Megan Hilty on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Pregnancy, and Her Unshakable Habit

"It's the second time that I'll be in Provincetown. We went up last summer and it was awesome. We can't wait to go back," said stage and screen star Megan Hilty about her upcoming series of concerts for Broadway @ The Art House. During the actress's week of shows, she'll be joined onstage for several performances by her husband, Brian Gallagher. Then, later in the week, theater personality Seth Rudetsky will be on hand to host the concerts in his typical performance-interview format.

Hilty, who is known for playing the blonde bombshells at the center of NBC's Smash and Broadway's Wicked, most recently costarred in NBC's (now canceled) sitcom Sean Saves the World. She recently revealed to TheaterMania what she'd love to work on now that her TV commitment is over, how she bullies audiences into buying her albums, and why she loves the people of "P-town."

What can audiences expect from your Provincetown concerts?

Last time it was four shows in two days and this is a little more spread out. We have six shows in six days. Four of those shows are me and my husband — he plays guitar so it's going to be an acoustic set. Then two of those shows are me and Seth Rudetsky, and Brian's going to come up and sing with us too.

The Art House is so lovely. It's very intimate and the audiences are so great. I love P-town. It's like stepping into this alternate universe where everybody's just happy and cool and having a good time. So we're really excited to go up and spend a week this time.

What is it like to be onstage with your husband?

We've actually performed a lot together this year. Especially since the spring started, it feels like we've been on kind of a mini tour. It is totally magical. We get to be together, we get to travel together, we get to perform together. Luckily, I don't think he's sick of me yet, but who knows, maybe we won't be speaking by the end of Provincetown. I don't know. [laughs]

How will this be different from the other shows you've done together?

We've never had just the two of us…I think it makes our show a little more real and maybe a little more accessible. We kind of like our shows to feel like you're in our living room. You know, the banter's always different, he's always calling me out on stuff. And I don't know, I would like to think that the audience really likes that…So it'll be much more intimate, really relaxed — kind of like P-town. And hopefully audiences will get to know us a little bit better.

And, um, P.S., I'm huge. Like, I'm very pregnant. [laughing] So that element lends a very different feel too. And it's great because we've been bullying the audiences into buying my album for the baby. Like, "It's for her education, guys."

What do you enjoy about being onstage with Seth Rudetsky?

He's extremely intelligent and really fun, which makes for a really good time. And I think he's found something special in this format of interviewing somebody and getting up to sing every ten minutes or so. I think it gives the audience a little more in-depth insight into what the songs actually mean to whoever is singing them — because our answers aren't planned, we have no idea what he's going to ask…It keeps you on your toes, which is fun. You have no choice but to be super honest.

After extensive experience on stage and film, which would you like to do next?

You know, I just really like working. I'm really excited to do something onstage, soon, hopefully…in the next year or so. I always joke that everything else that I do is to support my theater habit.

Do you have a dream project to get you back to the stage?

Well, I got to do Gentlemen Prefer Blondes for a couple weeks with Encores! And that just wasn't enough. I would really love to do that again. We were actually really close to making it happen before Sean Saves the World came up. And so now we're just kind of back to the drawing board going, "OK, when is everybody available?" The show is just so much fun, and the music is so fantastic. It would be a dream to get to do it again.