First Look At Sean Hayes On SMASH

Emmy Award-winning WILL & GRACE star Sean Hayes returns to the small screen next week - on an NBC series starring Debra Messing, no less - on Tuesday night's new episode of the musical series SMASH, titled "The Read-Through", playing a neurotic star stage actor named Terrence headlining the new Season Two musical-within-the-series to follow last year's BOMBSHELL, this one titled LIAISONS!

LIASONS! is based on the classic novel written by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos that was brilliantly adapted first for the stage and then for the screen by Christopher Hampton byway of DANGEROUS LIAISONS.

The 1988 Stephen Frears film adaptation of the Rococo property stars John Malkovich in the role Hayes will be essaying in this new stage musical version of the sudsy, scandalous story.

In a previous storyline on the show, Ivy (Megan Hilty) was seen auditioning for the role of Cecile, ironically originally played in the 1988 film by Golden Globe-nominated Season One SMASH star Uma Thurman in one of her earliest roles.

Sean Hayes portrays Vicomte Sebastien de Valmont in LIAISONS!, an artistocratic, nefarious lecher hungry for the affections of those he cannot (or, more to the point, has not already) had in his bed. And, he has his eyes firmly, devastatingly set on Cecile.

Hayes role extends over the course of several episodes following next Tuesday night's debut, so it will be a welcome return for the beloved comedy star to our TV screens - and, of special note for fans of his stage work in the similarly Craig Zadan & Neil Meron-produced PROMISES, PROMISES, we will apparently be hearing him sing in coming weeks, as well! Stay tuned!

SMASH airs Tuesdays at 10 PM on NBC.

Check out the first clip of Sean Hayes on SMASH below.