Norbert Leo Butz to Guest Star on NBC's SMASH!

Tony-winner, Broadway star and BroadwayWorld.com fave Norbert Leo Butz is on set today filming a guest starring role in the upcoming NBC series - SMASH. Butz will play the lead character in HEAVEN ON EARTH, the 'currently running show within a show' written by the characters played by Debra Messing and Christian Borle. He will perform an original tune, entitled "The Higher You Get, the Farther The Fall" written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. 

Featured alongside Norbert Leo Butz (as St. Peter) in the fictional number will be Megan Hilty (Ivy Lynn), Phillip Spaeth (Dennis), Savannah Wise (Jessica), Tom Nelis, Jessica Lee Goldyn (Lucy), Mary Joy, Angelina Mullins, Dylis Croman, Nina LaFarga, Angie Schworer, Alison Mixon, Bernard Dotson, Borris York, James M. Iglehart, Alex Wong, Rhea Patterson, Greg Graham, Ryan Steele and Skye Mattox.

Butz joins such other exciting upcoming guest stars as Bernadette Peters, Nick Jonas, Uma Thurman & more!

Norbert Leo Butz won Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical for Catch Me If You Can (also Drama Desk Award, Best Actor in a Musical) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (also Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Astaire Awards, Drama League Award winner, Best Actor in a Musical). His other Broadway credits include Enron, Speed-the-Plow, Is He Dead?, Wicked (original cast, Fiyero), Thou Shalt Not (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics nominations), Rent. Off-Broadway credits include Fifty Words, Buicks (Drama Desk nomination), The Last Five Years (Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations, Drama League Award), Juno and the Paycock (Roundabout), Saved (TFANA). National Tour: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Cabaret (Helen Hayes Award, Jefferson, Dora and Ovation Awards). Regional credits include Catch Me If You Can (5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle), four seasons at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. His film credits include Greetings From Tim Buckley (2012), Disconnect (2012), The English Teacher (2012), Higher Ground (Sundance Film Festival 2011), Fair Game, and Dan in Real Life. Television work includes his starring role in the series "The Deep End" (ABC); the pilots "The Miraculous Year" (HBO) and "Playing Chicken" (FOX); the mini-series "Comanche Moon" (CBS); "The Good Wife"(CBS), "CSI" (CBS), "Law & Order-Criminal Intent" (NBC). Norbert participated in the producing, writing and recording of The Angel Band Project's album, Take You With Me (now available on iTunes), for which all proceeds benefit the Voices and Faces Project. He received a BFA from Webster University and an MFA from Alabama Shakespeare Theatre.

The pilot episode of SMASH is avaialble today on multiple platforms including iTunes, Amazon and Xbox on January 16. Following that launch, on January 23 the pilot will available as streaming content on NBC.com and Hulu; on February 6, SMASH debuts on NBC.

SMASH centers on the complex and all-consuming process behind the production of an original Broadway musical. Successful songwriting duo and old friends Tom (Christian Borle) and Julia (Debra Messing) reunite to realise their dream of adapting the life story of screen icon Marilyn Monroe into a hit musical; recruiting tenacious producer Eileen (Anjelica Huston) and brilliant director Derek (Jack Davenport) to bring the production to the stage.

Casting of the title role sparks conflict and rivalry between Karen (Katharine McPhee), a youthful, inexperienced beauty desperate to find fame in the big city, and Ivy (Megan Hilty), a stage veteran determined to leave the chorus line and finally get her big break. From its genesis, the "Marilyn" project is a rollercoaster ride of dramatic highs and lows for its cast and crew that will culminate on opening night, when the audience will determine whether or not the show is a "Smash".

The show was developed by NBC's Robert Greenblatt, Steven Spielberg, and Broadway producing team Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. Broadway's Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman wrote the music for the show. Michael Mayer directed the project, and playwright Theresa Rebeck penned the script.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos