Photo Flash: First Look - SMASH's 'Understudy' Episode

On the April 9th episode of NBC's musical drama series SMASH entitled 'Understudy', the show has landed a star, the mercurial Rebecca Duvall (guest star Uma Thurman), but Eileen (Anjelica Huston) is thrown into a panic when Rebecca gets stuck in Cuba. Derek (Jack Davenport) puts Karen (Katharine McPhee) in as understudy, but she must learn to perform under extreme pressure as he threatens to break her will. Tom and Julia (Christian Borle and Debra Messing) celebrate their anniversary with a ritual - and face some hard truths about what show business can do to relationships. Megan Hilty, Raza Jaffrey and Jaime Cepero also star. The episode airs at 10:00 pm/ET.

The series stemmed from an idea of executive producer and multiple Emmy and Oscar winner Steven Spielberg ("ER," "Schindler's List"). The pilot was written by acclaimed playwright/screenwriter Theresa Rebeck ("Mauritius," "NYPD Blue"). David Marshall Grant ("Brothers and Sisters"), Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Oscar-winning "Chicago," "Hairspray") and Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey ("United States of Tara," "The Borgias") also serve as executive producers. Original songs are written by Tony and Grammy Award winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman("Hairspray," "Catch Me If You Can"), who serve as executive producers as well.

SMASH is a production of Universal Television in association with DreamWorks Television and Madwoman in the Attic. The pilot was directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer ("Spring Awakening," "American Idiot")

View photos from the upcoming episode below!

Photo credit: Will Hart, Craig Blankenhorn/NBC