Katharine McPhee rose to fame on American Idol, one of a handful of memorable contestants who went on to bigger and better things, and these days she’s as busy as ever. Her new album, Hysteria, will be released on July 24, and until then she’s got side projects–like a little detour onto Broadway–to keep her busy.
McPhee and several of her costars from Smash will be hitting the stage for one night only in June in order to bring characters from the show-within-a-show, Bombshell, to life. The production tells the story of Marilyn Monroe and was featured heavily on Smash, and Katharine will join Christian Borle, Will Chase, Megan Hilty, and Debra Messing for a mini-reunion. McPhee says she can’t believe the level of adoration that fans still have for the show, which led to Bombshell being sold out quickly.
“I had no idea the show, this one night thing would become as big as it is. People are really, they’re more crazy about Smash now then they were when it was on the air,” McPhee told Billboard.
Katharine has been keeping busy with her album, which she says is the most personal project she’s done due to a break away from the shyness she felt when writing songs.
“There’s so many things and events that have happened in my life in the last 3 or 4 years. With earlier albums I found it difficult to find inspiration of things I wanted to sing about. I think I was also shy; I wasn’t sure of myself as a writer. I really didn’t feel like I had that much to say, had that much to write about. So I think the overall theme of this record is that, yes, there’s been searching, there’s been heartbreak, there’s been longing, I think finally, for the first time, I felt motivated to find stories within my own life to write about,” McPhee said.
Her newest single, “Lick My Lips” was created with Florence + The Machine’s Isabella Summers and is being hesitantly called the “song of the summer”.
