And that’s it for NBC’s existing series (the network won’t decide on the fate of Hannibal until after the upfronts, when more ratings data is available). After renewing Community, the network just called time on The New Normal and Smash. Much like Go On, The New Normal had ok but not great ratings (and support at the network). Once NBC decided to cancel the better rated Go On, it was only a matter of time before The New Normal got the call. As for Smash, the series has been considered dead since it was moved to a Saturday night time-slot, the announcement from NBC was a mere formality.

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Emma Roberts is stunning while attending the pre-Met Ball screening of The Great Gatsby at MOMA on Sunday (May 5) in New York City.

The 22-year-old actress was joined on the red carpet by Megan Hilty and Solange Knowles.

See the rest of the photos

TVLINE | “Oh my God. They killed Kyle!” How early on did you learn your character’s fate, and what was your reaction?
They gave me plenty of notice, which was really nice. It’s not like I found out at the table read. Still, I had a complicated response. Of course, I was upset that I wasn’t going to be able to continue with the show, and I was sad for Kyle because I really love that character. At the same time, knowing the character was designed to meet his end to tell this Rent parallel story, there was a pressure to make Kyle really loveable, not a character that, when he died, people would be like “Oh, great, thank God.” After last week’s cliffhanger [with Kyle caught in the car's headlights], people really freaked out, — the kids on the Internet — and seemed really, really upset by it. That made me feel like we did our job, because if Kyle wasn’t going to be a character who people would mourn, then the whole arc of the season would be ruined.

Full Article

Smash is one of the finalists – vote HERE

Broadway world has some awesome new photos of Megan at her Joe’s Pub concert HERE

It looks like Smash will go a little less gently into that good night.
In an effort to give the musical drama a more high-profile sendoff, NBC is giving the show a reprieve from its Saturday time slot and has scheduled its two-hour series finale for Sunday, May 26 (9/8c).

There’ll certainly be plenty of action packed into the installment — titled “The Tonys” — according to showrunner Josh Safran. “Someone is pregnant! Someone is arrested! There is a kiss between a gay man and straight man — who kisses back!” he teased while spilling spoilers for TVLine’s “May Sweeps/Season Finale Scoopapalooza.” (Click here for even more intel.)
Smash kicked off Season 2 on Tuesday nights, but the show opened its sophomore season with just 4.5 million total viewers and a 1.1 demo rating, plunging 25 and 39 percent from its freshman finale and both marking series lows. A few weeks later, NBC made the decision to move Smash to Saturdays beginning with its April 6 episode.

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The once highly-touted musical drama series SMASH may have been unceremoniously moved to Saturday nights by its network in the wake of low ratings in its sophomore season, but some of the songs still linger in the memory on Monday mornings, it seems. Case in point: Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee’s cover of the tune Made famous by Frank Sinatra, “That’s Life”, has cracked the iTunes Top 100.

Hilty and McPhee knocked the jazzy barn-burner out of the park on Saturday’s stupendous “Opening Night” episode, featuring the long-awaited Broadway opening of BOMBSHELL, the Marilyn Monroe-based musical-within-the-series.

NBC’s oft-shuffled-about musical drama series has had sporadic success with iTunes singles in the past, but considering the series itself has suffered its lowest viewership to date with the last few Saturday episodes, it would seem unlikely that the singles would have much hope, yet there is “That’s Life” on iTunes alongside Adele’s “Skyfall” and Anna Kendricks’s “Cups”.

Read more about SMASH’s ‘That’s Life’ Cracks iTunes Top 100 by broadwayworld.com

ETonline: Congrats on the Joe’s Pub showcase! That’s a huge deal.
Megan Hilty: I know, Joe’s Pub is an institution of New York. There’s so much history and so many great people have performed there, so I’m super excited to be there. Plus, it’s the first time I’ve ever done a concert there. I’m excited to try out a whole new type of music than people are used to hearing from me.
ETonline: Right, this is the first time you’ve recorded music that has nothing to do with a character you’re playing. Does performing it feel different?
Hilty: Yeah. It’s exciting but, I have to admit, a little terrifying too. It’s so much more personal and because of that, it makes me feel a little scared. But that’s another reason why I’m so excited to be doing it in an intimate space like Joe’s Pub. And I’m interested to see how it plays live because it’s not the big, belty stuff I’m used to doing. This isn’t party music, so I think this is the perfect space for it.

Read the Full Interview

Austin’s Theatre and Texas’ longest running theatre, in its 80th anniversary season and second season in the new Topfer, presents TOP Concerts at ZACH -a new and exciting musical series featuring top Broadway, film and television stars up close and personal in the intimate Topfer Theatre.

TOP Concerts at ZACH will feature five separate performances by Megan Hilty, Bryan Batt, Sandra Bernhard, Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, and Molly Ringwald. Any of these concerts can be added to a season subscription and subscribers will get priority seating.

WHEN
The performance series TOP Concerts at ZACH will run in conjunction with the 2013-14 season, starting this summer and continuing through April 2014. Each concert in the series will have two performances: 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. The dates are as follows:

· Megan Hilty: June 18, 2013

Read more about Megan Hilty, Sandra Bernhard and More Join ZACH Theatre Lineup by austin.broadwayworld.com

I’m going to add these to the gallery tonight but in the mean time – See the First look at April 20th episode on Broadwayworld