Craig Zadan & Neil Meron Will Continue with BOMBSHELL Development After THE WIZ LIVE!

Back in June, following the explosive and well-received Actors Fund benefit that featured the music of "Bombshell" from the NBC television series "Smash," Universal Stage Productions announced plans to begin development on "Bombshell" as a musical for the stage. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, producing duo Craig Zadan and Neil Meron revealed that it won't be much longer until work on the project begins.

Zadan and Meron told EW: "We're currently putting together the creative team. I would say that [work on] Bombshell slowed down a tiny bit because Bob Greenblatt asked us to focus on The Wiz. The moment The Wiz is up and running, we'll go back and focus on Bombshell. So once this airs, we'll be jumping in on Bombshell. You can't do two huge things at the same time. You can but you also have a nervous breakdown."

As Broadway World previously reported, the musical will feature music by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Additional creative team has not yet been announced.

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Robert Greenblatt, Chairman of NBC Entertainment, said in June: "There is a still a lot of love for 'Smash' and a rabid fan base out there, and we're thrilled to be able to keep the dream alive as we work towards bringing 'Bombshell' to theatre audiences," said Greenblatt. "'Smash' was ambitious because every episode was a complicated musical for television and we also built the foundation of the musical-within-the-musical about Marilyn's endlessly fascinating and tumultuous life. Over the course of two seasons an entire 'Bombshell' score was written to service 'Smash' storylines, and now that show will have a chance to stand on its own."

Meron and Zadan, who functioned as executive producers of the series and also produced the Actors Fund "Bombshell" concert, have been involved in a string of hit film and television musicals, including movie adaptations of "Hairspray" and the Oscar-winning "Chicago," as well as NBC's live events "The Sound of Music," "Peter Pan" and the upcoming production of "The Wiz." They have also produced successful Broadway revivals of "Promises, Promises" and "How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying."