![Picture](/uploads/1/7/6/6/17669971/460107163.jpg)
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 Galinda in Wicked and her portrayal of Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5: The Musical. Her best known role was as Ivy Lynn on the 2012-2013 musical-drama TV series Smash, on which she sang many original songs, including the Grammy Award-nominated "Let Me Be Your Star". She currently appears in the sitcom Sean Saves the World.
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,[13] 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.
Personal Life
On November 2, 2013, Hilty revealed that she married Brian Gallagher at a chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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,[13] 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.
Personal Life
On November 2, 2013, Hilty revealed that she married Brian Gallagher at a chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada.