-Thank you for being here. -Oh, my gosh, thank you!
-Sutton, you know, we were almost Broadway stars together.
-Really? -Not really.
But you know what happened? I had an --
I got an audition for "Young Frankenstein,"
and you were in -- You were actually amazing.
You were in that play.
-I was in the Broadway production, yes.
-I was not. But I auditioned.
It was the worst audition I've ever had in my lifetime.
It was so embarrassing. I went to -- Susan Stroman?
-Yes, the director, choreographer.
-Amazing. She -- The audition was at her apartment.
-Oh. -In the city.
I think it was around this time.
It was November or October, November.
And it was cold out. And I went in to it.
I was ready -- And it's "Young Frankenstein."
So I go, "I'm going to sing..." She wants me to sing for her.
So I go, "I'll sing 'Puttin' on the Ritz.'"
[ Humming ] -Yep.
-So I go, "Yeah, I got this."
So I go in, I go, "Hey, nice to meet you."
I go, "Yeah, so I'll do 'Puttin' on the..."
She goes, "'Puttin' on the Ritz'?
Everyone knows that one. I want you to do this new song."
-Oh, no. -And -- Yeah.
She goes, "Here's a pianist here.
He'll walk you through it and you'll learn it.
I'll give you like ten minutes to learn it,
and then I'll come listen to you."
And I go, "This is a nightmare."
No, it was the worst thing. So I'm looking and I go, "Okay."
And I'm looking at this song and I'm like, "Alright."
And I'm trying to learn it and I'm like,
"I can't believe it's not 'Puttin' on the Ritz.'"
-Oh, no!
-And so she comes back and goes, "Okay, let's try it."
I was like, "Okay. One, two, three."
I go -- [Off-key] ♪ Lightning, frightening ♪
♪ Lightning ♪
"Sorry, sorry. Let me do one more."
It was the worst. And I started to flop sweat.
And I remember walking home, and steam was coming off me.
That's how embarrassed I was. It was that embarrassing.
It was the worst. -I'm sorry.
-Yeah. No, it was fine.
Turns out the show was great,
and obviously I wasn't the right part for that, but wow.
-Yeah. -It was --
I mean, I haven't heard from Susan since.
-No. [ Laughs ] -And she's local.
-That's a nightmare. Auditions are the worst.
-Have you had a bad audition? -Um...
[ Laughter ]
-Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Of course. You're Sutton Foster!
Well, of course!
Of course you wouldn't have a bad audition.
You're Sutton Foster. What am I talking about?
-Oh, that was -- Yeah, well.
-Can we talk about "Music Man"? -Sure! Yes!
-You haven't done a musical in eight years, and then you go --
This is the one you want to come back to?
I mean, this is a big role.
-It was -- You know, I, um -- Yeah, I was --
There was something very exciting
about doing a classic musical starring opposite Hugh Jackman,
which was really, really exciting.
And I -- When we were originally supposed to do it,
which was, like, three years ago, pre all of the COVID stuff.
-That's correct. That's right.
-I'm a mom now, so I have a 5-year-old daughter.
She just started kindergarten.
[ Applause ] -Oh, that's a big deal.
-Yeah, she's awesome. She's the best.
And so I was, like, really excited
to come back to Broadway and to be a mom.
And there was something very exciting about doing a show
like this because I thought, "Oh, this is a show
she could come see." -Yeah.
-So she's seen it now, like, five times,
and she has lots of thoughts.
-That's so cute. And how great is Hugh Jackman.
Could he not be more of a gentleman?
-He's pretty fantastic.
I couldn't ask for a better leading man.
-Yeah. -He's pretty awesome.
-I know that -- I've heard that backstage
when you're doing these types of things,
I know you FaceTime your daughter.
-Yeah, so, every show before that half hour,
30 minutes before the show, I FaceTime Emily.
And I have a whole stack of books.
Because the hardest part is that our schedule --
my schedule is opposite of hers.
So when she's -- I know it's hard.
I don't get to do all the "night-nights" and everything,
but I do read -- we read her --
I read her books from my dressing room.
-Yeah.
-And she gets to watch me get ready for the show
and listens to the overture and everything.
-But, also, you crochet a lot. -I do. I'm a crocheter.
I crochet in the -- I wrote a book about it.
-Yes! Oh, I'm so prepared.
This is your book, "Hooked."
I mean -- But that's a great way to pass the time if you're --
-It is. So, when I'm not on stage,
I'm usually crocheting or making things, or, you know.
It's a pretty -- In fact, I actually made you something.
-I was really -- No, you did not.
-Of course. -I was actually going to ask you.
I go, "You know what? I'll do it next time."
You made me something? -So it's a --
-Oh, my gosh. I know what it --
I know exactly what it is.
-But it's -- it's handy
because it's also a toilet paper roll cover.
-Yeah, it's... [ Laughs ]
You are the greatest, Sutton Foster.
-Toilet paper can be fun. -I cannot believe --
You are the best for doing this. I love that you do this.
Thank you so much for that.
I was going to ask you, but I didn't want to impose.
-It was made in the dressing room, so...
-Yeah. Thank you very much.
And it will live in my dressing room.
Yeah, it will. -I'm so glad.
-Yeah. Yeah.
[ Applause ]
Before we go, I want to quickly mention,
you're very outspoken about how great your understudies are...
-Yes! -...on the show.
And I just figured why not give them a shoutout here
if we can tonight on the show.
Understudies, obviously, that's --
You know, if the star is sick or out or something
or if something happens, they have to come in.
-Yeah. -And you have a lot of that
happening on your show. -Of course we do.
I mean, I feel like it's --
You know, we're living in a very unpredictable time.
-Yeah. -But I am so proud
of our company because every --
It is a company, no matter whether you are on stage
every -- eight times a week
or whether you are an understudy, a swing.
It is -- We are this team, and we --
Especially early on because we were --
We came back, you know, at the height of the pandemic.
And everyone has risen to the occasion.
We have -- We have kids in the show who are understudies.
We have a 10-year-old, Emily Hoder,
who at one point was covering three different roles at a time.
The other night, we had a boy, Michael Cash,
went on for the first time as Winthrop.
Had been a huge "Greatest Showman" fan,
and I'm sitting there watching him play a scene
opposite Hugh Jackman, and I'm like...
[Sobbing] "I can't believe it!"
He was just this little boy that was, like, a big fan,
and the next thing you know,
he's starring opposite Hugh Jackman on Broadway.
-With Hugh Jackman on Broadway, yeah.
-And it's just -- And, like, crushing it.
-Yeah. -And so it's pretty awesome.
-And Sutton Foster, by the way. Hello.
-Oh, yeah, I was there, too. -That's a big deal, yeah.
Have a great rest of the run. -Thank you.
-Thank you so much for this. Thank you for being here.
I love this so much. Sutton Foster, everyone.
Go see "The Music Man"
at the Winter Garden Theatre through January 1st.
We'll be right back with Killer Mike. Stick around!