‘Smash’ headed to Broadway with Jennifer Hudson producing

NEW YORK — Jennifer Hudson is making a return to Broadway in the theatrical adaptation of “Smash,” the fan-favorite TV show in which she once appeared.

The EGOT winner will take on a different role, however — this time as producer.

Expected to premiere on Broadway next spring, “Smash” already has an A-list team of executive producers including Hollywood heavyweights Steven Spielberg, Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, along with Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the Tony winning duo behind 2022’s “Some Like It Hot.”

Five-time Tony Award-winner Susan Stroman, who helmed 2023’s “New York, New York,” has been tapped to direct the new production. Joshua Bergasse, who choreographed the “Smash” TV series, will do the same for the stage adaptation.

Created by Theresa Rebeck, “Smash” told the backstage story of a team preparing an ambitious Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe.

Starring Debra Messing, Jack Davenport, Katharine McPhee, Christian Borle, Megan Hilty and Anjelica Huston, the NBC musical drama garnered a cult following despite only airing for two seasons from 2012-2013.

Hudson appeared in a three-episode arc of the series, portraying two-time Tony Award-winner Veronica Moore, whose musical numbers included “On Broadway,” “Mama Makes Three” and “I Can’t Let Go.” Broadway vet Sheryl Lee Ralph also made a cameo as her mom.

“This character was so much fun because I got to dream like I was on Broadway and perform before I was,” Hudson said on Thursday’s episode of her eponymous daytime talk show. “That show meant so much to me and apparently it meant a whole lot to others as well.”

The “Dreamgirls” star made her Broadway debut as Shug Avery in John Doyle’s 2015 revival of “The Color Purple.” Though her acclaimed performance surprisingly failed to net a Tony Award nomination, Hudson later took home the honor as a producer of Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “A Strange Loop,” which won best musical in 2022.