Briefly swinging away from that general 1950s-60s period in the concert by The New York Pops, Hilty was perhaps most confident and powerful in a medley tribute to Dolly Parton, whose work the actress sang in Broadway's 9 to 5: The Musical (in that short-lived show, she was Doralee, the "backwoods Barbie" character that Parton originated in the source film).

A country twang and pop enthusiasm are clearly Hilty's sweet spots, as evidenced in Parton's "Here You Come Again," "Jolene" and "9 to 5" (complete with a real typewriter clacking away in the percussion section), but Hilty also exuded a depth of feeling in the traditional American pop arena — particularly with a pairing of Johnny Mercer's "Autumn Leaves" and "When October Goes" (in an arrangement by New York Pops music director Steven Reineke, who conducted) and a bluesy, aching turn on Nelson Riddle's chart for the Gershwins' "Someone To Watch Over Me."

Hilty may be blonde, perky and just this side of "ingénue," but there is a maturity to her approach to songs, suggesting that she has loved, lost and experienced things that enrich an artist's work.

Hilty, perhaps a touch overwhelmed that she was making her Carnegie Hall debut, told the crowd that shooting for the second season of "Smash" ended March 8, and that the Friday Pops concert coincided with the season wrap party. (We didn't spy any "Smash" cast members in Stern Auditorium, the mainstage venue of Carnegie Hall.)

Drawing on Carnegie Hall history, Hilty held her own with Nelson Riddle's bongo-happy, frenetic, stream-of-consciousness arrangement of Harold Arlen's "Come Rain Or Come Shine," a version that Garland herself called "insanity" in her famous 1961 concert there. The writing of it conveys strained desperation, allowing an actress to make it seem as if she's hanging onto the pantleg of a guy who is walking away. But Hilty's gift of The Big Voice and The Big Note at the end of the song made the experience muscular, anthemic, heroic.