Review: SUTTON FOSTER at Southern Theatre

Is there anything that Sutton Foster doesn’t do well?

Foster, who performed a 18-song concert to benefit the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra April 11 at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main Street in downtown Columbus), appears to be able to master everything she attempts. She sings, she dances, she acts. She has been in movies (“The Angriest Man in Brooklyn”), on television (“Younger” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), and on Broadway. She’s written a book (“Hooked”). She can even crochet.

Wearing a black sequin dress that sparkled beneath the spotlight, Foster shared with the sold out crowd the one thing she can’t do.

“I am a two-time Tony award winner,” she said with a mock bravado. “I have accomplished many things … but the one thing I cannot do is get my eight-year-old daughter out of the house on time.”

Foster then launched into her own comic version of “Undecided,” a 1938 song by Sid Robin (lyrics) and Charlie Shavers (music). She added in her own lyrics in a parental tone, “Emily, Emily, Emily. Put on your shoes, put on your shoes, put on your shoes. No, the other foot, no the other foot, no, the other foot.”

Although Emily wasn’t on stage with her, she was never far from Foster’s thoughts. The 50-year-old actress/singer won Tony Awards for her portrayals of Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002) and Reno Sweeney in ANYTHING GOES (2011) and has been nominated five other times for various roles. However, Sutton’s favorite role appears to be being a mother.

“Motherhood is like finding little rooms in your heart you didn’t know were there,” Sutton gushed. “It’s like a New Yorker’s dream -- finding a hidden door that opens into three extra bedrooms.”

Supported by the 37-piece chamber orchestra, (conducted by Andrew Grams) as well as pianist Michael Rafter, drummer Antoine Fatout, bassist Roger Hines and guitarist Dennis Hodges, the soprano could have carried the night with just her voice. Sutton revealed her panache for comedy alongside touches of sentimentality. For instance, she regaled the audience with tales of playing Marian the Librarian in The Music Man in 2022 and explained why “Good Night, My Someone” remains a touchstone moment for her.

 “The Music Man was my first show back after the shutdown, after Broadway went dark for 18 months,” she said. “It was also my first show as a mom.

“My daughter was in kindergarten at the time. We were on completely opposite schedules. Every night at half hour, I would Facetime her from my dressing room. She would watch me put on my makeup, my lashes, and my wig … like all parents do. I would sing to her ‘Good Night My Someone’ as her lullaby. It was, and still is, one of my favorite songs.”

Foster possesses the uncanny ability to choose a set list from musicals and pop songs to reveal who she is as a performer. Her voice was perfectly paired with songs from the Golden Era of Broadway (Cole Porter’s “I Get A Kick Out Of You” and “Don’t Look At Me That Way” and South Pacific’s “Cock-eyed Optimist”). She then jumped into showtunes from more obscure musicals (“Warm All Over” from The Most Happy Fella and “Down With Love” from Hooray for What?) and musicals she grew up with  (“Stars and Moon” from Jason Robert Brown’s SONGS FOR THE NEW WORLD, 1995 and “Breeze of the River” from The Full Monty, 1997). She also sprinkled in covers of Stevie Wonder’s “If It’s Magic,” Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” and John Denver’s “Sunshine On My Shoulders.” None of those three songs were written for musicals but Foster made them feel appropriate on her set list.

Columbus was the third stop on Foster’s six-show tour, with performances in Charleston, SC. on April 18, Wilmington, DE. on April 26 and New York City on May 6 remaining. Although she lives in New York, Foster seems to have a sense of pride in her Midwest roots.
After the first two songs of her set, she said, “It’s awesome to be here in Columbus. I am a Midwest girl. I am from Michigan … is that okay to say here? It’s nice to be back in the Midwest. It is nice to be anywhere singing live.”

While Columbus is in the middle of the tour, Foster will have a thin blue line of memory of her stay here. Midway through the second half of her show, the singer emerged with a large canvas bag containing a massive blanket and yarn. She said she began it years ago and adds in a line of color for each show she does.

“Crocheting is one of my favorite things. Don’t call me a knitter. I will come after you,” she said with an eyebrow arched up in warning. “Knitters and crocheters are like Jets and Sharks (the rival gangs in West Side Story).”

Foster recently penned “Hooked” in 2021 in which she describes how she uses crafts as a way of navigating through difficult parts of her life. “Every chapter is sort of a time capsule of my life about something I made during that period,” she said.

Foster told the audience, watching her mother, Helen Foster, cross stitch was her “gateway craft” to an addiction of creating things

 “My mom made all sorts of things. She made Christmas ornaments, a bookmark with my name on it, and a Christmas stocking,” Foster said. “Every year we hang those things up. My mom has passed away but the things she made will go on forever.

“When I was growing up, I’d watch my mom cross stitch, sitting on the 1970s plaid couch with a Pepsi and smoking cigarettes. Now my little girl watches her mommy crochet on the mustard colored couch, just not smoking cigarettes or drinking Pepsi.”

Foster has a collection of mementos that make her mother live on in her memory. Perhaps one day Emily Foster will look through recordings of these concerts and remember how important she was to her mother.

Photo courtesy of ProMusica