NBC has picked up the musical comedy Smash, produced by Steven Spielberg and with music by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. As reported, the show follows characters who come together for the exhilarating ride of putting on a Broadway musical. Michael Meyer directed the pilot and is expected to be back to direct more episodes. The show’s cast includes Debra Messing (Will & Grace), Anjelica Huston, Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean), Katherine McPhee (American Idol), Christian Borle, Megan Hilty and Brian d’Arcy James. Theresa Rebeck wrote the pilot and is also executive producing alongside Spielberg, Shaiman and Wittman. According to the New York Times, the fictional musical on the show will be about Marilyn Monroe, and the series itself will focus on the musical’s creation. It has yet to be decided if the show will be premiering in the fall or in early 2012.
Tag: NBC
Aaron Zigman Scoring ‘A Mann’s World’ Pilot
Aaron Zigman is scoring the pilot for the drama A Mann’s World. The project is written, produced and directed by Michael Patrick King who has worked with the composer on both Sex and the City movies. The show follows the complicated life of Allan Mann, a celebrity hair stylist in glamorous Los Angeles as he navigates the complexities of his business, his family life, and his goal to stay young and relevant in a place where looks are everything. The pilot stars Don Johnson, Ellen Barkin, Kelly Hu, Sandra Vergara, Caitlin Crosby and JR Bourne. The project is Zigman’s first TV credit since he wrote the music for the 2004 Showtime show Crown Heights. Zigman joins a number of composers best known for their feature work who are scoring a TV pilot this season, including Mark Isham, Chris Bacon and Brian Reitzell.
Chris Bacon to Score ‘Wonder Woman’ Pilot
Chris Bacon has been hired to score the NBC pilot Wonder Woman. The project is a reimagining of the iconic D.C. comic created by William Moulton Marston and tells the story of Diana Prince, who tries to balance her life as a vigilante crime fighter, a successful corporate executive and a modern woman. Adrienne Palicki (Friday Night Lights) has been chosen for the title role. Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride, Saw), Elizabeth Hurley (Austin Powers), Tracie Thomas (Cold Case) and Pedro Pascal (The Good Wife) are co-starring in the pilot. The project is produced and written by David E. Kelley and the pilot is directed by Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights, The Event). Kelley has a history of hiring top film composers on his shows, including Thomas Newman who wrote the opening theme for Boston Public and Mark Isham who wrote two different main titles for Chicago Hope, as well as Marco Beltrami and Christophe Beck who both scored different seasons of his Emmy-winning hit show The Practice.
Brian Reitzell Scoring ‘R.E.M’
Brian Reitzell has signed on to score the TV drama pilot R.E.M. According to Deadline, the project is described as an Inception-style thriller and centers on a detective, who wakes up after an accident to find he is living in two different realities, one in which he has killed his son and one in which he has killed his wife. The NBC drama stars Jason Isaacs, Laura Allen, Cherry Jones, Dylan Minette, Wilmer Valderrama and Steve Harris. The pilot of the show is directed by David Slade (Hard Candy, Eclipse) who previously collaborated with Reitzell on the 2007 vampire horror thriller 30 Days of Night. The R.E.M. pilot is written by Kyle Killen who wrote Jodie Foster’s feature film The Beaver, which is coming out next month and also created last year’s critically acclaimed TV drama Lone Star, which was canceled after a few episodes.