North Hills School District alumni and Ross Township native Andy Mientus has landed a starring role on the popular NBC drama “Smash.”

Mientus, 26, stars as Kyle in season two of the musical drama that premieres on Feb. 5 at 9 p.m. locally on WPXI-TV.

As Kyle, Mientus plays a starry-eyed kid from Brooklyn, who dreams of writing for Broadway with his best friend and collaborator, Jimmy. The duo’s musical “Hit List” shakes up the show’s downtown theater scene as a series of fortuitous events thrusts the duo into the spotlight.

On “Smash,” he stars alongside “American Idol” veterans Jennifer Hudson and Katharine McPhee and noted actresses Anjelica Huston and Debra Messing.

Mientus graduated from North Hills High School in 2005 and attended Ross Elementary School. During his time at North Hills, he played Tevye in the high school’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof” and participated in choirs and drama club productions throughout his junior and senior high years. He also attended Act One Theater School in Glenshaw.

“My artistic experiences at North Hills were an essential part of my development as an actor and as a person, and I will always look back on them warmly and gratefully,” Mientus said

Mientus attended University of Michigan where he was active in the university’s musical theater program. Recently, he made his off-Broadway debut in MCC Theater’s production of “Carrie” after touring the nation in the hit Broadway musical “Spring Awakening.”

His other credits include Mark Cohen in “Rent,” “February House” at New York Stage & Film and several productions with New York Musical Theater Festival. He is developing the musical project “Manhattan Kids” with the band Teen Commandments.

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