Let Krysta Rodriguez Be Your Star

Krysta Rodriguez gets out from the back seat of her car service and enters through the stage door of the Imperial Theatre. She signs her name on the call board and walks up three flights of stairs with a landing offering a quick glimpse of backstage—before settling in her dressing room. She places her phone on her makeup table and takes her black and white peacoat with a yellow collar off to reveal a muted gray T-shirt.

Her dressing room is mostly bare, with white walls not yet decorated. The passion for interior decor turned into a side hustle for the actress in the pandemic. “My dressing room business has taken off in such a way, I haven't even been able to focus on mine,” the actress tells Marie Claire.

Rodriguez is a week into previews of SMASH, a new Broadway musical based on the NBC TV series, opening April 10.

Created by Theresa Rebeck and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, the musical drama—featuring songs by the Tony Award-winning team behind Hairspray, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman—debuted in 2012 to promising reviews and immediately earned cult status among Broadway fanatics. While the show about the making of a Broadway musical—starring Katharine McPhee as newcomer Karen from Iowa and Megan Hilty as ensemble vet Ivy vying for the role of Marilyn Monroe in the new show Bombshell—went off air in 2013, it has remained in the theater zeitgeist. (Consider Bowen Yang opening the 2025 SAG Awards quoting the show's original song "Let Me Be Your Star.”)

Rodriguez, 40, is the only actor from the series to jump from screen to stage. The actress, most recently seen as Liza Minnelli in Ryan Murphy’s Halston on Netflix, was a season 2 regular as Ana Vargas. In the stage adaptation, she’ll take on the role of Tracy, half of the song-writing team putting on Bombshell. The role was originated by Debra Messing for the NBC show (though the character’s name was Julia Houston). “The minute that we started the process, it was like, This is absolutely 100 percent a different thing,” Rodriguez says of the production, directed by Susan Stroman with a brand new plot co-written by Rick Elice and Bob Martin. Because of that, the performer says she didn’t feel the need to rewatch the source material to get into character

But Smash fans will be glad to hear that the show’s catchy showstopping songs and original choreography by Josh Bergasse largely remains the same. The story, now a comedy, centers around established Broadway actress Ivy Lynn (Robyn Hurder) as she’s cast as Marilyn Monroe in a biographical musical about her life. But Ivy Lynn’s role of a lifetime comes in jeopardy when she gets too deep into method acting as Marilyn, popping pills and being difficult during rehearsals. A make-or-break decision must be made as to whether Karen, the understudy (Caroline Bowman), or the associate director, Chloe (Bella Coppola), will step into the spotlight instead.

Rodriguez has worked on the SMASH musical on and off for three years through various readings and workshops. Before the show finally made it to the Great White Way, in the interm, she designed nine celebrity Broadway dressing rooms last season, including Jeremy Jordan’s, who starred in The Great Gatsby and was also in the Smash series ensemble. "Eventually, the photos will come out. I'm putting them all together," she says, casually listing one of them as Megan Hilty’s current Death Becomes Her dressing room at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. It’s right across the road on 46th Street from Rodriguez at the Imperial. "We can basically see each other—Megan and I," she says with a laugh. The two have gabbed about Smash, the musical.

Before Rodriguez headed to the stage for notes with the company, Marie Claire spoke with her about the cultural phenomenon of Smash, Debra Messing’s scarves, and her character’s nod to Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail.

Marie Claire: What is it about the lore of Smash?

Krysta Rodriguez: That first pilot episode really scratched an itch in people's brains. It felt adult. It felt dangerous, but it felt kind of campy. Airing [the song] “Let Me Be Your Star” on TV for the first time felt like something opened up in the world. It was this weird convergence with social media, starting. I joined Twitter so that I could live-tweet season 2 as part of the job; that was the era of time.

MC: What were you doing during season 1?

KR: I was living in L.A., auditioning, trying to make my way in the world, and went through two pilot seasons. I had a bunch of friends on the show, and it was fun watching it. I watched every episode. I ended up having to move back to New York because my co-op found out I was subletting. Three days later, I got the audition for season 2 and was cast on the show.

MC: I know you sang Joe Iconis's “Broadway, Here I Come!” before it aired on Smash. Is that how you booked the role of Ana Vargas?

KR: We used to do concerts at the Beechman [Theatre] every month. Joe was part of my community, as far as championing new artists. Actually, when I auditioned for the part, Josh Safran, the showrunner for season 2, was in the room and said he’d seen me in a lot of things and also wrote my episode of Gossip Girl. My very first television appearance was on Gossip Girl during season 2 when [Nate and Dan] visit Yale and run into a TA—me. I had this great arch with Chace Crawford and got to make out with him. So I was like, ‘Thanks for writing that make-out scene for me.’ We had a laugh about that. I had that one audition, and a few days later, I had the part.

MC: What do you remember about filming season 2?

KR: It felt like a nice transition to something that I had never done: be a regular on a series. We put on a full musical every week. It's a lot of work. To be able to do it with talents that I already know that I possessed put me more at ease. There are huge moments [on the show] of things I'd never gotten to do before, like the silk number that I did from the ceiling and having a few days to prep that.

MC: Smash ran its course and was canceled after the second season. When did you start to hear mumblings of a Broadway musical, and where are you involved in that?

KR: They did that big Bombshell concert for the Entertainment Community Fund, which Andy [Mientus] and I couldn't be involved in because we were doing Spring Awakening in L.A., the Deaf West revival. Plus, Bombshell wasn't our show. I never really considered myself part of that side of the show. We've always felt very much like there was Hit List and Bombshell. It never, ever dawned on me that I would be involved in it at all.

