‘Smash' Already Having a Big Impact on Megan Hilty/Jane Seymour Going Gaga by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith on Creators.com

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‘Smash' Already Having a Big Impact on Megan Hilty/Jane Seymour Going Gaga

"Smash" hasn't even hit the airwaves yet, but the highly touted NBC show that debuts tonight (Feb. 6) has already boosted Megan Hilty's celebrity status to the point where she's finding herself getting stopped frequently by viewers who recognize her. "It's been happening, especially the last couple of weeks," says the Broadway performer of "Wicked" fame, whose character on the new series is vying with Katharine McPhee's to star in a Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe.

Hilty's favorite example? She got into a taxi with a "Smash" ad on top of it a few days ago, she tells us, "and the driver said, 'Hey, I know you. You're the girl on my cab!' He had me write down the premiere date, even though I think it was on the sign," she says with a laugh.

Despite their roles as rivals, Hilty says she and McPhee have become pals through their months of intense "Smash" schedules. According to Hilty, they both like to make people laugh around the set, goof around and occasionally talk to each other in silly voices. They're also the two who've been working the most constantly.

"When we're not shooting, we're being fitted for costumes or learning choreography," Hilty explains. She stresses that the long hours are fine with her. "The fact that I really love what I'm doing makes all the difference," she points out.

For her, the hardest part "has been not talking about my character's storyline. I know how that sounds, but it's true. You know, Ivy will do just about anything to get this part, and her journey has some very startling twists. All the characters' do." Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll? "All of it — everything that happens behind the scenes in the world of Broadway — happens here," she says. "If there's one thing I would like to say, though, it's that we also show the side of Broadway that is like a family among these large-sized personalities, these creative people who come here.

We've been asked a lot about cat fights and the casting couch, and that's all part of it, but so are these relationships."

ANOTHER MUSICAL HEARD FROM: Jane Seymour will be showing off her musicality soon. She tells us she's just recently finished ABC Family's "first musical, a big budget musical in which I play the choreographer, and I'm dancing and singing to Lady Gaga." The title at the moment is "Elixer," but that could change, says the one-time ballerina and former "Dancing With the Stars" contestant.

When it comes to music, however, Jane makes it clear that the family super-talent is her son Johnny, who just turned 16, along with his twin brother, Kristopher. You may recall that Jane caused a media stir a couple years ago when she told the women of "The View" that she believes Johnny's channeling the spirit of his namesake, old family friend Johnny Cash — who's also looking out for the budding singer-songwriter from beyond the veil.

Now, she says, "My son's music is unbelievable. It's not just him, you know. He's got a band, Plead the Fifth, and they've just recorded 15 songs, and they're doing another five or six next week, and another seven after that. They were on tour with Cheap Trick in Europe and the West Coast. It's getting very serious now. I'm very proud of him, very proud."

Seymour's been out on the concert trail with Johnny and company and calls herself a "moadie." As in mother + roadie = moadie.

ON ANOTHER NOTE: "Glee's" Dot Jones has this to say to women and men of a certain age who fear they're losing steam: "Honey, my steam's just starting, and I turned 48 on January 4th! I'm proud of it. Everybody's like, 'You tell people your age?' I say, 'Hell, yeah! I'm glad I made it another year.'"

The energetic actress and 15-time world arm-wrestling champion is having a blast playing football coach Shannon Beiste opposite Jane Lynch as the notorious Sue Sylvester. "How could I not be having a fantastic time? I get to work with that woman. How could I not be amazed?" Jones gushes. "After 20 years in this business, this is that brass ring."

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.