(New York, New York — (The Hollywood Times) — 4/27/2025 — If there is a recipe for success when it comes to having a Broadway career, Smash star Casey Garvin would say it began with his supportive mother, Joanne, who brought him at a young age to auditions for commercials and encouraged his involvement in community theater.
One of his fond childhood memories was getting a part in a Chuck E. Cheese commercial. “I got paid to eat pizza as a seven-year-old boy. I also did a few industrials and a singing Christmas wreath commercial,” he recalled. “I think the casting agents saw that I had something there as a performer and as an outgoing kid. I enjoyed the auditions.”
This was followed by community theater in the fourth grade, which soon became a family affair. “My dad did community theater with me. My mom was the producer, and my best friend’s mom was the director. I still have some close family friends from those theater days. It was a special time that evokes fond memories.”
Now, Garvin is performing as Charlie in Smash, his seventh Broadway show, which is about the cast and crew of Bombshell, a Broadway musical within a splashy new show focused on Marilyn Monroe.
Nearly breaking under the pressure, legendary Broadway star Ivy Lynn causes a series of hilarious setbacks and surprises that bring a diva director, a bewildered producer, two exasperated authors, one eager understudy, and an entire company to its knees. But the curtain’s going up, no matter what!
The songs – some of them new and some from the TV show – are upbeat, sweet, romantic, exhilarating, and the entire production celebrates what we love most about live theater – that it makes us think and feel, and urges us to want to dream big!
This new Broadway musical was inspired by Smash, a TV show that ran for two seasons n 2012 and 2013 on NBC, starring Debra Messing, Angelica Houston, Megan Hilty, Katharine McPhee, Christian Borle, Jack Davenport, andLeslie Odom, Jr. Produced by Stephen Spielberg, the book was written by Scott Wittman and the lyrics by Wittman and Marc Shaiman.
Garvin’s other Broadway credits include Bullets Over Broadway, Disaster! The Musical, Miss Saigon, King Kong, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Some Like It Hot, where he understudied Tony winner Christian Borle in the role of Joe/Josephine.
His other credits include the West Side Story first national tour (Diesel, U/S Riff), Bare: the Musical at New World Stages, Phil Davis in White Christmas at Paper Mill Playhouse, and Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt in the New York City premiere of From Here to Eternity, as well as on screen in the Coen Brothers’ film Hail, Caesar! He has worked in the most prestigious regional theaters across the country, like the St. Louis MUNY, TUTS in Houston, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as numerous Broadway-bound workshops and readings over the years.
The following is an exclusive Q and A with Casey Garvin
Let’s talk for a few minutes about Smash, the TV show.
Casey Garvin: I remember sitting in my parents’ living room and watching the first episode with my mom, and being so surprised. I enjoyed that there was musical theater on TV. It’s in that era of Glee and Smash that we were so lucky as theater fans to get these incredible shows with musical theater in the public eye.
Tell me about the part that you play in Smash! on Broadway, and how you got into the character’s mindset.
I play Charlie, who is Karen Cartwright’s husband. He is in the ensemble of Bombshell (the show within the show), and he plays Joe DiMaggio in Bombshell. And you know, the character of Charlie is not too far off from me. I think he truly cares about his partner, and he loves what he does, which is not dissimilar to me.
I worked with my husband once in a show. It’s interesting working with your spouse, who’s also an actor, so I bring a little bit of that to Karen and Charlie’s relationship as well. A little bit of wanting to make sure I do a good job being in rehearsal with my wife, and that’s why at the end of act one, (no spoilers obviously for those who haven’t seen it yet), but that’s why my [poor] decision making at the end of act one makes me so distraught and I’m so embarrassed, because I know how much it means to Karen to have this amazing opportunity.
What is it like working with the indomitable choreographer-director Susan Stroman?
Working with Susan Stroman has been a dream. This is my second show with her. I did Bullets Over Broadway with her, and I love working with her. This time, I didn’t get to do her amazing choreography because Josh Bergasse choreographed this show, so I got to do his incredible choreography. But I got to do some Stroman choreo in Bullets Over Broadway (in 2014), which was such an honor. She’s so kind, so fun, and so game to just have you try things in the rehearsal room. It’s what you always want, especially for comedy. You want a director who lets you try things and lets you fall flat on your face, and then picks you up and guides you to the right decision.
