Singer Katharine McPhee
McPhee, who also just signed a solo record deal, poses at the LG Fashion Touch party in West Hollywood, CA, last year. Reuters

Katharine McPhee's appearance on NBC's The Voice has thrown the young star into the spotlight once again. The singer attended the show last night to promote her new show 'Smash.'

As the much loved runner-up to American Idol's Taylor Hicks in the show's 5th season, McPhee is no stranger to fame, but with few record sells and a just a couple of minor hits, the American singer is ready to try something new.

The show, which will premiere on NBC mid-season and will be shown Mondays (10-11 p.m. ET), has already been dubbed by many as the adult version of FOX's hit Glee.

Smash centers around the production of a Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe and the dramas, complexities, and elaborate emotions that come with such an endeavor.

McPhee plays the role of Karen, a young and inexperienced actress who is vying for the part of Marilyn Monroe. She is pitted against the stage veteran Ivy, played by Megan Hilty, who sees this as her chance to break out of chorus-line roles to become a major Broadway star.

Academy Award winner Anjelica Huston, who also stars in the new series as the musical's producer Eileen, is joined by fellow actress Debra Messing and actor Christian Borle, who form the musical's songwriting duo.

The show, written by Theresa Rebeck and produced by Steven Speilberg, is a chance for McPhee to regain her spot in the limelight and for NBC to appeal to the new and increasingly large audience that has fallen heads-over-heels in love with all things music and theatre.

Further promoting the perception of the Smash being an altered take on Glee is the new record deal that NBC just signed with Columbia Records. The label, known for names such as Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, Adele, and Bob Dylan, recently released the Glee soundtrack, is now set to do the same for Smash.

A musical series should naturally be accompanied by a soundtrack deal, said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman of NBC Entertainment. Our Columbia Records partners will guide the soundtrack of 'Smash' into a big component of the show's success.

But for McPhee, the most exciting opportunity may not be this deal but the solo deal that she signed with Columbia Records. No details were released about what this new partnership will entail, but it certainly seems as if this is the chance that McPhee has been waiting for.

Watch the extended preview of the new show below.

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