Kristen Bell Will Crash the ‘Simpsons’ Musical Episode as the Voice of Marge
This is very real.
The Simpsons is letting it go. When the never-ending animated show kicks off its 33rd season on September 26, it will do so with a musical episode featuring Frozen, Veronica Mars and The Good Place actress Kristen Bell as the singing voice of Marge Simpson. Julie Kavner has long voiced Marge, and she even sang in earlier episodes. So, what gives? Why will we hear Bell in the episode, which is titled, “The Star of the Backstage”?
“It’s like a Broadway musical of an episode with all original songs,” executive producer Matt Selman said during a Simpsons panel at this past weekend’s Comic-Con @ Home. Speaking later to Entertainment Weekly, he revealed more, explaining that “Marge has amazing memories of being the stage manager of her high school musical, Y2K: The Millennium Bug, and decides to restage it with everyone 20 years later for one last show. But when her old high school nemesis comes to town, she realizes that her high school memories aren’t what she thought they were… The only place Marge sang beautifully was in her head, so she has a magical inside singing voice that only we can hear. When she sings, it comes out beautiful, like Kristen Bell.”Unlike previous Simpsons musical episodes, “The Star of the Backstage” won’t be a spoof of existing musicals, but rather a wholly original story with original songs. Adding additional musical credibility, the episode was written by Simpsons writer-producer Elisabeth Kiernan Averick, a veteran of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. She also penned the lyrics for “The Star of the Backstage” and, according to Entertainment Weekly, recruited Crazy Ex-Girlfriend composer Jack Dolgen to co-write the music and collaborate with her on the lyrics.Oh, and speaking of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, it was also revealed during the Simpsons Comic-Con @ Home panel that the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend herself, Rachel Bloom, will guest star on the show’s annual Halloween episode, “Treehouse of Terror.” The Simpsons’ new season will premiere on September 26 on FOX.
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