Broadway, Here It Comes: Smash Musical Bombshell Is Being Developed for the Stage

Bombshell, the fake Marilyn Monroe bio-musical featured within the short-lived television drama Smash, is being developed into an actual stage musical by Universal Stage Productions.

No timeline or production commitment has been officially announced, though whatever develops would use the score from the TV series, written by Hairspray Tony winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Neil Meron and Craig Zadan will serve as producers, with choreographer Joshua Bergasse (On the Town) also taking on the assignment. A bookwriter will be announced.

The news, first reported in The New York Times, comes in the wake of a sold-out concert staging of Bombshell, which served as a benefit for the Actors Fund. That production featured Smash cast members Debra Messing, Christian Borle, Megan Hilty, Katharine McPhee, and several others.

Bombshell explores the life of actress Marilyn Monroe from her childhood to her untimely death. Within the context of Smash, it won Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Actress in a Musical, for Megan Hilty's character, Ivy Lynn. A cast recording of the score as heard on the show, featuring Hilty alongside Katharine McPhee, Bernadette Peters, Christian Borle, Julian Ovenden, and more, was released in 2013.