Megan Hilty joins Steven Reinecke and the National Symphony Orchestra Pops this week in “Luck Be a Lady,” a concert dedicated to the music of Frank Sinatra and his contemporaries. This is the third visit to Washington by the singer/actress, who became an instant star this past year in NBC’s “Smash,” which will start its second season on Feb. 6 with a two-hour special. Even though Hilty held sway on Broadway as Glinda the Good Witch in “Wicked” and as Doralee Rhodes in “9 to 5: The Musical,” it was not until her portrayal of Ivy Lyn on the small screen that strangers began to recognize her on the street.

After singing at the Fourth of July concert on the Mall, the avid animal lover and owner of two Jack Russell terriers appeared at the National Humane Society’s Bark Ball. She will soon return to D.C. for the fourth time to perform at the White House Christmas concert. That venue has been high on her wish list since meeting President Obama and former President Clinton at “Barack on Broadway,” the all-star benefit for the Obama Victory Fund held at New York’s New Amsterdam Theatre. Hilty was a featured artist at the event, along with Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Angela Lansbury and others,