Megan Hilty Biography

Megan Kathleen Hilty (born March 29, 1981) is an American stage and television actress. She rose to prominence for her roles in several Broadway musicals including her performance as Glinda in Wicked and her portrayal of Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5: The Musical. She most recently starred as Ivy Lynn on the musical-drama series Smash, which aired its second and final season on NBC. On the program she sang many original songs, including the Grammy Award-nominated "Let Me Be Your Star".

Early years

Hilty was born in Bellevue, Washington, and is the daughter of Jack and Donna Hilty. She began taking vocal lessons at the age of 12, and was interested in performing opera. She attended Sammamish High School in Bellevue, and then transferred to the Washington Academy of Performing Arts Conservatory High School in Redmond, and later the Chrysalis School in Woodinville, Washington. She graduated from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in 2004, and is a member of Actors' Equity. She is a recipient of the National Society of Arts and Letters Award for Excellence in Musical Theater. Her regional credits include productions of Café Puttanesca, Suds, and Michael John La Chiusa's The Wild Party.

Wicked

Shortly before graduating from Carnegie Mellon University, Hilty auditioned for the hit musical Wicked. She moved to New York City after graduating and, in August 2004, she made her Broadway debut in the show as the standby for Galinda, before taking over the lead role from Jennifer Laura Thompson on May 31, 2005. After playing the role for a year, Hilty ended her run on May 28, 2006 and was succeeded by Kate Reinders.

She then reprised the role on the first national tour of the show from September through December 2006, replacing Kendra Kassebaum. She was succeeded by Christina DeCicco. Soon after, she originated the role in the Los Angeles sit-down production, which began previews on February 10, 2007, and opened February 21. Hilty left the production on May 18, 2008, and was replaced by Erin Mackey, only to return on October 31, 2008, to close the production, which played its final performance January 11, 2009.

Other projects

Hilty starred in a musical called Vanities during its premiere engagement at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts in Mountain View, California. In addition to her stage work, Hilty has made guest appearances on various television shows including The Closer, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Ugly Betty, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Desperate Housewives, and Shark. She can also be heard as the singing voice of Snow White in the animated feature film Shrek the Third.

In fall 2008, Hilty joined Emmy Award-winning The West Wing star Allison Janney, fellow Wicked alum Stephanie J. Block, and Broadway veteran Marc Kudisch in the new musical adaption of the 1980 film 9 to 5. The production was directed by Joe Mantello, director of Wicked, with a pre-Broadway tryout run at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, which opened on September 9, 2008. Hilty had participated in workshops and readings developing and originating the character of Doralee for the musical. Her character, executive secretary Doralee Rhodes, the role played by Dolly Parton in the film. Parton is the composer and lyricist of the musical. The musical began preview performances on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre on April 7, 2009, with an official opening on April 30, 2009. The show ended its Broadway run on September 6, 2009. For this role Hilty was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, the Drama League Award for Distinguished performance, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. In late 2008, Scott Alan's album Keys was released, featuring Hilty as one of the vocalists. She is featured on the song "The Dance", it being her first vocal recording and release.

In 2009, Hilty appeared in an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation entitled "Deep Fried and Minty Fresh", where she played a fast food manager helping out with a murder at Choozy's Chicken. She also appeared in two episodes of Desperate Housewives where she played the other woman to Carlos' boss. Hilty also lent her talents in Rated RSO: The Music and Lyrics of Ryan Scott Oliver at The Boston Court Performing Arts Center in December 2009, alongside Lesli Margherita, Steve Kazee, Morgan Karr, Natalie Weiss, among others. Hilty also branched off into a coffee and tea product line.

Hilty began performing a variety show with her former Wicked co-star Shoshana Bean, called The Meg an' Sho Show. They often perform a "Wicked swap", in which Bean sings a medley of Galinda's songs and Hilty sings Elphaba's. She also continued her television work with appearances in the hit Disney Channel shows The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and Phineas and Ferb.

In 2010, Hilty confirmed that she will be voicing the character of the China Princess in the upcoming animated feature Dorothy of Oz, and she appeared as the "Heckler" in an episode of Louis CK's comedy Louie on FX.