I got an email offer for the part for the first reading that we did. Then it was a shock to get the—what's formerly named Julia—role. I was sitting with Josh [Safran] when I got the email, and thought, This is so crazy. He said it sounded like a great opportunity and I should definitely do it. I didn't even know if Julia would be right for me and what I would bring to it. I just went into the first reading with an open heart, and they kept asking me back. I still don't really know how I ended up here, but I'm grateful.

MC: Was it Julia then, or was it always Tracy?

KR: It was Julia. Then, it became Tracy after that first reading.

MC: [Co-book writer] Rick Elice told me it was your idea to add the scarves as a nod to Debra Messing’s portrayal on the show!

KR: You can't play anything that resembles Julia Houston without a scarf! We introduce them, then we phase them out so it doesn't get too jokey. But then, even at the end, I have one.

MC: How did that conversation come up to add the scarves?

KR: When I assembled my own clothes that I was going to be wearing when we did the workshop last year, I put the scarf on. When we were doing the [costume] fittings for this, everything looked better with the scarf. No wonder Debra [Messing] was wearing so many scars! It's such a perfect accessory. It’s also realistic when you're in rehearsal. It's freezing in those rooms. It's hot in those rooms. It's the perfect thing to throw on. [Director Susan Stroman] wears them all the time. When you're sitting behind that [creative rehearsal] table, that's actually what you want to wear. So it's become meta upon meta, as everything on Smash has become.

MC: Did you speak to Debra Messing about the role?

KR: I did not. She did see the workshop, though, and was very supportive and thrilled that I was going to be the one doing it.

MC: Tell me about the character, Tracy.

KR: She stands on the shoulders of all the women who played Julia, who are also [the original TV show’s creator] Theresa Rebeck. She’s the sort of sole woman in the room that would like to get her point across, who's passionate about the work, who wants to make sure there is no stone left unturned, who is not going to be satisfied with putting your first idea out there. It has to be the second, third, fourth tested tried-and-true idea.

In this version, she's married to the composer, which is a bit of a mash-up of a few characters on Smash, the series. What John [Behlmann, who plays her husband Jerry] and I have had a great time doing is how quickly we can fight and make up. What does it feel like to still have to go home with each other every night and love each other? How far do you go with your passion in the work and when does it separate at home? That’s been really fun for us to play around with.

MC: What was your mood board inspiration for Tracy?

KR: It's Nancy Meyers, Nora Ephron, Upper West Side. She moved to New York when she was able to get a really cheap, but huge Upper West Side apartment with pre-war details, and she can never move. Jerry has now moved in with her. They should have been priced out, but they are still going to the shop around the corner, getting daffodils in the morning. They probably have a landline. There's a vestige of New York that doesn't exist anymore. She’s also a raging feminist. Meg Ryan was all over my board, Diane Keaton—the sort of self-sufficient women who made their way on the Upper West Side in the early ‘90s.

MC: That’s where we get the pant suits you wear in the show!

KR: Costumes are a big thing for me. They're such a jumping-off point. I have 13 costume changes alone! Every time I'm off stage, I'm changing my clothes. It also had to be something where we could make things look different and unique with four seconds to change. We did a first fitting [with costume designer Alejo Vietti], where I remember everything was fine, but I knew it could be more specific and a little more utilitarian to who she was. After the first fitting, I had told them my hyper-specific, Meg Ryan sort of fantasy. When I came back, they had put a whole mood board of late ‘90s, Upper West Side women—analog girls that weren’t on their phones all the time. That’s what I wanted.

MC: How would you describe the costumes?

KR: If anyone's ever been in a Broadway rehearsal process, after day three, it's what is on the ground of my bedroom. You're working outside of work, as well as all night long, especially if you live with your co-writer. It really was about comfortable pieces that felt elevated. And I really wanted her to feel like a woman. We’ve established that they've written some really successful pieces. I think they have a little bit of money, and I think she has quality pieces, but not that many of them. She's “quiet luxury” a little bit.

MC: To get into character, did you sit with songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman at all to learn about being on the writing team of a new musical?

KR: Frankly, a lot of the music in this show was already written. So the actual process of creating the new musical was mostly watching [book-writers] Bob [Martin] and Rick [Elice]. I'm the book writer, as well, [in the show] so I really got to look at Bob and Rick and what they're like about script changes, seeing if it works or not, and the faces that they're making. [They’re holding] a laptop and a pencil and a coffee and extra script pages.

There’s a number line on the stage when you’re in rehearsal. They rarely step out from behind their table. [Stroman] is in charge. Any time [Stroman] would be talking and she'd turn [to see] the writers migrated their way up to the front to number six say something. We have that moment in the show when things start to kind of go wrong, I slowly drift my way up to six. I know I'm not supposed to say something, but I really need [the director, Nigel, played by Brooks Ashmanskas] to know I'm here to say something.

MC: Are there any Easter Eggs in the musical as a nod to the series?

KR: Besides the scarves, which I feel like the people need, there's still #TeamKaren and #TeamIvy, but that gets twisted on its head as well. The music is still the same but in different contexts. Oh, there is a really sweet thing, actually. I don't know if this necessarily pertains to the series. We have a large rehearsal room and we have a small rehearsal room as a set. For the small rehearsal room, it's named the [Craig] Zadan [rehearsal room]. That's an homage to [the late Smash series producer] Craig and honoring him.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.