Jennifer Hudson has been added to “Smash”’s producing team. The musical is based on the 2012 NBC television series of the same name; Hudson guest-starred in the role of Veronica Moore during its second season. The previously announced musical had been planned for the 2024-2025 Broadway season. On March 21, Hudson announced on her self-titled talk show that “Smash” will open on the Main Stem in spring 2025.
“I am so excited to announce today that I am joining the production team,” Hudson told her audience. “That show meant so much to me, and it meant so much to others.”
“I’m so excited because I’m working with friends — Bob Greenblatt, Neil Meron and the legendary Steven Spielberg,” Hudson continued, acknowledging the lead producers of “Smash.” Hudson previously collaborated with Greenblatt and Meron on NBC’s “Hairspray Live!” in 2016, in which she played Motormouth Maybelle. Spielberg and Meron previously served as executive producers on “Smash” for television.
Hudson made her Broadway performance debut as Shug Avery in the 2015 revival of “The Color Purple.”
She is one of a handful of individuals who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award. For her work as executive producer on “Baba Yaga,” Hudson won a 2021 Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Media for a Daytime Program. She received two Grammy Awards: the first in 2009 for Best R&B Album for her self-titled studio album, and then again in 2017 as one of the principal vocalists on the cast album of “The Color Purple.” She won the 2007 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her turn as Effie White in the motion picture adaptation of the musical “Dreamgirls.” Hudson is no stranger to producing on Broadway. She won a 2022 Best Musical Tony Award for her efforts as co-producer on “A Strange Loop,” which cemented her EGOT-winning status. She currently hosts a daytime talk show, which debuted in September 2022.
“Smash,” directed by Susan Stroman and choreographed by Joshua Bergasse, held a six-week workshop in January, which featured Brooks Ashmanskas, Alex Brightman, Robyn Hurder, Kristine Nielsen, Jonalyn Saxer and Krysta Rodriguez. Casting for the Main Stem mounting, along with a specific timeline and a venue, will be announced.
“Smash” features a score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the duo who provided songs for the television series. In a book co-written by Bob Martin and Rick Elice, “Smash” draws back the curtain on a fictional Broadway mounting of a Marilyn Monroe bio-musical.
