Jenny Anderson/WireImageForget Full House and Twin Peaks, we're ready for a Smash revival, and so is Megan Hilty.
"If it were up to me [Laughs.], it would be on again," Hilty told us of a Smash revival. "Even with me not on it. I just think there's something really special about the concept of that show. I would hope so, but who knows."
The canceled NBC musical drama about the making of a Broadway show ran for just two seasons and generated a ton of headlines—both favorable reviews heralding the show before it started based on an outstanding pilot and not-so great stories about the drama behind the scenes and uneven storylines—and starred Hilty as Broadway actress Ivy Lynn opposite Katharine McPhee as Karen Cartwright. The cast also included Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston and Christian Borle. Hilty, McPhee and much of the rest of the cast are reuniting for a one-night only charity concert set to include all of the songs from Bombshell, the fictional Marilyn Monroe musical at the center of Smash.
The concert, which is a benefit for The Actors Fund, sold out just mere hours into its presale. Hilty said the cast isn't assembling for rehearsals until a week before the June 8 show, but she already has her songs that will be divded up between her and McPhee. Their two characters both took on the role of Marilyn Monroe in Bombshell.
"It's all the old standards. I'm going to be doing ‘National Pastime' and '[They Just Keep] Moving the Line' and the two of us will be singing ‘Let Me Be Your Star' and ‘Don't Forget Me' and—Gosh, 'Hang the Moon,' 'Secondhand White Baby Grand,'" she said with a laugh.
Unlike their characters, the two didn't fight over songs. "Oh no, it was pretty clear-cut. It was pretty much all the songs we did in the show are the ones we're going to do in the concert," she said. "There's only a couple that we've both done, so it was very easy. There are so many songs; it's hard to be upset about not doing a couple of them."
While it's fun revisiting the songs and the show, Hilty said she's looking forward to just getting the gang back together.
"You know, I'm just really looking forward to being with all of these people I love so much...It's been a long time, it's been two years. It'll be great seeing everybody and revisiting all these amazing songs with this great orchestra that they're putting together. It's going to be a really special night," she said. "I'm actually sad that people are going to be missing out on this show because we can't do multiples of it, but at the same time it makes it really, really special."
In the meantime, Hilty is planning her return to TV with a new ABC pilot also starring Greg Grunberg. Think of it as The Odd Couple, but with a mom, dad and son who can't be more different. The comedy is another musical of sorts, featuring Hilty as a Broadway star who quits the business to raise her son in a "more normal" setting, the Drama Desk Award nominee said.
"My character is so fun because she's this big personality with no outlet for her talents. She's finding strange ways to [Laughs.] perform. Like, they're in a LEGO competition in the pilot and she adds a performance element, she adds a song. It's of course embarrassing her family, but they go along with it. And she's singing a lullaby to her song, but as Ethel Merman, so she's actually belting in his face [Laughs.] while he's trying to go to sleep…It's a heartwarming, fun show. I hope it has a life after what we've shot in the pilot, but who knows. Again, this whole TV world—who knows what's going to happen."
But all of her eggs aren't in one basket. The Smash star said she's in talks for a play and will be doing an Encores concert in the fall. All this and a new baby at home. Little Viola is why Hilty said she's partnered with Glad to raise awareness about food waste.
"She's eating people food, like pureed fruits and vegetables. I like to make as much of that myself as much as possible," she said. "Now I'm really concerned with keeping things fresh for her. When I come home, if I'm not going to use it right away, I have to preserve it properly. This is why I started working with Glad is because they have all of these amazing tips on how to preserve your food on their website. …It's becoming more important because I need things to be fresh for her...Especially with fruits and vegetables that don't come with an expiration date on them and I'll just have to guess...All of that adds up…on average, every household is wasting $1,500 worth of food every year and that's too much."