Breaking: Sutton Foster to Join Hugh Jackman in ‘The Music Man’

Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman at the Tony Awards.
(Photo provided by DKC O&M / Heather Wines/CBS/Getty Images)

Producer Scott Rudin announced today that, after a six-year absence from the Broadway stage, two-time Tony Award-winning musical comedy superstar Sutton Foster will star as Marian Paroo opposite recently announced two-time Tony Award, Grammy Award, and Emmy Award-winning star Hugh Jackman in the hotly anticipated revival of Meredith Willson’s beloved classic, The Music Man. The production, directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks, with choreography by Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle, will begin performances on Wednesday, September 9, 2020, and officially open on Thursday, October 22, 2020, at a Shubert theatre to be announced.

Said Ms. Foster: “There were bells on a hill, but I never heard them ringing. No, I never heard them at all. Till there was Hugh.”

In one of the most extraordinary breakout star turns in contemporary Broadway history, Sutton Foster’s Tony-winning performance as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie made her into one of the great, internationally recognized theatrical luminaries of our time.  Since then – thanks to her astonishing range as vocalist, actor, and dancer – she has cemented her status as one of Broadway’s greatest-ever “triple threats,” subsequently winning a second Tony for her astonishing turn as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, and further racking up nomination after nomination with starring roles in The Drowsy Chaperone, Little Women, Shrek The Musical, and Violet. On television, she’s earned rave reviews and legions of new fans as star of the popular single-camera comedy/drama, “Younger.”  Praising her work in Anything Goes, The New York Times chief critic Ben Brantley exclaimed, “Who needs a brass section when you’ve got Sutton Foster? Her triple mastery of words, music and moves is unmatched by any performer on Broadway.”    

One of the most universally cherished treasures of the American musical theater, The Music Man was an instant smash hit when it premiered on Broadway on December 19, 1957. It went on to win five Tony Awards, including the prize for Best Musical, and ran for 1,375 performances. The original cast album held the number one position on the Billboard charts and stayed on the album charts for 245 weeks. The recording won the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Original Cast Album. In 1962, the show was adapted into a hugely successful movie, which has remained a classic for over 60 years. The Smithsonian Institution ranks The Music Man as one of the “great glories of American popular culture.

The Music Man reunites the creative team of the Tony Award-winning and record-breaking revival of Hello, Dolly! starring Bette Midler, including (in addition to Rudin, Zaks, and Carlyle), four-time Tony Award winner Santo Loquasto (Scenic & Costume Design), six-time Tony Award winner Natasha Katz (Lighting Design), Tony Award winner Scott Lehrer (Sound Design), and David Chase (Dance Arrangements). Tony Award winner Jonathan Tunick will create Orchestrations, and Patrick Vaccariello joins the team as The Music Man’s Musical Director.

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