Theatre to bring to life for one, glorious, sold-out night the musical within the show about Marilyn Monroe. And during intermission, Smash fan Julie Klausner hosts a virtual reunion of the cast, including McPhee, Megan Hilty, Debra Messing, Christian Borle, and more.
McPhee, who made her Broadway debut in 2018 in Waitress, played newcomer Karen Cartwright on the series, vying for, winning, losing, and winning again the role Marilyn in Bombshell. Watch the video below, in which McPhee answers trivia questions about the series to prove how well she remembers the show!
Introduced by two-time Academy Award winner Renée Zellweger, Bombshell in Concert will stream on PEOPLE.com as well as on PEOPLE’s digital and social platforms, and will also be shared right here on Playbill. During intermission, Julie Klausner (Difficult People) hosts a live, virtual reunion with the show’s original cast members, including Christian Borle, Jaime Cepero, Will Chase, Brian D’Arcy James, Jack Davenport, Ann Harada, Megan Hilty, Jeremy Jordan, Katharine McPhee, Andy Mientus, Debra Messing, Leslie Odom Jr., Krysta Rodriguez, and Wesley Taylor.
With a score by Tony- and Grammy Award-winning songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the one-night-only concert included fully staged numbers and a full orchestra and chorus, becoming one of the most successful fundraisers ever for The Actors Fund.
The concert was produced by Smash executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron; and was co-directed and written by Scott Wittman, and co-directed and choreographed by Smash’s Emmy Award-winning choreographer Joshua Bergasse. Music supervision was by Scott M. Riesett under the direction of Marc Shaiman.
The streamed event will be produced by Neil Meron and Bob Greenblatt, with Matt Hoffman and Scott Silberstein, co-founders of HMS Media, handling all post production duties.