Less than a year after the series finale of Younger aired in June 2021, Sutton Foster has made her way back to Broadway—for the 12th time. This go-round, the two-time Tony
Award winner is tap-dancing across the stage as the spinster librarian Marian Paroo in the long-awaited revival of The Music Man at the Winter Garden Theatre. Given that this is Foster's first Broadway musical in nearly eight years—her most recent theater performance was in 2014's Violet—she's undergone a few dramatic shifts: Not only is she now the author of an autobiography, Hooked, but she's also become the mother of five-year-old Emily, whom she adopted with husband Ted Griffin.
Foster now believes her artistic responsibilities are about more than satisfying an audience; they must also satisfy her child. “One of the reasons why we went to London this past summer to do Anything Goes was not only to chase the art and a challenge to revisit the role, but it was an opportunity for her to live in another country and experience that for four months,” Foster told ELLE.com. (A taped performance of her Olivier Award-nominated role in Anything Goes can be seen at movie theaters across the U.S. for two days only on Sunday, March 27 and Wednesday, March 30).
Still, the idea of playing Marian the librarian beside Hugh Jackman as Harold Hill was impossible to pass up, even if it would strain her schedule. It took three years after casting for Foster to finally perform the role opposite Jackman as the traveling salesman and clever con artist. “I can’t believe that it’s here and we are doing it now,” Foster says. “I was attached to it for so long. It seems like a miracle.” As one of the biggest names in Broadway gets into the groove of her Music Man tenure, ELLE.com spoke with the actress about why she joined the production, what it's like acting alongside Jackman, and how she's managed her parenthood journey in the interim.
What is it like to return to Broadway for the first time since Younger?
I feel enormous gratitude. There's nothing like that live experience—especially now, after 18 months where it was non-existent. I loved Younger. Those seven years of my life were beyond an incredible experience for me. But Broadway and performing live in the theater is my true love.
Tell me about your interpretation of Marian Paroo for a 2022 audience. Were there changes you made? Or did you want to keep her as true to the original as possible?
I'm married to a writer, a screenwriter, and a director who probably knows more about musical theater than I do. He knew The Music Man way more than I did. In a weird way, that helped me because I didn't know what [the character of Marian] had been like before. She's probably the smartest, smartest woman in the town. She might have some past dalliance, which is hinted at in the play. Is it true? Is it not true? She's got some darkness to her. She has an enormous capacity to love and that's gotten her in trouble. Her heart is very guarded. She's misunderstood. She’s resilient. That was sort of how I approached her. The whole process of finding how she sings; how she talks; how she interacts; it all felt very organic.
So were you not entirely familiar with The Music Man?
I knew the songs, but I didn't know the show inside and out. When they approached me at first about doing it, I remember thinking, Oh, that's interesting. It wasn't a show that was in my lexicon. It wasn't something that I was like, Oh, someday I'll play Marian Paroo. I never even thought of that.
How did the role come about?
It was three years ago in January 2019. I got a call from my agent saying that there was a new production of The Music Man with Hugh Jackman. There was interest in me playing Marian Paroo.
They asked if I would be willing to come in to sing for everybody. I was like, “Of course I will!”I didn’t even know if I could sing it. So I worked with Michael Rafter, my musical director who I do all my concerts with, and my voice teacher, Joan Lader. I said, “If [the creators] want me to be Barbara Cook, Shirley Jones, or Rebecca Luker, I can’t sing like that.” I don’t know how to do that. So we found different keys for everything.
Then I worked with Patrick Vaccariello, our music director of The Music Man, who had already printed out music in six different keys. The next day, I sang for everyone at the piano. After I sang, they had me go out into the hall. [The director] Jerry Zaks came out and said, “Look, we want you to do this.”
What is it like kissing Hugh Jackman eight shows a week?
It is just a chore! It is so unbearable. Someone has to do it, and I’ve taken the hit. [Laughs.]
He is a dream to work with. As talented as he is, he is [also] kind, generous and humble. He is everything that you hope he would be and more. He is a true partner. One of the greatest things that has happened with this whole experience is that I can now call him a friend. It is just a joy to play with him every day, have fun and make each other laugh.
Speaking of laughter—I watched you two get into a laughing fit on stage one night. It was so endearing. The audience loved it. Do those moments happen often?
I would like to say they are rare, but it's happened a couple of times. He is a little devil, by the way. He is a rascal. I always blame Hugh Jackman. It is probably one of my favorite moments. And it’s just us. And it’s a spontaneous and magical thing when it happens.
Do your work and your art—including your nightly performances—feel different now that you’ve become a mother?
One thousand percent. It has changed me, and I appreciate everything more. It has made me a better performer. Especially in this show, Marian has such a relationship with Winthrop [her shy, much younger brother who doesn’t like to talk] and the kids in the town. I am much more motherly to the kids in the cast than I would have before—because that mother gene has been ignited in me. I understand Winthrop when his light comes back on because of Harold Hill. I understand that in a deep way. When someone makes your kid light up, laugh or come alive—it is everything. I don't know if I would have really understood that before.
There are challenges. One of the things I am struggling with the most is that balance between what I do for a living and my [personal life]. Right now, my daughter and I are on two different schedules. She’s in school during the day when I’m free and at night, I’m at work. So, that’s been really hard. I think we are trying to figure out what a balance of that looks like.
What was it like seeing your daughter in the audience on opening night? I saw a photo of you with the biggest grin.
Opening nights are stressful, exciting, and exhilarating. No one else in the audience mattered. There are all these famous people there. I was like, I don’t care. My kid’s here. I didn’t know where they were sitting. At the end, my husband was lifting her up on his shoulders. There was this little tiny girl in a pink dress flying above the crowd. I’ll never forget it. Hugh suggested I get that photo framed and put it in Emily’s room. So that she will always know that her mama was looking at her.
I've read numerous articles about your fertility journey, which is brave of you to have shared so candidly. How were you able to manage it while filming Younger at the same time?
It was hard. The amazing thing about Younger is that I had this joyful escape. I am a very optimistic and hopeful person, so I was feeling very optimistic and hopeful as I was going through all of it. Even though it is definitely a mindfuck. I can look back on all of it because what was meant to happen happened. I can’t imagine it any other way. I can write about it openly and candidly, but now I look at my daughter and think, Of course it wasn’t working. Because she was supposed to be my daughter. I guess that is what my book is about, too. Yes, there were icky and challenging things but I am grateful for every single one of them.
Speaking of your book, Hooked, I was surprised how earnest you were about your sexuality, especially while growing up on the road doing national tours. Why was it important to share those personal experiences so openly?
I guess I didn’t even know how not to. A lot of people [who read the book] said I was so vulnerable. I was writing it to my 17-year-old self. I was writing to those young people, to say you’re not alone. I wasn’t still in a wounded space. I am in a much more healed place. I wanted it to be honest to myself and honest to a young person who might be struggling. I thought that was important.
If there is a next chapter for Younger, where do you see Liza?
Hopefully they'll let me keep my gray hairs that are growing in. Pamela Redmond, who wrote the book Younger, wrote a sequel called Older. So I have that in my head of what happens to Liza. Pamela had sort of created a future Liza. I don’t know if she is with anyone. Hopefully she is successful and happy. Wouldn’t that be great? Let’s work on that!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.