So, give me a brief history. As a child, were you thinking you wanted to perform on Broadway one day?
I grew up in New Jersey, 45 minutes outside the city, so I was no stranger to Broadway and New York City. I auditioned and did commercials as a kid, so my mom is also kind of a Mama Rose in that she made sure that I was at my auditions, and she would wait in the waiting room for me.
As I got older, I grew up in a competition dance studio, and in high school, that’s where my main focus was: becoming the best dancer I could be. I think the acting always kind of came naturally because it was something I did as a kid, and then as the dancing got better, when I was 15 or 16, I realized I could either go the concert dance route or I could really lean into the musical theater.
I did a summer intensive at Juilliard, their dance intensive, and I realized, no way in hell do I want to do concert dance, I miss singing, I miss acting. I love the art of dance in every form, but I knew that I wanted to act, I wanted to sing, I wanted to be a leading man one day. And so I doubled down on voice lessons, I would go into the city for voice lessons and acting classes, and dance classes. I would sometimes skip class in high school, and where some kids might go to the mall or hang out with their friends, I would get on a bus and go into the city and go to Broadway Dance Center and take ballet class at one o’clock in the afternoon and then make my way back to dance from five p.m. to 10 p.m. four or five days a week.
And my mom is kind of like a Mama Rose in the best sense. She was so supportive that she would drive me to these auditions before I was 18. Finally, right after high school, I got my chance to do that in the first national tour of West Side Story.
Do you have a couple of favorite songs in Smash?
I really love I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn’t Love to Howl. That’s my favorite song and also my favorite number to do, which is in act two. I love Second Hand White Baby Grand, which is such a beautiful song. Marc and Scott can’t write a bad song. I love the song, Just Keep Moving the Line, I think that is probably one of my Spotify’s most played. The OG, I love listening to, and I love listening to Caroline Bowman sing it every night. Two very different takes on the song, I’m sure they’ll be neck and neck on people’s Spotify, the OG version and Caroline’s version, when the album comes out.
Did the cast record the soundtrack yet?
We did. I’m not sure when it’s going to come out, but I think it will be pretty soon.
What advice do you have for teens about pursuing a theater career?
It is difficult. I mean, you really, really have to love it, and I would say if you love it that much, let it be all encompassing and use that as fire to work as hard as you can. Take every class you can, and figure out what you really like and what you’re really good at, and then own that. A lot of people will try to do 100 different things, pick five things that you really love, that you want to get really good at within this, and then get really good at them.
What else do you advise?
My second piece of advice, as you move from training into doing, be kind and continue that hard work in the room. Work hard, say yes, be nice to work with, don’t be a diva. I would say I feel like I’ve gotten probably at least half my jobs just from being kind, in the room, and just being nice to work with. You get to a point where everyone is talented, but can you be good to work with, can you be reliable?
What do you say to the worried parents who don’t want a tough life for their sons and daughters?
If the kid wants to go into theater in high school and you support that, they will make friends, they’ll come out of their shell, they’ll learn how to be silly, and they’ll learn how to have teamwork. And even if they study it in college and then realize they don’t want to do it, they’ll have social skills that they might not have had before, they’ll have teamwork skills. There are so many other positive elements to whatever they choose.
Do you foresee TV and film in your future?
It’s something I’m hoping that Smash has a nice, long run because this feels like a really good time for me to get into those film classes, get some new headshots, and start doing that. I love theater, I’ve only really done theater, it is my first love, it will always be my strongest love, but who doesn’t want to do film and TV? I think it’s such a cool medium, and getting to be a little more well-known wouldn’t be such a bad thing for my theater career either. I’d love to do some movies. I’d love to do some action movies. I want to use my dance training and my stage combat experience to do that on TV or film.
Did you go back to watching the TV version of Smash since you’ve been in the show? Or are you keeping the TV show separate?
I’ve been keeping it separate, although I know a couple of cast members who started watching it from the beginning. I should give it a watch because it’s been so long that I don’t really remember it. I’ve watched some of those dance numbers, which now I get to do, but I’ve watched so many of them so many times. Maybe I’ll go back and watch it, it’s not a bad idea.
