Interview: Megan Hilty on the Eccles Theater Grand Opening and Her Multifaceted Career

The October 21 grand opening of the new Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City will feature special Broadway guest artists Megan Hilty and Brian Stokes Mitchell, along with local performers Ballet West, the University of Utah Department of Theatre, Repertory Dance Theatre, and Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company. The performance will be accompanied by the 50-piece Ballet West Orchestra and music directed by award-winning conductor/arranger Kurt Bestor.

Tony nominee and SMASH television actress Megan Hilty was happy to speak with BroadwayWorld about the Eccles Theater grand opening, as well as her bourgeoning, multifaceted career.

"It's going to be a spectacular event!" she said enthusiastically. "It's going to be quite something. How exciting to have this new venue for touring Broadway shows and community shows!"

Hilty has enjoyed driving through Utah while making cross country moves, but she's never had the chance to perform here, and she's looking forward to the opportunity.

"I'm really honored to be part of it," she added about the celebration. "It's so huge for the community in Salt Lake City. I'm so proud to be amongst all the amazing artists that will be part of it."

Plans haven't been finalized yet, but the powerhouse vocalist said she will likely sing her own set of 4 or 5 songs and maybe a duet. It will probably include songs from SMASH and Broadway, and maybe a standard. In other words, the music you're hoping to hear from her.

Hilty's favorite songs from SMASH include her concert perennials "They Just Keep Moving the Line" and "Secondhand White Baby Grand," but her favorite to film was "Let's Be Bad." "We filmed it all day because there were a lot of little pieces to it," she said. "Even when we were finished, we still kept doing it all night. It was so much fun."

She is thankful for her time on SMASH and the nationwide exposure it gave her. "It's changed everything," she said. "Television can reach a much bigger audience than Broadway. We went into everyone's living rooms across the country every week. There's not a day that goes by that I don't thank my lucky stars for that opportunity."

Hilty has two valuable pieces of advice for young performers hoping to follow her footsteps. First: "Make sure you work on all sides of the show. If you're interested in performing, help with costumes, the set, the run crew; usher; sell tickets. You're one small piece in the great puzzle, even though the spotlights are on you." Second: "Do everything you can to be nice to everyone."

Her experiences have taught her the value of her counsel. "Just like anybody else in this business, I had my own path to where I am," she said. "I had a possibly very strange one. I spent a lot of time on my own questioning if this was really what I wanted to do with my life. You need work ethic, focus, and drive because you can't enter this lightly. This is a very tough business. If your heart isn't in the right place, you will be eaten alive."

With the support of her parents, she spent two years preparing herself and ensuring she was choosing the right career path before attending Carnegie Mellon.

"I did every kind of terrible job you can think of during the day, and I did community theatre and dinner theatre at night," she said. "By the time I got to college, I knew how to take care of myself."

SMASH affirmed Hilty's place as a household name among theatre fans, but it wasn't her first big break. "I'll always really be grateful for what WICKED did for me," she said. "It was my first job out of college, and I played Glinda for four and a half years. I could do it that long because the role was so well written. I'll always be grateful for the doors it opened for me."

Hilty said that the time she spent performing in WICKED in Los Angeles unexpectedly led to her first television roles. "It was this amazing platform that I didn't understand at the time," she said. "It made me uncomfortable, which is a good thing. I thought about the people whose careers I admired, and I realized they all seemed to crack the code for longevity in this business, and that is doing as many different things as possible."

Now Hilty is as comfortable in a television or recording studio as on a Broadway or concert stage.

"Our whole business is putting yourself out there," she said. It means she always has a new project in the works and is a constant presence as a guest star on television shows, but it also leads to uncertainty.

"The most difficult thing for me is not knowing," she said. "My husband and I just sit around and think, 'Where are we going to be--what will have happened--in a year?' It's something that's both frustrating and wonderful."

"I never could have guessed where I am today," she continued. "I never dreamed I would do anything in television. I never thought I'd be doing these concerts. I never thought I would be doing albums."

Does she have a strategy for how her career will unfold next? "I just like to work," she said. "I just filmed a pilot for TV Land of THE FIRST WIVES CLUB. It's a reimagining of the film. It was so much fun. I expect to hear back about whether it was picked up in the next couple of weeks."

And if not, what else is on the way? "It could be nothing," Hilty said, laughing. "Or it could be things you never dreamed of."

The grand opening performance begins at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 21. Tickets range from $50-$200 and may be purchased through www.ecclestheateropening.com or by calling 801-355-ARTS. Black tie is encouraged. All ticketholders are invited to join a post-show celebration on Regent Street. To learn more about the full line-up of performers and other grand opening weekend events, please visit www.ecclestheateropening.com. To learn more about the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater, please visit www.ecclestheater.com.

While Megan Hilty rose to prominence for her roles in Broadway musicals including her performance as Glinda the Good Witch in WICKED, she is perhaps most recognizable for her portrayal of seasoned triple-threat Ivy Lynn in NBC's musical drama SMASH. She followed up the series with a starring role on the comedy SEAN SAVES THE WORLD and this spring, Hilty received critical acclaim for her role of Brooke Ashton in the Roundabout Theater Company's revival of NOISES OFF. She has earned nominations for a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Drama League Award and won a Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite Featured Actress in a Play. Earlier this year, Hilty released a live album comprising of songs from her recent concert tour, entitled "Megan Hilty Live at the Café Carlyle."

Photo Credit: Megan Hilty

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