Two-time Tony Award-winning actress Sutton Foster headlined the first show of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and McCarter Theatre Center’s Princeton POPS series collaboration with “An Evening of Sutton Foster” at McCarter’s Matthews Theatre.
Performing personal song favorites on Nov. 8, Foster included many Broadway classics, while the Princeton Symphony Orchestra accompanied her under the baton of John Devlin.
“I started doing concerts way back in 2004 when I left ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie,’” Foster said. “I was asked to create a show for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. My music director Michael Rafter – who conducted ‘Millie’ – and I have been working together ever since.”
Since 2004, Foster and Rafter have made three albums together and have performed shows around the country and the world.
“Doing the solo shows has been a wonderfully creative and collaborative experience for me,” she said. “These shows allow me to be able to hand pick the type of material I want to sing and allow the audience to see a different side to me than if I were playing a character.”
Earning six Tony Award nominations for lead actress and winning two of them, Foster has not been on the big stage since 2014. But Foster will make her return to Broadway in the fall of 2020, when she will star opposite of Hugh Jackman in “The Music Man.”
“I’m excited; scared; I love performing live and being in this show is a dream of mine. I’m just excited to get in there and do the work,” Foster said. “I am already in training – voice lessons and dance classes are a priority for me now. It’s been a while since I’ve done eight shows a week, so I want to make sure I’m in tip top shape.”
After leaving Broadway in 2014, Foster has been the star of TV Land’s hit series “Younger,” where she plays a 40-year-old divorcee who is forced to go back to work to put her daughter through college. But when she cannot restart her career due to her age, Foster’s character pretends she is 26 in order to make a name in publishing.
Entering its seventh season in summer 2020, Foster has also gotten married and had a daughter since leaving Broadway.
“I have to admit it’s hard,” she said. “I have a lot to balance and I often feel pulled in every direction. We have wonderful support, which helps a lot… but honestly, I just take it day by day – sometimes hour by hour.”