Just two weeks ago, Smash fans received the exciting news that their beloved (but unfortunately canceled) series would find a way to get back into the spotlight. Now it seems as though, the show will be hitting the Broadway stage, thanks to crowdfunding.
As previously reported, The Actors Fund launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to raise only $50,000 for a new musical Bombshell, which is inspired by the NBC series. Within only a few hours, the project gained its initial goal and now has received well over $300,000 thanks to 1,400 backers.
BOMBSHELL is the Marilyn Monroe musical created in NBC’s Golden Globe-nominated television series, Smash. The original songs were written by the Tony and Grammy award-winning duo, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (HAIRSPRAY).
This event will feature the talents of Christian Borle, Will Chase, Megan Hilty, Katharine McPhee and Debra Messing. The show will showcase some of Broadway’s hit favorites and Emmy nominated songs “Let Me Be Your Star” and “Hang the Moon.”
BOMBSHELL will take place on June 8th at the Minskoff Theater, in New York City. The event is produced in association with Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, and will be co-directed by Wittman and Josh Bergasse. The music numbers will be choreographed by Bergasse as well.
Not only is BOMBSHELL making headlines for its successful funding progress, it is now dubbed Kickstarter’s most funding theater project.
Sharing his thoughts about the campaign’s success, Wittman told Vulture:
“We had no idea people wanted this to happen. I knew there were a lot of female impersonators doing the numbers in nightclubs across the country, but…”
The Actors Fund chief advancement officer, Thomas Exton, noted the organization’s initial reaction to BOMBSHELL:
“We said, ‘Wow, sounds great.’ But it’s not an inexpensive thing to do, putting on a show in a Broadway house.”
Discussing the popularity BOMBSHELL continues to receive, Exton explained:
“Within 24 hours, over 5,000 people had come to our website wanting to be added to our email list, so they’d be the first to hear how to get tickets.”
In regards to the musical and show’s cast, Shaiman added:
“A lot of the talented people who worked on Smash had roles that didn’t require any singing, but we’re going to try to involve them. There might end up being a Marilyn song sung by men. Also to give Megan [Hilty] and Kat [McPhee] a chance to catch their breaths. We don’t want either of them to die. Or for their throats to start bleeding.”
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