Murphy portrays Mayor Cora Hoover Hooper (the role created by Angela Lansbury, who is now back on Broadway in another Sondheim musical, A Little Night Music) with Foster as Fay Apple (the role originated by the late Lee Remick).
The cast also boasts Raúl Esparza (Tony nominee for Speed-the-Plow, The Homecoming, Company, Taboo) as J. Bowden Hapgood, Edward Hibbert (Curtains, The Drowsy Chaperone, Noises Off) as Comptroller Schub, John Ellison Conlee (The Full Monty, The Constant Wife) as Police Chief Magruder and Jeff Blumenkrantz (A Class Act, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Damn Yankees) as Treasurer Cooley.
The ensemble comprises Clyde Alves, Tanya Birl, Holly Ann Butler, J. Austin Eyer, Sara Ford, Lisa Gajda, Stephanie Gibson, Linda Griffin, Karen Hyland, Natalie King, Grasan Kingsberry, Max Kumangai, Michael Marcotte, Joseph Medeiros, Denny Paschall, Monica L. Patton, Steve Schepis, Eric Sciotto, Tally Sessions, Brian Shepard, Dana Steingold, Brandon Tyler, Anthony Wayne and Patrick Wetzel.
The Drowsy Chaperone's Casey Nicholaw directs and choreographs the production with musical direction by Rob Berman. The limited run also features sets by John Lee Beatty, lighting by Ken Billington, costumes by Gregg Barnes and sound by Leon Rothenberg.
In a recent interview celebrating Sondheim's 80th birthday, Tony winner Murphy said she believes that Whistle "is the show that kind of introduces the beginnings, the seeds of what people think of as a Sondheim style of writing. Ironically, as short-lived as its initial run was. . . . there's stuff in here that has the beginnings of [the] man who, nobody [had] ever written anything like before." To read the full Playbill.com Diva Talk interview click here. With a score by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Arthur Laurents, Anyone Can Whistle opened at the Majestic Theatre April 4, 1964, with a cast led by multi-Tony Award winner Angela Lansbury, Lee Remick, Harry Guardino, Gabriel Dell, Arnold Soboloff, James Frawley, Peg Murray, Don Doherty, Sterling Clark, Harvey Evans, Larry Roquemore and Tucker Smith. Although the musical played but 21 performances, the Sondheim score contained several thrilling songs: "Me and My Town," "There Won't Be Trumpets," "Anyone Can Whistle," "Everybody Says Don't" and "With So Little To Be Sure Of."
Show times are April 8 at 8 PM, April 9 at 8 PM, April 10 at 2 PM and 8 PM and April 11 at 6:30 PM.
For tickets call (212) 581-1212 or visit www.nycitycenter.org.
