‘SMASH’ Brings Marilyn Monroe to Broadway! Star Jacqueline B. Arnold Spills the Details (EXCLUSIVE)
Arnold spills on ‘SMASH,’ playing Anita and why this show is so special
While Marilyn Monroe never starred on Broadway, her life and legacy have been the subject of several productions, most notably the 1983 musical Marilyn: An American Fable. Now, her story’s heading to the big stage again—this time in the show SMASH, a musical adaptation of the hit 2012 television series of the same name.
The plot follows a production company that is trying to get a Broadway musical named Bombshell off of the ground, and trust us when we say it’s a drama-filled, hilarious hit—and stars the likes of Robyn Hurder, John Behlmann and Brooks Ashmanskas.
To celebrate the show, Woman’s World recently caught up with one of the stars, Jacqueline B. Arnold, to discuss not only the show, but her work as an equality advocate as well. Read on for more.
Jacqueline B. Arnold on her role in ‘SMASH’ and the show’s journey to the stage
In the Broadway musical SMASH, Arnold plays Anita, a woman who she claims is a “b*d*ss producer with a whole lot of heart.”
“It feels really good to be putting a woman of color who is a producer at the top of her game out there,” she told Woman’s World. “She wants to make sure that her company is taken care of, and she’s really forgiving.”
“I feel really fortunate to bring a character like Anita into the public eye.”
Even without her groundbreaking character, Arnold is still very excited for musical lovers to see the show, saying “Most people don’t get to create Broadway shows from the beginning, and the three I’ve done have all been original companies, so I feel very, very fortunate to do that again.”
“It’s such a strange process because you’re putting something together that’s going to be massive on stage in a couple of little studio rooms,” she continued. “In terms of SMASH itself, it was such a phenomenon as a TV show. It shaped us all, in a way, and gave us a sneak peek into how theater is created. So it’s really cool to be able to share that with the world.”
Arnold was not in the original TV show, as she primarily sticks to stage work.
Marilyn Monroe’s legacy
Since SMASH centers around the late and great Marilyn Monroe, it only makes sense that its cast is wholeheartedly obsessed with the actress—and this, of course, includes Arnold.
“I can remember the first time I saw Marilyn Monroe perform in ‘Diamonds Are Girl’s Best Friend’ and thinking, ‘Oh my God!’ She was just so beautiful,” the actress said. “She was such an iconic woman, and as I’ve learned more about her, she was just someone who worked really hard at trying to be the best that she could be, and all of that makes me really respect her legacy.”
“Back in the day, and even now, women are oftentimes looked over or thought of as a commodity, especially in this particular industry that we’re in, and she fought really hard in her own way to make sure that she was being treated fairly and seen and understood. And I appreciate that.”
Monroe tragically died from an overdose in 1962. She was 36 and had 32 acting credits to her name.
Jacqueline B. Arnold looks back at her Broadway career & why representation matters
Aside from SMASH, Arnold has also been in the opening companies of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in 2011 and Moulin Rouge in 2019, both of which went on to be huge Broadway hits.
“I have a knack for picking the popular movies or TV shows that are transferred into musicals, which is hilarious,” the actress joked. “Priscilla was interesting because I was obsessed with that movie; I thought it was super cool that drag queens could just exist and have this normal life in the back country of Australia. And with Moulin Rouge, I love the hyper color and the cinematography Baz Luhrmann created.”
Despite her years-long career, though, Arnold still thinks that the musical industry has some flaws, specifically regarding representation and inclusivity.
“Anyone who is qualified, who does it the best, is who should be able to do the role,” she explained. “I’m not talking about when we’re doing real people. There’s no way a black or an Asian woman should be Marilyn. We get that that was a real person, but any of the others, my character included, could be pretty much race and any size.
“Body image is really important to me within the industry because I think there’s a stigma thinking that all Broadway performers look like Broadway dancers. That just because you’re in a larger body, you can’t move as well, and I wish we would start to realize that.”
At the end of the day, though, Arnold still believes that “musical theater performers are the land of misfit toys.”
“When I joined musical theater when I was 23, I found this band of people who made me feel the most welcome I’ve ever felt. And that’s what I think Broadway should represent. That is what the community is about. It is about inclusivity at 100%.”
Be sure to watch Arnold as Anita in SMASH, which debuts at the Imperial Theater on March 11, 2025.
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