Sutton Foster News

BEN RIMALOWER: "PATTI ISSUES" - the hit solo play hailed as "ecstatically vivid" by The New York Times and praised for its "wit, feeling and conviction" by Time Out New York - has announced a sixth extension after more rave reviews and a host of awards. The show will now run through June 29 at The Duplex in the West Village. Since "PATTI ISSUES" opened in August, it has become a must-see show on the downtown theater scene, garnering great word-of-mouth from attendees such as Alan Cumming, Michael Kors, Justin Vivian Bond, Tonya Pinkins, Perez Hilton and Ms. LuPone herself ("I was moved," she said. "He's a very talented man and I'm so proud of him.") Included as "Best New York Theater of 2012," The Advocate called the show "smart, poignant and dishy as hell," while it was dubbed "pithy and unforgettable" by The Huffington Post and "a very fierce comedy" by BroadwayWorld.com. "PATTI ISSUES" received a special Bistro Award for solo play in March and just won the MAC Award for "Male Debut." The show will be performed in Berkeley, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles between March 26 and March 30. BEN RIMALOWER: "PATTI ISSUES" is directed by Aaron Mark (Another Medea with Tom Hewitt, Random Unrelated Projects).

The Denver Center Theatre Company's (DCTC) world premiere production of SENSE & SENSIBILITY THE MUSICAL, with book and lyrics by Jeffrey Haddow and music by Neal Hampton, will be staged by Director and Choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge, whose recent Broadway revival of Ragtime received seven Tony Award nominations. SENSE & SENSIBILITY THE MUSICAL will receive its world premiere production April 5 - May 26, 2013. This week on 'In Focus with Eden Lane', host Eden gets an exclusive look at Sense & Sensibility the Musical and interviews Kent Thompson and Bruce Levy about the world premiere. Click below to watch the interviews!

Megan Mullally is a two-time Emmy-winning star of TV's Will & Grace, and recent star of Broadway's Young Frankenstein. On April 6, she makes her New Orleans debut in the acclaimed Broadway @ NOCCA series for two shows only, at 7:30PM and 9:30PM, joined by Seth Rudetsky at piano. For tickets please visit http://www.broadwaynola.com/. Megan will also attend a special Meet and Greet reception directly following her 9:30 show that will benefit The NOCCA Institute. Tickets to the reception, which will take place at Reilly Hall at NOCCA, are also available at the above link. The Broadway @ NOCCA series is also announcing that it will initiate a new, $2,500 per-year scholarship.

Bay Area Cabaret will present the singer, songwriter, and actress Nellie McKay in a special performance with San Francisco's multiple Grammy winning a cappella ensemble, Chanticleer.

Superman finds his Lois Lane! Joining Edward Watts (Superman) in the New York City Center Encores! production of It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman will be Jenny Powers as Lois Lane and David Pittu as the evil Dr. Sedgwick, along with Erich Bergen, Alli Mauzey, James Saito and Will Swenson. Superman will play at City Center for seven performances, tonight, March 20 - 24, and will be directed by John Rando with choreography by Joshua Bergasse and music direction by Rob Berman.

Happy Birthday, Sutton Foster! Foster's portrayal of Reno Sweeney in Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Anythng Goes earned her the 2011 Tony Award Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Sutton also starred on Broadway as Princess Fiona in Shrek: The Musical, for which she was honored with Tony and Drama Desk nominations, and the Outer Critics Circle Award. Prior to that, Sutton was Inga in the Mel Brooks musical, Young Frankenstein, Janet Van De Graaff in The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations, LA Ovation Award) and Jo March in Little Women: The Musical (2005 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award nominations). She is the recipient of the 2002 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Astaire Awards for her performance as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie, a role she created in the 2000 La Jolla Playhouse premiere.

The national touring company revival, now appearing at Carol Morsani Hall at the Straz Center, is filled with dazzling, high energy, polished, production numbers, that will have you out of your seat cheering!

