'Smash' Adds Sheryl Lee Ralph To Season 2 Cast

The cast of Smash just keeps on dazzling. After dismissing nearly half a dozen minor characters at the end of Season 1, we were dazzled with the news that Jennifer Hudson was joining the cast of Season 2, set to launch in January 2013.

Also previously announced: the addition of "Danny, a straight, working-class Brooklynite in his mid-20s. He is sexy, charismatic & musically gifted, but self destructive and remote." And: "Joe, a Brooklyn-born guy in his early to mid-20s. He is gay, cute, incredibly open & optimistic."

And now, Hudson follows in Megan Hilty's Smash footsteps by getting a Broadway veteran as her mama. Sheryl Lee Ralph, who played Dreamgirls' Deena Jones on Broadway in 1981, has been tapped to guest on the NBC Broadway musical/drama, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Ralph will guest star as Cynthia, the mamer to Hudson's Veronica Moore.

Hudson's Veronica is described as a Tony-winning Broadway star who impacts the lives of Karen (Katharine McPhee) and Ivy (Hilty). The former Dreamgirls Oscar winner will appear in multiple episodes of Smash's second season. Broadway legend Bernadette Peters played ma to Hilty's Ivy in Season 1 of Smash.

See an awesome Season 1 wrap-up interview with Megan Hilty below... *