NBC on Monday used former Smash lead-in The Voice -- which featured guest judge and season two guest Jennifer Hudson -- to offer viewers a sneak preview of the upcoming sophomore season of the Broadway musical drama.
In the extended clip first available on Yahoo, old rivalries between Karen (Katharine McPhee) and Ivy (Megan Hilty) return and a plethora of new faces make their debut including Jennifer Hudson, Sean Hayes and Jesse L. Martin, among countless others.
It offers the first footage of the rebooted drama under new showrunner Josh Safran, who took over the reins of the series in April when creator Theresa Rebeck stepped down from day-to-day oversight of the drama.
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The series has undergone a creative reboot behind the scenes and on-screen, with four featured players -- Brian d'Arcy James (Frank), Jaime Cepero (Ellis), Will Chase (Michael/Joe DiMaggio) and Raza Jaffrey (Karen's cheating boyfriend) -- departing the series in the past year.
Season two features a plethora of Broadway talent boarding the series from exec producers Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, among others. The list includes Oscar winner Hudson, former Will and Grace star Hayes, Tony nominee Jeremy Jordan (Newsies), Andy Mientus (Spring Awakening), Hairspray's Nikki Blonsky, Krysta Rodriguez and Rent's Jesse L. Martin, among others.
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Smash makes the move to Tuesdays for its second season, launching Feb. 5 at 9 p.m. with a two-hour bow and returning Feb. 12 in its regular slot at 10 p.m. What do you think of the early footage? Hit the comments with your thoughts and check out the video, below.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