In 2011, it was confirmed that Hilty would star in the NBC musical television series Smash, also starring Debra Messing, Katharine McPhee, Christian Borle, Anjelica Huston, and Brian d'Arcy James. The show was officially picked up on May 11, 2011, and made its series premiere on February 6, 2012. The show was cancelled after two seasons by NBC on May 10, 2013, due to low ratings.

In May 2012, Hilty appeared in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, as a part of the Encores! program. She appeared as Lorelei Lee alongside such performers as Brennan Brown, Simon Jones and Rachel York. Hilty received rave reviews for her performance, with the New York Times rating her performance higher than those of Carol Channing and Marilyn Monroe.

In November 2012 it was announced that Hilty will be appearing on the upcoming album release I'm Ready: The Songs of Rob Rokicki and will be performing at the album release concert on November 19, 2012. Hilty released her debut solo album, It Happens All the Time, on March 12, 2013. The singer described the album as "a breakup album". On June 13, 2013, it was announced that Hilty would be starring alongside Sean Hayes as Liz on the upcoming NBC sitcom Sean Saves the World.

Credits

Broadway

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Notes
2005"?2006	Wicked	Glinda the Good Witch	George Gershwin Theatre	Nominated"?Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite Female Replacement
2009	9 to 5: The Musical	Doralee Rhodes	Marquis Theatre	Nominated"?Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical Nominated"?Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance Nominated"?LA Ovation Award for Lead Actress in a Musical Nominated"?Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical

Other Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Venue
2006	Vanities	Mary	Mountain View Center
2012	Gentlemen Prefer Blondes	Lorelei Lee	New York City Center

Concerts

Year	Title	Venue	Notes
2010	"Don't Stop Believing"	Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre	June 13, 2010
2011	"Megan Sings the Blondes"	Rrazz Room	January 24, 2011
2012	"Barack on Broadway"	New Amsterdam Theatre	June 4, 2012
2012	"Christmas in Washington"	National Building Museum	December 21, 2012
2012	"Pandora's Unforgettable Moments On Ice"	Grand Canyon University Arena	November 25, 2012
2012	"One Singular Sensation: Celebrating Marvin Hamlisch"	Lincoln Center	December 31, 2012

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Shrek The Third	Snow White	Singing voice only
2010	What Happens Next	Ruthie
2010	Bitter Feast	Peg
2010	"Happiest Man Alive"	N/A	Short Film
2011	The Maiden and the Princess	Adult Maiden	Voice Only
2012	Secret of the Wings	Rosetta (voice)	Fills in for Kristin Chenoweth
2014	Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return	China Princess (voice)	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	The Suite Life of Zack & Cody	Enid	Episode: "The Arwin That Came to Dinner"
2007	The Closer	Michelle Edwards	2 episodes
2007	Ugly Betty	Herself as Glinda	Episode: "Something Wicked This Way Comes"
2007	Deal or No Deal	Herself as Glinda	Appearance as part of prize; Fall 2007
2008	Shark	Laurel Hasbrouck	Episode: "One Hit Wonder"
2009	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Kiwi Long	Episode: "Deep Fried and Minty Fresh"
2009	Desperate Housewives	Shayla Grove	2 episodes
2009	Eli Stone	Cheryl	Episode: "Flight Path"
2010	Phineas and Ferb	Aunt Tiana (voice)	Episode: "Just Passing Through/Candace's Big Day"
2010	American Dad!	Unknown (voice)	Episode: "Return of the Bling"
2009"10	Glenn Martin, DDS	Unknown (voice)	2 episodes
2010	Bones	Julie Coyle	Episode: "The Death of the Queen Bee"
2010	Louie	Heckler	Episode: "Heckler/Cop Movie"
2011	Melissa & Joey	Tiffany Longo	Episode: "#1.13"; "#1.22"
2011	The Penguins of Madagascar	Frances Alberta (voice)	Guest star
2011	Tinker Bell and the Pixie Hollow Games	Rosetta (voice)	Fills in for Kristin Chenoweth
2012"2013	Smash	Ivy Lynn	Lead role
2012"present	Robot and Monster	JD (voice)	Lead role
2013	Jake and the Never Land Pirates	Rosetta (voice)
2013	Sean Saves the World	Liz	Series regular