Erin Markey returns to Joe's Pub tonight, March 15. Known for her dark wit and absurdist transformations, Markey has been likened to Kristen Wiig, Kathy Acker and Eileen Brennan. Erin weaves together an exciting bill of R&B, 90's pop and grunge, standards and original music under the direction of Ben Rimalower (Leslie Kritzer is Patti LuPone at Les Mouches) with musical direction by Tony-nominated Kenny Mellman (Kiki and Herb).

Renowned musical theatre composer/lyricist, Scott Alan and Broadway star, Caissie Levy, perform music from Scott's extensive original songbook and share the inspiration and stories behind them. Scott's thoughtful and moving original compositions have made him a favorite among many well-known artists including Sutton Foster, Jonathan Groff, Stephanie J. Block and Liz Callaway. The evening features songs from his four original albums.

ABC Family's adorable ballet-themed dramatic series Bunheads, starring Broadway royalty Sutton Foster and Kelly Bishop, has been renewed for a second season, it has now been reported.

Fridays at BWW mean one thing: a recap at-a-glance of this week's most-read stories in our regional markets! Take a stroll around the Broadway World to see what made news for the week of March 3!

BUNHEADS creator Amy Sherman-Palladino has opened up about her desire for a renewal of the Cult hit ABC Family series BUNHEADS, starring multi-Tony Award winner Sutton Foster, following the first season finale of the series which aired last week.

This past Saturday, producer Mark Cortale brought to the Lupin Theater stage a concert featuring the Tony Award winning, triple threat, ABC Family Bunheads actress Sutton Foster with Broadway pianist and Sirius XM radio star Seth Rudetsky. The concert was the second in the Broadway series to be held at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts this Spring.

A co-production of Thoroughly Modern Millie will originate at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre in Jupiter, Fla., today, March 5 - 24, and continue at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey, April 10 - May 5.

Now in its 15th season, Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook celebrates the best in American singing and songwriting with a new chapter in the Songbook story: 'American Songbook in the Penthouse,' a series of weekend-only performances by performers and composers presented in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, an intimate yet elegant venue that brings artists closer to the audience in a cabaret-style setting. The second weekend of Kaplan Penthouse performances, the sixth week of American Songbook 2013, runs April 5-6, 2013. April 5th belongs to Cristin Milioti, who was nominated for a Tony Award in 2012 for her lead role in the musical Once.

Bay Area Cabaret presents the Bay Area concert debut of Britain's dazzling Elaine Paige. Dubbed 'The First Lady of Musical Theatre,' Ms. Paige will perform an evening of the career-defining showstoppers that earned her a place among Broadway and the West End's most treasured performers.

Superman finds his Lois Lane! Joining Edward Watts (Superman) in the New York City Center Encores! production of It's a Bird…It's a Plane…It's Superman will be Jenny Powers as Lois Lane and David Pittu as the evil Dr. Sedgwick, along with Erich Bergen, Alli Mauzey, James Saito and Will Swenson. Superman will play at City Center for seven performances, March 20 - 24, and will be directed by John Rando with choreography by Joshua Bergasse and music direction by Rob Berman.

Back by popular demand, Well-Strung: The Singing String Quartet, will return to play a limited three-week engagement (tonight, February 28-March 16) at The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater (10 West 64th Street - located in the YMCA).

Actress and songstress Julie Benko makes her cabaret debut at New York City's legendary Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street, Manhattan) tonight, February 27th at 9:30 PM in her act Wandering Star: Tales of the Road.

Two-time Tony Nominee Christine Andreas, Tony Nominee Emily Skinner, Drama Desk Nominees Kerry O'Malley and Jeffry Denman, and two-time Nightlife Award Winner Scott Coulter will star in The Broadway Musicals of 1961 at Town Hall on Monday, March 11th at 8 PM. The critically-acclaimed new Broadway by the Year Chorus will join them in performing songs from Carnival, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Subways Are For Sleeping, Sail Away, Milk and Honey, and more! The concert will be directed and choreographed by Jeffry Denman; the Broadway by the Year Chorus is under the direction of Scott Coulter; musical direction will be by Ross Patterson. The show, as always, will be written and hosted by series creator Scott Siegel.