Following the success of the one-night-only June 8 Broadway concert staging of Bombshell, Universal Stage Productions had announced that the property was in development as a full-length stage musical.
"Smash" producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who presented the June 8 Actors Fund concert version of the show that reunited original cast members from the series, were announced as executive producers of the theatrical entity.
Zadan told EW Nov. 17, "I would say that [work on] Bombshell slowed down a tiny bit because Bob Greenblatt asked us to focus on The Wiz. The moment The Wiz is up and running, we’ll go back and focus on Bombshell. So once this airs, we’ll be jumping in on Bombshell."
Meron added, "We're currently putting together the creative team."
The Wiz Live! airs Dec. 3. A timeline for Bombshell's theatrical premiere was not announced.
Bombshell features a score by Tony Award-winning songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Standouts from the score include "Let Me Be Your Star" and "Hang the Moon." A bookwriter for the stage production has not been announced.
Steven Spielberg, who was executive producer on "Smash," will be involved in Bombshell's ongoing musical developments.
"There is a still a lot of love for 'Smash' and a rabid fan base out there, and we're thrilled to be able to keep the dream alive as we work towards bringing Bombshell to theatre audiences," said Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, in an earlier statement. "'Smash' was ambitious because every episode was a complicated musical for television and we also built the foundation of the musical-within-the-musical about Marilyn's endlessly fascinating and tumultuous life. Over the course of two seasons an entire Bombshell score was written to service 'Smash' storylines, and now that show will have a chance to stand on its own."
"We are so thrilled that 'Smash' isn't over and that Bombshell gets to live on," Zadan said in a statement. "The Emmy-nominated songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, including the iconic 'Let Me Be Your Star,' are every bit the caliber of their Tony-and Grammy-winning Broadway work. The Actors Fund benefit reinforced how alive this material is on stage and how much the audience wants to see the Marilyn Monroe musical in its entirety."
"As life imitates art, Joshua Bergasse, our brilliant Emmy-winning choreographer from 'Smash,' actually made his Broadway debut last season as a choreographer and was nominated for a Tony Award. Now he will get the chance to reimagine his exhilarating Bombshell dances for the theatre," Meron added.
Playwright Theresa Rebeck created the series and wrote the pilot for "Smash," which set the backstage story of Bombshell in motion.
The producing team will also include Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank and Chris Herzberger.
Bombshell was one of two musicals central to the plot of "Smash," which gave viewers a dramatically compacted (and often overly heightened) insider's glimpse of the making of a new Broadway musical.
The June 8 concert featured original "Smash" stars and more, including Christian Borle, Will Chase, Megan Hilty, Katharine McPhee, Debra Messing, Jaime Cepero, Brian d'Arcy James, Ann Harada, Jeremy Jordan, Donna McKechnie, Leslie Odom, Jr. and Wesley Taylor. No word on whether any will be involved in the full stage version.
Flip Through Bombshell's Broadway Playbill
Click here to read Playbill's play-by-play of the June 8 event, and then watch (or re-watch) "Big Finish," "Don't Forget Me," "Never Give All the Heart" and the finale below.
And, don't forget to click here to learn about the six unexpected moments from the evening!
"Big Finish":
