Within the television series Hit List is created by characters Jimmy Collins (Jeremy Jordan) and Kyle Bishop (Andy Mientus).

Amanda is portrayed by Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee), Jesse by Jimmy Collins and The Diva by Ana Vargas (Krysta Rodriguez).

On October 15, 2013, New York City venue 54 Below announced plans to stage Hit List in concert format.

Drew Gasparini, Joe Iconis, Andrew McMahon, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and Lucie Silvas created the material for the fictional musical.

[1] Smash season two showrunner Joshua Safran envisioned Hit List as a "scrappy underdog" to the senior Bombshell,[2] taking inspiration from the 2005 documentary film ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway,[3] and from Broadway seasons which saw Wicked head-to-head with Avenue Q and Billy Elliot in competition with Next to Normal.

"[3] Karen Cartwright overhears Jimmy Collins performing "Broadway Here I Come" and calls director Derek Wills (Jack Davenport) to listen.

[5] The pair pitches the musical, about a poor boy with songwriting talent who falls for a rich girl who steals his songs.

[6] At Derek's suggestion, Jimmy and Kyle put together a workshop production of Hit List for the New York Fringe Festival.

[10] With the book still in trouble, Scott and Derek enlist Julia Houston (Debra Messing) to serve as dramaturg for Hit List.

[14] With Hit List running on Broadway, a member of the company named Daisy Parker (Mara Davi) blackmails Derek with threats of a sexual harassment lawsuit unless he gives her the role of The Diva.

Hit List wins seven awards, including a posthumous Best Book Tony for Kyle, but loses Best Musical to Bombshell.

[17] Critics noted the similarities between Hit List and Kyle Bishop and the musical Rent and its creator, Jonathan Larson.

"[20] Following a performance of the song "Broadway, Here I Come" on Smash, 54 Below artistic director Jennifer Ashley Tepper contacted Safran via the social networking site Twitter.

[12] The concerts, under the musical direction of Benjamin Rauhala, was presented by Safran and Tepper, with a book written by screenwriter Julia Brownell.

Smash stars Jeremy Jordan, Andy Mientus and Krysta Rodriguez performed as "Jesse", "Nick" and "The Diva" respectively.

[22] Songs that Safran had intended to use on Smash but did not were incorporated into the show, including "Anymore", "The Guide to Success"[23] and "Haddonfield, 15 Years Later" by Iconis, "Calling Out My Name"[21] by Lucie Silvas,[3] "If I Had You" by Gasparini and "Swim" by McMahon.

The production was musically directed by Benjamin Rauhala, orchestrated by Charlie Rosen, and presented by Julia Brownell, Joshua Safran, and Jennifer Ashley Tepper.

The original concert cast included Jeremy Jordan and Carrie Manolakos in the lead roles of Jesse and Amanda.

The cast also featured Krysta Rodriguez as The Diva, Andy Mientus as Nick, and Eric William Morris as JB.

Setting: New York City, New Jersey, and Los Angeles, Modern Day The Diva attends Nina Hope's concert.

As "poor little rich girl" Amanda Brown performs for a record producer, she hopes that this is finally her time to make it as a pop star ("Good For You").

Following a confrontation with her family, who threaten to cut her off financially if she pursues her pop star dreams, Amanda, depressed and lonely, heads to a deserted Brooklyn pier, where she contemplates suicide ("Broadway, Here I Come!").

Nina takes over the party of talent manager JB Planko and forces an audition onto him and he agrees to represent her ("Pretender").

Jesse is appalled that Nina would throw The Diva under the bus on Conan and pleads for her to join him on a trip back to New York.

Calling the show's sound "great" and its cast "energetic and vocal", the site declared that Hit List should come to Broadway or at least Off-Broadway but that the book should have explored a theme that its fictional writers proposed when pitching the show in Smash, that the songs be an actual "hit list" for people who had wronged the character Jesse.

Calling the concert "energetic", the cast "superb" and the music "genuinely impressive", he nonetheless expressed some doubt whether the show itself could be a hit.

Citing the "workable book" as a "happy surprise", the Post praised the "energized" cast, singling out Jordan for special commendation, calling him "relaxed, charming and funny".