Foster, whose big-voiced performance has been embraced as both wildly comic and subtly heartfelt, leaves the show Feb. 15, 2004, the same day Delta Burke exits the role of Mrs. Meers.

Casting for Millie (and Meers, for that matter) is ongoing. A spokesman wouldn't comment on reports that Susan Egan will play Millie after Foster's exit. Foster, meanwhile, has been in discussions to play American fiction heroine Jo March in a Broadway musical version of the novel, "Little Women."

New to the Millie company is Kevin Earley (starting Dec. 15) as Trevor Graydon. Ben Davis left the role Dec. 14 to join the Los Angeles engagement of Baz Luhrmann's La Bohème; he was a Marcello in the Broadway company of the opera.

The Millie principals include Christian Borle as Jimmy, Angela Christian as Miss Dorothy, Anne L. Nathan as Miss Flannery (who will leave in 2004 to join Broadway's Assassins as Emma Goldman), Francis Jue as Bun Foo, David Rhee as Ching Ho and Leslie Uggams as Muzzy.

The role of Millie made Foster an instant Broadway star, but she had climbed a ladder, rising out of choruses, for several years. She created the role of Millie in the La Jolla Playhouse premiere of the show, taking over for another actress who was originally cast in the part. Her Broadway credits before now included Les Misérables, the revival of Annie (as the Star to Be), The Scarlet Pimpernel and Grease! On tour, she appeared in The Will Rogers Follies. Regional credits include What the World Needs Now, Dorian, Three Musketeers and South Pacific.

For more information, visit www.ModernMillie.com.