Jeremy Jordan joins cast of SMASH...

Smash is back in the news-ies.

Rising Broadway heartthrob Jeremy Jordan, who earned a 2012 Tony nod for his starring role in Newsies, is joining the second season of NBCs musical drama as a series regular, TVLine has learned.

Jordan will play a very sexy (and straight) Brooklyn-born singer with a self-destructive streak.

His character is one of three roles being added under new showrunner Josh Safran. The other newbies, gay Broadway dreamer Joe and African-American chorus member Courtney, have yet to be cast.

The trio will fill the void left by departing castmembers Jaime Cepero (Ellis), Raza Jaffrey (Dev) and Brian DArcy James (Frank).

Jordan  who will continue to appear in Newsies while he shoots Smash  guest-starred on Law & Order: SVU in 2008 and also had a role in the Queen Latifah comedy Joyful Noise.


Smash is back in the news-ies

Good for him, I just hope this isn't the beginning of his pull away from theatre. I had no idea Brian D'Arcy James wasn't returning.

I rather thought the same thing -- but then again, if they are going to mention when characters are gay, then I suppose it is more "right" to also mention when they are straight.

Sounds like a love interest for McPhee.

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I thought the assumption was meant to be that Ellis was try-sexual, he never seemed all that invested in his girlfriend except wanting her to idolize him (though really he seemed more asexual to me than anything else).

I wouldn't worry about this being a pull away from theatre--it doesn't seem to have led to that for any of the other actors with a theatrical past...

It says he'll continue to do Newsies. I guess his role probably won't be, at least at first, too big--and it does film in NYC.

I knew he was going to leave Broadway for all the $$$ in TV and movies. We'll probably never see him on the boards again just like Patrick Wilson.

Presumably, Jordan's role won't be as large as Borle's, allowing him to continue on in Newsies.

He probably doesn't have anything in his Newsies contract that will allow him to leave for SMASH. And I don't think Disney is going to let him go easily.

Maybe I'm misinformed but as far as I knew, Borle finished the the off-broadway run with Starcatcher, then filmed Smash, then returned to Broadway with Starcatcher, and now is leaving to film Smash again. Did he ever work on both projects simultaneously?

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Bwaydide I agree with you completely...if Smash were on abc it would be a completely different story, but its on Disney's competitor...

From what I hear though either sometime during the Summer or Fall, Jordan's contract is going to turn into a Evita/Christine performance schedule only doing 6 shows a week. I have a friend in the cast, who is one of his understudies and he were informed about the possible performance schedule change a couple days after the Tony nominations came out.

Although he does have the least demanding role physically of the three leads, since he is the only one that does not dance he sell has to run around the giant erector set they call their set...His role is also extremely vocally demanding. His character has to basically scream every other line, in a thick New York accent, as well sing in one. He is also "belting"/screaming the entire score which can't help either. Also according to my friend there have been several time where his voice has almost given out during a performance, and the only reason he stayed in the show was for the Tony Voters...

Updated On: 6/14/12 at 08:36 PM

Borle was finishing up the final episodes of SMASH season 1 by the time Peter and the Starcatcher rehearsals began, so yes, he did do both simultaneously. I'm pretty sure the show had wrapped by the time first preview came around.

Darnit, now I have to keep watching it.

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I really enjoy his acting and singing. I'm looking to seeing him join the cast.