Sutton Foster and Hunter Foster, stars of, respectively, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Urinetown: The Musical, will take part in the June 28 Richard Rodgers Centenary celebration at Broadway's Gershwin Theatre.
Aptly titled "Something Good: A Broadway Salute to Richard Rodgers on His 100th Birthday," the concert will feature stars from current Broadway musicals singing songs from the Rodgers canon. Additional performers will be announced shortly, but concertgoers can expect to hear tunes from such classic shows as South Pacific, The Sound of Music, Carousel, Pal Joey, Oklahoma!, The Boys From Syracuse and Flower Drum Song.
The Foster siblings are scheduled to perform "Manhattan," Rodgers ode to New York which features lyrics by Lorenz Hart. Sutton Foster won a Best Actress in a Musical Tony Award this season for her work in the title role of Thoroughly Modern Millie. Brother Hunter also appeared on this season's Tony telecast, leading the company of Urinetown in that show's second act show-stopper, "Run Freedom Run."
Presented by ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers) and The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, the concert is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 11:30 AM for the noon concert, which will run one hour. For more information, go to www.RR2002.com.
During his lifetime, Richard Rodgers penned over 900 songs. His partnerships with Lorenz Hart and later with Oscar Hammerstein II produced some of the most successful musicals in Broadway history. His works with Hart included On Your Toes, Babes in Arms, I Married an Angel, The Boys from Syracuse, Pal Joey and By Jupiter, and the Rodgers-Hammerstein collaboration spawned Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, Flower Drum Song and The Sound of Music. The hit revival of Oklahoma! currently plays Broadway's Gershwin Theatre. —By Andrew Gans