By Kenneth Jones
19 Jun 2010

Fans might think of you as a musical theatre actress, but I would guess you would like to be considered an actress who can move between projects, whether musical or "straight."
SF: Labels of any sort are frustrating, but I guess I just want to be seen as an actress who can "hopefully" do many things. Musical theatre is acting with singing it...but it's all acting.

If someone said, we want you for seven seasons on a new TV series, and it severely curtailed your chance to create new plays and musicals, would you go for it?
SF: It would depend on what the TV series was. If it was an awesome character in a show I really felt passionate about, then definitely. I just want to do projects that I like and feel strongly about. And so far that has been stage work. But if something came along my path and it was TV or film and it excited me — then sign me up.

Did your folks take you to national touring shows when you were growing up in Georgia and Michigan? What shows did you see that made an impact on you as a kid?
SF: Oh, yes. Well, I saw basically every show that came into town in Detroit. I remember the first show I saw, Me and My Girl — still one of my favorites — I was probably 14 or 15. There was an understudy on for the lead role, and there were rumblings through the audience that it was his first time on. When the curtain call came, the entire cast was applauding him, and he was fantastic. Then the curtain fell and you could hear the cast erupting in cheers and applause for him behind the curtain. I remember thinking, "I wanna do that." How cool it was to hear the human side and the celebration of the theatre. I will never forget that moment. And I remember seeing Les Miz in Detroit as well, with with my high school drama class. I was very fond of the album and knew it by heart, and when "Bring Him Home" started, I thought, "I'm not gonna cry," and then of course I was bawling. 'Cause, well, it was beautiful.

When we spoke in the past, you said you wanted to take a year off. What happened to that dream?
SF: HA! I know. Well, I did buy a lake house this year, which has been a huge change in my life. And I have technically taken time off from the eight-show-a-week grind...although I have been keeping myself busier than ever. But now my life consists of a bunch of different projects — the concerts, this play, teaching at NYU and Ball State University, furnishing my lake house, gardening, learning how to grill! It has definitely been one of the best years yet.

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(Kenneth Jones is managing editor of Playbill.com. Write him at kjones@playbill.com.)