By Harry Haun
18 Nov 2004

Thoroughly Modern Millie herself—Tony winner Sutton Foster—made the first-night rush, being just around the corner rehearsing her newest role, Jo March, in Little Women, which goes into previews Dec. 7 at the Virginia and opens there Jan. 23.

"I'd never seen Whoopi before," Foster admitted a little sheepishly. "Maureen McGovern [her Marmee in Little Women] said she saw it 20 years ago and gave people Christmas presents of tickets to her show. So I was thrilled to finally catch her."

David Garrison, who's doing the Encores! Bash Sunday and Monday at City Center, escorted McGovern to this edition. There were a lot of repeaters among the first-nighters, and many went up to Nichols to inform him of that. "Oh, cool. A loyalist," he shot back.

Jane Powell, Mama Mizner of Sondheim's aborted Bounce, arrived with husband Dick Moore, both raving about Billy Crystal's now-previewing contribution to the one-person show epidemic, 700 Sundays. Her MGM classic, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, is selling briskly on the DVD front in its 50th anniversary edition, but, she noted sharply, "I don't get anything out of it." She did say she sent condolences to the widow of co-star Howard Keel, who died Nov. 7 in Palm Springs. "He did everything he ever wanted to do," Powell said. "He had a very full life. He played golf at the time. He played poker all the time. Julie, his wife, gave him the life that allowed him to do all of that. He was 85."

The Moores were guests of producer Leonard Soloway, as were Sally Ann Howes and her husband, Douglas Rae. She was Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 movie of Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and at the China Club party she got to meet Raul Esparza, who's at the controls of that flying automobile when the London hit alights April 28 on Broadway (at the Ford Center). "You have a built-in audience," she promised.

Esparza counted himself among that number, including Chitty with Mary Poppins among his fondest films of childhood. "In fact," he said, "I said to Adrian Noble and Gillian Lynne [the show's director and choreographer] that I'd like to try more of what Dick Van Dyke does than what's in the London show, the old music-hall body language." Howes gave a firm, affirmative nod.

Additional star-power kicked well before the stroke of midnight when the Cinderella cast—Christopher Sieber, Renee Taylor, Lea DeLaria, Ana Gasteyer—and conductor Gerald Steichen spilled into the China Club. Sieber hinted at a big show on the horizon.

Prop impresario George Fenmore was also back on the scene after an absence of a few shows, although Whoopi didn't tax greatly. "I provide her with two bottles of Fiji Water per night, but she didn't drink either one of them tonight." He seemed a bit disappointed.

Goldberg's old flame, Frank Langella, was similarly disposed to Fiji Water when he did Match, said Fenmore. "That was the only water he would drink. Trouble was, there was an insufficient supply in the United States. They had none in the warehouse. We were waiting for another boatload from Fiji, but the show closed before the boat came in."