Sutton Foster is a theater natural, already with five Broadway musicals under her belt since 2002 — Thoroughly Modern Millie, Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein and Shrek - The Musical.  She has a Broadway belt, with a wide vibrato that erupts like a volcano, and an engaging stage presence. She is an actress of substantial range with a keen sense of comic timing, but is she a natural in the intimate cabaret ambiance?

For her Café Carlyle debut, Sutton Foster gave the audience a sampliong of her admirable range, including standards, songs unfamiliar, and tunes from her shows.  Some, like the melodic "More to the Story," (Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire) never quite made the show. It was cut from Shrek in previews but works nicely in her cabaret act.  The catchy Razaf and Denniker tune, “S’posin’” had to be cut from Thoroughly Modern Millie, so she paired it with the very similar substitute called, “Say That,” which was, unfortunately, also cut from the Millie.

The song renditions see-sawed from reflecting the tall, lanky innocent from Georgia to the savvy New Yorker. Foster scored with the heartbreak of young love in “My Heart Was Set on You” (Jeff Blumenkrantz).  Her acting was sharp in “Yip” Harburg and Harold Arlen’s “Down with Love,” her disillusionment growing into tangible disgust with her bitter, biting words.  Stephen Sondheim’s title song from Anyone Can Whistle was poignantly paired with his “Being Alive.” On the sophisticated side of the scale was Christine Lavin’s delightful “Air Conditioner,” with Foster easily convincing us that her ideal man must provide refreshing A.C, not a blazing furnace.  She also included her splashy and fun showstopper from The Drowsy Chaperone, “Show Off” (Lambert and Morrison), where she went as far as she can go.

She acknowledged The Belt in a segment with two cups. One said, “Ho,” the other said “Pimp.” She had five slips of paper in the “Ho” cup, each featuring a high belt song. Foster invited an audience member to choose one slip and on this evening it was Stephen Schwartz’s "Defying Gravity" from Wicked.  She did it justice.

Foster was accompanied by Musical Director Michael Rafter and the show had meticulous flow by director Mark Waldrop. A nice addition was Kevin Kuhn on guitar, also adding a sound of the past with the banjo.

A cabaret natural? Maybe it’s the perfection of the show that kept any spark of excitement stifled. Yet, what’s important is that the end result worked and Sutton Foster has abundant talent and appeal to take to the bank and presented a show to be enjoyed.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
June 21, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org