Jennifer Hudson surprising the cast of Broadway musical 'Smash'

Los Angeles, May 16 (IANS) Actress-singer Jennifer Hudson is not just coming out in support of the Broadway musical ‘Smash’ but is also celebrating it.

The ‘Sex and the City’ star, 43, made a surprise appearance at the hit Broadway musical at the Imperial Theatre in New York City. She starred in the second season of the 2012 TV series that inspired the stage production, reports ‘People’ magazine.

The Oscar winner is also part of the musical's all-star producing team with Robert Greenblatt, Neil Meron and Steven Spielberg. Hudson stepped out on stage to celebrate the stars of the show, and even sing a bit of a song her character performed on the series. After the cast, led by Robyn Hurder and Caroline Bowman, respectively in the roles Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee made famous on screen, took their bows, songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman introduced the EGOT winner to the stage.

As per ‘People’, the singer immediately hyped the audience, saying, “Was that not an amazing show?” Hudson, after giving Hurder a sweet hug, went on to praise the show. “It is such an honor to watch you guys do what you do... It’s what it’s about. It inspires you. Do you not want to be on Broadway now? That’s what this show has done”.

"Your stardom is amazing”, Hudson continued of the cast. “Each and every one of you are a star. I'm so inspired to be a small part of this”.

Shaiman then popped the question that everybody was thinking, “J. Hud? If I twisted your arm, would you give us just a few bars of the song we wrote for you?” Hudson went on to sing a few lines of “I Can’t Let Go”, which the Shaiman and Whittman penned for the second season of the series.

Before exiting the stage, she told the cast, “I’m so proud of y’all”. Hudson was notably absent from the premiere of the musical on April 10, which brought out stars Billy Crystal, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, as well as a slew of Smash alums, including Debra Messing and Christian Borle.

She addressed her absence in a shared Instagram post with the musical, explaining that she had to be in Los Angeles to film an episode of her self-titled talk show. "I can't be in two places at one time”, she explained while on the set of her show. "I gotta be here with y'all, so I'm going to miss opening night, but I hope everyone enjoys the show”.

--IANS

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