This is called a curve ball.
Sutton Foster, who won the Tony for starring in “Anything Goes” as Reno Sweeney a decade ago, has made a surprising decision. She’s going to do the Cole Porter musical this summer and fall in London’s West End right before heading into rehearsals for “The Music Man” on Broadway. (She’s replacing Megan Mullaly, who probably got tired of waiting for this show after a year on hold.)
Hmmm….
Sutton’s London run ends October 17. Previews for “The Music Man” with Hugh Jackman begin December 20th. So she will have four weeks before rehearsal for the second show, a much bigger deal in that she hasn’t done it before, it’s a new production with a big movie star, and the producer is gone.
Indeed, Scott Rudin was the producer for “The Music Man” and we all know he is no longer there. So far there’s been no announcement of a producer taking over the show. On the Internet Broadway Database, producers’ names for that show have been erased.
Can Sutton work all summer, every day, before taking on “The Music Man” for a year? She certainly doesn’t need to. Her TV series, “Younger,” which just wrapped, was a big success. You’d think she’d want the time off before a big new gig. Or maybe this is her way of warming up.
In the meantime, lucky London. Sutton Foster in “Anything Goes” is like gold. The original production had 9 Tony nominations and won 3 — for Sutton, for Best Revival of a Musical, and best choreographer for Kathleen Marshall, who directs this London company.
