Saturday Show Tune: Audra McDonald, Megan Hilty, Kelli O'Hara "At The Ballet"

People sometimes forget that in the midst of all that brilliant staging and choreography in A Chorus Line lies a Pulitzer Prize-winning score.

Somehow, I had never seen this performance of "At The Ballet" with Audra McDonald, Megan Hilty, Kelli O'Hara.

According to several sources, this song was the first segment of ACL that really gelled. Once director/choreographer Michael Bennett "found" this, things really began to click.

Superbly sung here.

Concert Version Of NBC's SMASH Musical "Bombshell" Raises $75K In Two Hours

UPDATE: Only an hour after I posted this, the Kickstarter campaign passed the $125,000 mark.

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In just a few hours, a Kickstarter campaign to help fund a concert of "Bombshell" - the fictional musical from NBC's SMASH - raised over $75,000 with over 540 donors.

From the Kickstarter page:

We are raising money to put on the show of your dreams: A once-in-a-lifetime concert presentation of BOMBSHELL to benefit The Actors Fund.

The cast is donating their time, as is the whole creative team.* But we do need to raise $50,000 to cover the costs of the production and to assure that 100% of the proceeds will go to The Actors Fund to help people in the creative community who are in need, crisis or transition.

If you love this show - and you know you do - please consider a contribution large or small to help bring this evening to life. We have a great list of rewards at different tax-deductible donation levels to say THANK YOU for your support.

On Monday, June 8, 2015, at the Minskoff Theater, in New York City, we will present: Christian Borle, Will Chase, Megan Hilty, Katherine McPhee and Debra Messing.

Completing the cast will be a starry collection of Broadway favorites. BOMBSHELL features the Emmy nominated songs “Let Me Be Your Star” and “Hang the Moon.” This is a night not be missed.

Music by Marc Shaiman. Lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.

BOMBSHELL will be co-directed by Scott Wittman and Josh Bergasse with Musical Numbers Choreographed by Josh Bergasse.

I loved much of SMASH during it's two seasons on the air. And by far the best parts of the show were the musical numbers skillfully staged by Josh Bergasse and company.

I'm thrilled this concert is happening. If you're in NYC on June 8th, this will be the hardest ticket in town to get. Guaranteed.

Megan Hilty in the recording studio with the classic "Merry Christmas Darling"

I love me some Megan Hilty! And who doesn't love this classic holiday song originally recorded by The Carpenters in 1970.

No surprise Megan sounds fantastic. Listen and enjoy... the holidays are on their way!

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Megan Hilty to join Sean Hayes new series on NBC

Yay! This didn't take long!

Love Megan Hilty and very happy to read that she's already booked her post-SMASH gig on TV:

Hilty will re-team with Sean Hayes, who guest-starred on Smash, for his upcoming NBC comedy Sean Saves the World, according to TVLine.

On the show, Hayes stars as a dad who must figure out how to parent his 14-year-old daughter (Samantha Isler) while dealing with a temperamental new boss (Thomas Lennon) at work.

Hilty has been tapped to replace Lindsay Sloane as Liz, Sean's long-time loyal friend and co-worker.

(source)

TV: SMASH ends it's run tonight

Bernadette Peters and Megan Hilty on SMASH

Say good night to SMASH tonight.  Series finale is on NBC tonight at 9pm EST.

While I personally had my ups and downs with the show, I did like a lot of it in the end.  And I give the creators a lot of credit for what they set out to do.  To this day, the song that closed the terrific pilot episode, "Let Me Be Your Star," still sounds like a Broadway blockbuster to me. And so much of the choreography on the show was top notch.

Over the course of the show's life, I've had several friends appear on the show (which was cool) and I interviewed the fab Megan Hilty for The Candi & Randy Show (warm, delightful and speaks with a smile in her voice).

So while many folks may be ready to see the show go, I'll be watching tonight. Maybe I'll dim the lights around my bathroom mirror down in remembrance.

New Music: Megan Hilty - "No Cure"

Guess who I got to interview today?  After discovering her debut CD, I got a call to interview the fab and fun Ms. Hilty.  I'll be sharing the interview soon...

Super nice and charming. We chatted about her new CD "It Happens All The Time" released March 12.

Check out the whole album at Amazon and iTunes.

Or head over to Target for their "exclusive" version with two additional songs.

Bonus - here's an acoustic version of Megan's song "No Cure"

New Music: Megan Hilty - "It Happens All The Time"

Megan Hilty, star of NBC’s musical drama “Smash” as the seasoned triple-threat Ivy Lynn, has released her debut CD recording, "It Happens All The Time."

Hilty was recently signed to Sony Music in a partnership between Sony Masterworks and Columbia Records. Her new album, It Happens All The Time, was released March 12, 2013.

Megan was most recently seen on Broadway as Lorelei Lee, the diamond-loving blonde made famous by Carol Channing, in the Encores! production of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” to which she earned raved reviews.

Megan's new CD is available at Amazon and iTunes.

A native of Seattle, Hilty moved to New York City after graduating from the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University, and quickly made her Broadway debut as Glinda in “Wicked.” She went on to perform the role in both the national tour and in Los Angeles.

Follow Megan at her official site: www.MeganHilty.com

Bernadette Peters & Lea Michele in upcoming "Dorothy In Oz"

Check out this interview video with Lea Michele, Megan Hilty and Bernadette Peters talking about their character work for the DOROTHY OF OZ animated film.
(source)