Krysta Rodriguez & Fellow “Smash” Cast & Crew to Mount Fully Staged & Choreographed Workshop This Month

Krysta Rodriguez is one step closer to smashing it on Broadway again…

Smash, the stage musical adaptation of the NBC musical series of the same name starring the 39-year-old Latina actress/singer and Broadway star, is set to take another major step in its march to Broadway.

Krysta Rodriguez,The cast and crew will gather for six weeks starting this month to mount a fully staged and choreographed workshop, with an orchestra, culminating in five performances for recruited audiences.

The new Susan Stroman-directed musical, inspired by the NBC TV series, is slated for Broadway in the 2024-25 season.

In addition to Rodriguez, who starred on the original television series as Ana Vargas, the workshop cast includes Brooks Ashmanskas, Alex Brightman, Yvette Nicole Brown, Bella Coppola, newcomer Nihar Duvvuri, Casey Garvin, Robyn Hurder, Kristine Nielsen and Jonalyn Saxer.

The full company includes Wendi Bergamini, Giovanni Bonaventura, Jim Borstelmann, Zachary Downer, Tiffany Engen, Ashley Blair Fitzgerald, Megan Kane, Caleb Marshall-Villarreal, Connor McRory, JJ Niemann, Tanairi Sade Vazquez, Brian Shepard, Sarah Sigman, Jake Trammel and Katie Webber.

Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who wrote songs for the series, also handle the score for the Smash musical, which will feature tunes from the TV show as well as new material. Book writers are Bob Martin and Rick Elice.

The musical is produced by Steven SpielbergRobert Greenblatt and Neil Meron.

“Bob, Steven and I are thrilled to take this next big development step on the road to bringing ‘Smash’ where it was always meant to be: a Broadway theater,” Meron tells me. “Not a week goes by when someone doesn’t tell us how much they loved the original series, and it’s time to pull back the curtain on how we’re transforming this show into a funny, joyous stage musical.”

Greenblatt adds, “This workshop/rehearsal process will give the creative team a chance to get reactions from real theatergoers who will experience it for the first time in a theater setting. We’re so fortunate to be working with this fantastic cast of Tony and Emmy nominees, and it will be exciting to see the show on its feet, fully staged by Susan Stroman and choreographed by Josh Bergasse.”

Rodriguez’s previous theater credits include Cabaret, Into the Woods, West Side Story, Spring Awakening and The Addams Family.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Co-Writing Music for New Broadway Musical “New York, New York,” Loosely Based on Martin Scorsese’s 1977 Film

Lin-Manuel Miranda is ready to start spreading the news

The 42-year-old Puerto Rican Tony Award-winning Broadway star will co-write music for a new musical loosely based on Martin Scorsese’s 1977 film New York, New York.

Lin-Manuel MirandaThe musical will begin performances on Broadway, in a theater yet to be announced, in March 2023. Opening night will be in April, with Tony and Olivier Award winner Susan Stroman on board to direct and choreograph.

The show —called New York, New York — will feature numbers written for the movie by legendary songwriting duo John Kander and Fred Ebb. Miranda will write additional lyrics for new Kander tunes.

Four Kander and Ebb songs were used in Scorsese’s MGM film, including the fabled title track that will certainly feature big in the Broadway show.

Casting breakdowns for New York, New York were being issued last week. The production is believed to have a cast of 31 and an orchestra of 19 musicians.

Producers Sonia Friedman and Tom Kirdahy have assigned David Thompson, a frequent Kander and Ebb collaborator to write the book. Sharon Washington will co-write the show.

Other members of the creative team include Sam Davis, music supervision and arrangements; Daryl Waters and Davis, orchestrations; David Loud, vocal arrangements; and music direction by Alvin Hough Jr.

The new New York, New York musical will feature little of Scorsese’s storyline, according to Deadline.com/

It will still be set in postwar 1946, but the focus will be about a city in recovery, plus the casting and story will be inclusive.

Deadline has been tracking the show for some time; it’s been in development for four years; a fully-staged, hush-hush workshop was done in New York several months ago.

A Broadway powerhouse who attended the workshop but who declined us permission to use their name told us that the performance was “profoundly beautiful and special.”

They continued: “It’s about this city; this social experiment of people from all walks of life. Simply put, it’s about New York with a big band, big cast and show-stopping dance numbers. The thing to remember is that it’s not the film, it’s a million miles away from the film, just to be clear.”

New York, New York will be the first new Kander and Ebb musical to arrive on Broadway since The Visit in 2015.