Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder Take Hacks Characters Live for One Night in Los Angeles

Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder stepped out of their screens and onto a stage, performing their "Hacks" characters in front of a live audience for the first time outside the series itself.

The one-night-only event, titled "Deborah Vance & Friends & Enemies LIVE!," took place at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles on a Friday evening. Doors opened at 6:30 p.m., and the show ran from approximately 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. According to HBO Max, Smart and Einbinder — who play comedy legend Deborah Vance and her young writer Ava on the series — had never appeared in-character outside of "Hacks" before this stage production (The Hollywood Reporter).

Tickets vanished fast. The show sold out in less than 24 hours.

HBO Max kept the mood casual and generous: drinks, soft pretzels, pizza and popcorn were served before the performance. The platform also teased that more cast members would make surprise appearances during the evening.

The event celebrated the final season of "Hacks" pulling a record-breaking 24 Emmy nominations — the most nominated season of a comedy ever. HBO Max described the stage show as, to its knowledge, the first "Phase II" event of its kind, referring to the second push for Emmy votes that follows the initial nomination round.

For fans of the show, the appeal is straightforward. The chemistry between Deborah and Ava has carried four seasons of sharp, fast-paced comedy, and seeing those characters work a real room — with snacks, surprises and a sold-out crowd — is the kind of thing a streaming platform can stage that a television broadcast never could. Whether it moves Emmy voters is a separate question, and one no measurement can answer until the ceremony itself.