Robert Greenblatt News

According to Deadline.com, NBC just signed a deal with Columbia Records to release the soundtrack for the highly anticipated new series Smash. Additionally, leading lady and American Idol alum Katharine McPhee has also signed a recording contract with Columbia.

In NBC's highly anticipated new series SMASH, Debra Messing plays a lyricist developing a brand new Broadway show about Marilyn Monroe, but according to a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter she has also been inspired by musical theatre in real life. Messing revealed: 'My prototype growing up was Barbra Streisand. That's how I saw myself more at the time, I wanted to be Funny Girl, literally on Broadway and in the real world.'

Whether you've been living under a rock for the past week, or you're just in the mood for a recap of everything theatre, BroadwayWorld's new feature, 'This Week in Pictures' is here to satisfy your end of the week fix. Take a look below to catch up on the latest happenings from the Great White Way to the West End (and everywhere in between) with coverage of press events, rehearsals, opening nights and more!

Culled from as A-list a list as you are ever likely to acquire - Steven Spielberg, Robert Greenblatt, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Michael Mayer, Theresa Rebeck and Marc Shaiman/Scott Wittman onwards - SMASH is the adult answer to riveting dramatic musical entertainment coming with heart, laughs, unforgettable characters and some of the biggest twists this side of the starry stages on the Great White Way. Oh, yeah, and those hallowed Broadway halls, too. Plus, SMASH provides a great new opportunity to showcase the unbelievable talent on display on the stages of Broadway and Off-Broadway and beyond, particularly given the fact that it is shot in New York and it is being cast by the biggest casting director on Broadway, Bernie Telsey. Consider the theatre-centric casting LAW & ORDER times seventy six (trombones). All of New York is the talent pool from which the stage of SMASH shall be set. And, what exactly is SMASH about, anyway? Well, SMASH is all about Broadway and what makes a musical tick - from the very inception of the show's idea by the songwriters, through writing, rehearsals and the road; all the way to the big Broadway opening where dreams are made - and nightmares born - on one magnificent, momentous night. As viewers, we are taken inside the ticking clock of the show and we experience each and every one of the multitude of machinations enacted by everyone from the stars - Marilyn Monroe, and the actress playing her, Ivy; and, more importantly, her alternative, Karen - to the overworked director (Derek), harried songwriters Tom and Julia, and the speculative and cutthroat producer behind it all, Eileen.

BroadwayWorld.com excitedly reported last week that NBC has officially picked up the pilot entitled SMASH for a series to begin mid-season. This week in New York City, stars Debra Messing and Anjelica Huston as well as a slew of other NBC stars gathered for NBC's upfronts. Check out photos from the event below!

BroadwayWorld.com excitedly reported last week that NBC has officially picked up the pilot entitled SMASH for a series to begin mid-season. This week in New York City as part of NBC's upfronts, they unveiled the complete trailer for the show. What will we do from now till its premiere? Wait impatiently!

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, May 15, 2011 - Sunday, May 15, 2011.

As previously reported by BroadwayWorld, NBC has picked up a new pilot entitled SMASH, which is about a group of people who come together to put on a Broadway musical. The series was developed by NBC's Robert Greenblatt, Steven Spielberg, and Broadway producing team Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.

Dolly Parton, Colin Farrell, Sean Hayes, Chris Colfer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Allison Janney, Melissa Etheridge, Joel McHale, Kirsten Dunst, and Chaz Bono were among the celebrities who joined the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) as it honored Kristin Chenoweth, NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt, and the best in television and journalism last night at the 22nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles, hosted by Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones.

TVLine is reporting that Will & Grace star Debra Messing has just been cast to co-star in the upcoming NBC pilot SMASH, in which she'll 'play Julia, the musical's good-natured cowriter who is slow to embrace the commercially-iffy subject matter.'

As previously reported by BroadwayWorld, NBC has picked up a new pilot entitled SMASH, which is about 'a group of people who come together to put on a Broadway musical.' New details have emerged about the show.

According to Variety, NBC has picked up a new pilot entitled SMASH, which is about 'a group of people who come together to put on a Broadway musical.' The series was developed by NBC's Robert Greenblatt, Steven Spielberg, and Broadway producing team Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.

9 to 5: The Musical is a hilarious story of friendship and revenge in the Rolodex era. This is the story of three unlikely friends who conspire to take control of their company and learn there's nothing they can't do -- even in a man's world. Outrageous, thought-provoking and even a little romantic, 9 to 5: The Musical is about teaming up and taking care of business... it's about getting credit and getting even.

The producers of 9 to 5: The Musical announced the cast for the First National Tour that opens on September 21, 2010 at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville.

David Nevins, an Emmy(R) Award-winning producer and veteran network programming executive, has been named President of Entertainment at Showtime Networks Inc., it was announced today by Matthew C. Blank, Chairman and CEO of Showtime Networks Inc., to whom he will report. Mr. Nevins will succeed Robert Greenblatt, who announced he will leave the network after completing his current contract in July.

Emmy(R) Award-winning actress Lisa Kudrow joins the growing list of celebrated stars in the SHOWTIME line-up with the pick-up of her original online comedy series WEB THERAPY, it was announced today by SHOWTIME Networks' President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt. SHOWTIME will air a minimum of 10 half-hour episodes that will include additional new material to be shot.

SHOWTIME, Warner Bros. Television and acclaimed Emmy(R) Award-winning television and film producer John Wells (ER, THE WEST WING, SOUTHLAND, WHITE OLEANDER, FAR FROM HEAVEN, SHOWTIME's AN AMERICAN CRIME) are bringing an adaptation of SHAMELESS, the long-running British series, to American premium television starring Emmy(R) Award winner and Oscar(R) nominee William H. Macy (Door to Door, Fargo, Pleasantville, The Cooler), Golden Globe(R) nominee Emmy Rossum (The Phantom of the Opera) and guest starring Emmy(R) Award winner Allison Janney (The West Wing) in a recurring role. SHOWTIME has ordered 12 episodes of the hour-long drama tracing the lives of a very unconventional family which will be executive produced by Wells and the series' original creator and Emmy(R) Award-winner Paul Abbott. The announcement was made today by Robert Greenblatt, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc. The series will start production at the end of summer 2010.

On the heels of record ratings for their second season debuts, two of SHOWTIME'S critically and audience acclaimed original comedy series NURSE JACKIE and the Emmy(R) winning UNITED STATES OF TARA, have both been renewed for a third season. Both half-hour comedy series have received 12 episode orders and will go into production later in the year. The announcement was made today by Robert Greenblatt, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc.

9 To 5: The Musical marks the Broadway debut of seven-time Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter and musician Dolly Parton as composer and lyricist.

The New York Post's Cindy Adams reveals in her column today that B'way producer James L. Nederlander, whose Marriot Marquis Theatre is home to the new musical '9 to 5' wants Dolly Parton for 'Hello Dolly.'