Have you seen any celebrities backstage on opening night?
Yes, we’ve had a couple. We’ve had a couple. A lot of the cast from the TV show came on opening night, and Steven Spielberg came a few weeks ago just before the opening, which was cool. I’ve met him now twice, he came to the workshop that we did a year ago, and it’s like this freaking legend walking into the building, just casually like, “Oh, I love the show, it’s so great.” I’m like, “Oh my god, it’s Steven Spielberg. Also, Martin Short came. That’s all so far. I think a lot of people usually come after we’re on the run, like when I was doing Some Like It Hot, a lot of people I know and love came much later than post-opening.
Tell me what it’s like working on Broadway.
No matter how hard the show is that day, if you’re having a bad day, you’re tired, it’s a matinee, maybe the audience wasn’t great, when you bow at the end of the show and you take it in, and you realize that there’s an audience there and the lights and everything, there’s nothing like it. It’s amazing.
Talk a little bit about the two leading ladies in the show: the one who plays your wife, Karen (Caroline Bowman), and Ivy Lynn (Robyn Hurder?
It’s amazing. I’m grateful to be paired with Caroline Bowman, who plays my wife Karen. She’s so silly and goofy and fun and sexy all at the same time, and she makes acting across from her so easy. Right from day one in the rehearsal studio, we were playing around, we were acting like husband and wife from the get-go. You want to be respectful of each other, you want to be respectful of the space and the process and the work, and she was so like, “Let’s go, we’re married, doesn’t matter. We’re a couple, let’s have fun.” It was so awesome to work with her.
She’s such a triple threat, surprisingly, because I think that she would probably consider herself a singer-actress who can move, but in Smash, she really has to dance as well, and it’s so impressive that she can sing and act that well and also dance that well. It’s the same with Robyn Hurder, who plays Ivy. Robyn is like the truest of triple threats. She is a classically trained dancer who can sing her face off, who’s a great actress, and she’s doing the most in this show.
What are some of your favorite aspects of Smash?
We’ve got six or seven huge production numbers, and the six guys on stage are literally just throwing her around; she flips, she goes upside down, we toss her, it’s crazy. It’s so impressive, it’s a feat of athletics for sure. And both women are such kind, caring, leading humans. It’s always refreshing when you’ve got people who are so talented, who are also good leaders and kind to everyone, and make work fun and a nice experience.
After growing up with your supportive mom, what is it like for her to see you in Smash along with other family members and friends?
You know, she’s come to see Smash seven or eight times, which is conservative for her. She’s seen my other shows many times. You know, she’s proud as can be; it brings her a lot of joy. She and my dad are still in New Jersey, less than an hour away, all of their friends are still in New Jersey, a lot of my family is in the Tri-State Area, so I have a list that she shares with me of all the people who are coming and when they’re coming, making sure I get a picture and making sure I get out by the stage door to see them.
We’ve established good boundaries as parents and child, but I can’t help but just let her love on this. It makes her so happy, and it makes her happy to see her friends supporting it and loving it. I’m so grateful that I have parents who supported me as a teenager, as a dancer, as a gay man, as an actor, and everything else that I do. When I feel lulls in the business and I decide, okay, well, maybe I want to try other things as well, they’re 100% supportive of that.
Should you have a backup plan?
You know, in this day and age, you can never be too safe, I guess. Have lots of options. What I found is that my performance and my relationship with the business and my career got deeper and stronger when I also focused on the other things outside of this that I loved. I teach group fitness, I’m also into nutrition coaching, and I love to write as well. It is just a passion project, but maybe one day, you know? And then when I give that stuff weight, my artistry and my relationship to the theater business itself are much stronger, and much more positive.
Why do you want my readers to come to see Smash?
Right now, more than ever, we need to laugh, we need joy, we need lighthearted stories. There are so many amazing shows in New York City, some will make you cry, some will make you think, and Smash will make you laugh. You’re going to have a good time. I would say it’s the funniest show in New York City right now. You’re going to be wowed by the dance numbers, every number is a showstopper. We’re dancing hard up on that stage, so come and support us.
For more information, go to @Caseygarvin on Instagram. For Broadway tickets and information on Smash, go to https://smashbroadway.com/
Two seasons of TV’s Smash are streaming on Peacock.
