The Jeff Awards announced 162 nominations in 31 categories for Chicago Equity theatrical productions which opened between August 1, 2009, and July 31, 2010. The 42nd Annual Jeff Awards ceremony honoring excellence in professional theatre produced within the immediate Chicago area will be held on Monday, October 25, at Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. A pre-show Appetizer Buffet will run from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the Awards Ceremony, directed by Michael Weber, will begin at 7:30 p.m., with a Reception immediately following. Musical numbers featuring cast members from nominated musicals and video segments from nominated plays will be included in the Jeff Awards ceremony, emceed by luminary actors Deanna Dunagan and Felicia P. Fields. The evening is black tie optional and the public is cordially invited to attend.

Advance purchase tickets, which include the ceremony and the pre-show buffet, are available through the link on our website: $75 (or $55 for members of Actors’ Equity Association, United Scenic Artists, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and The Dramatists Guild of America) plus a $2 online purchase handling charge.

Complete list of nominees:

PRODUCTION – PLAY – LARGE

“The Brother/Sister Plays” – Steppenwolf Theatre Company

“The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” – Victory Gardens Theater i/a/w Teatro Vista…Theatre With a View

“The Illusion” – Court Theatre

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” – Court Theatre

“The Mystery of Irma Vep” – Court Theatre

“A Streetcar Named Desire” – Writers’ Theatre

PRODUCTION – PLAY – MIDSIZE

“Abigail’s Party” – A Red Orchid Theatre

“All My Sons” – TimeLine Theatre Company

“The Farnsworth Invention” – TimeLine Theatre Company

“‘Master Harold’…And The Boys” – TimeLine Theatre Company

“Tobacco Road” – American Blues Theater
PRODUCTION – MUSICAL – LARGE

“Animal Crackers” – Goodman Theatre

“Cabaret” – Drury Lane Productions

“The Drowsy Chaperone” – Marriott Theatre

“Hairspray” – Marriott Theatre

“Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

“Thoroughly Modern Millie” – Drury Lane Productions

PRODUCTION – REVUE

“The Absolute Best Friggin’ Time of Your Life” – The Second City e.t.c.

“Low Down Dirty Blues” – Northlight Theatre

“Oh Coward!” – Writers’ Theatre
ENSEMBLE

“Abigail’s Party” – A Red Orchid Theatre

“Animal Crackers” – Goodman Theatre

“The Brother/Sister Plays” – Steppenwolf Theatre Company

“The Farnsworth Invention” – TimeLine Theatre Company

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” – Court Theatre

“Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

“The Wedding” – TUTA Theatre Chicago
NEW WORK – PLAY

Kristoffer Diaz – “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” – Victory Gardens Theater i/a/w Teatro Vista…Theatre With a View

Michael Golamco – “Year Zero” – Victory Gardens Theater

Andrew Hinderaker – “Suicide, Incorporated” – The Gift Theatre

Jim Lynch – “The Tallest Man” – The Artistic Home

Bruce Norris – “A Parallelogram” – Steppenwolf Theatre Company

David Schwimmer and Andy Bellin – “Trust” – Lookingglass Theatre Company

Craig Wright – “Mistakes Were Made” – A Red Orchid Theatre
DIRECTOR – PLAY

Nick Bowling – “The Farnsworth Invention” – TimeLine Theatre Company

David Cromer – “A Streetcar Named Desire” – Writers’ Theatre

Sean Graney – “The Mystery of Irma Vep” – Court Theatre

Tina Landau – “The Brother/Sister Plays” – Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Shade Murray – “Abigail’s Party” – A Red Orchid Theatre

Charles Newell – “The Illusion” – Court Theatre

Kimberly Senior – “All My Sons” – TimeLine Theatre Company

Edward Torres – “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” – Victory Gardens Theater i/a/w Teatro Vista…Theatre With a View
DIRECTOR – MUSICAL or REVUE

Jim Corti – “Cabaret” – Drury Lane Productions

Jim Corti – “Oh Coward!” – Writers’ Theatre

William Osetek – “Thoroughly Modern Millie” – Drury Lane Productions

Marc Robin – “The Drowsy Chaperone” – Marriott Theatre

Marc Robin – “Hairspray” – Marriott Theatre

Rachel Rockwell – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

Henry Wishcamper – “Animal Crackers” – Goodman Theatre

ACTOR IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE – PLAY

Desmin Borges – “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” – Victory Gardens Theater i/a/w Teatro Vista…Theatre With a View

Brian Dennehy – “Hughie/Krapp’s Last Tape” – Goodman Theatre

Rob Fagin – “The Farnsworth Invention” – TimeLine Theatre Company

Erik Hellman – “The Mystery of Irma Vep” – Court Theatre

Tracy Letts – “American Buffalo” – Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Nick Sandys – “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” – Remy Bumppo Theatre Company

Michael Shannon – “Mistakes Were Made” – A Red Orchid Theatre

Chris Sullivan – “The Mystery of Irma Vep” – Court Theatre
ACTOR IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE  – MUSICAL

Quentin Earl Darrington – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

James Harms – “The Drowsy Chaperone” – Marriott Theatre

Max Quinlan – “Jesus Christ Superstar” – Theatre at the Center

Alan Schmuckler – “Sugar” – Drury Lane Productions

Joey Slotnick – “Animal Crackers” – Goodman Theatre
ACTRESS IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE – PLAY

Tracy Michelle Arnold – “Private Lives” – Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Cassandra Bissell – “Mary’s Wedding” – Rivendell Theatre Ensemble

Janet Ulrich Brooks – “All My Sons” – TimeLine Theatre Company

Kirsten Fitzgerald – “Abigail’s Party” – A Red Orchid Theatre

Natasha Lowe – “A Streetcar Named Desire” – Writers’ Theatre

Lia Mortensen – “The Hiding Place” – Provision Theater

Allison Torem – “Trust” – Lookingglass Theatre Company

ACTRESS IN A PRINCIPAL ROLE – MUSICAL

Holly Ann Butler – “Thoroughly Modern Millie” – Drury Lane Productions

Cory Goodrich – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

Heidi Kettenring – “I Do! I Do!” – Theatre at the Center

Marissa Perry – “Hairspray” – Marriott Theatre
SOLO PERFORMANCE

Mary Beth Fisher – “The Year of Magical Thinking” – Court Theatre

Dael Orlandersmith – “Stoop Stories” – Goodman Theatre

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – PLAY

Allen Gilmore – “Sizwe Banzi is Dead” – Court Theatre

Francis Guinan – “A Guide for the Perplexed” – Victory Gardens Theater

Tom Irwin – “A Parallelogram” – Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Timothy Edward Kane – “The Illusion” – Court Theatre

Nick Sandys – “Twelfth Night” – First Folio Theatre

Lindsay Smiling – “Blue Door” – Victory Gardens Theater

Michael Patrick Thornton – “Suicide, Incorporated” – The Gift Theatre

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – MUSICAL

Mark David Kaplan – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

Peter Kevoian – “The Christmas Schooner” – Theatre at the Center

David Lively – “Cabaret” – Drury Lane Productions

Adam Pelty – “The Drowsy Chaperone” – Marriott Theatre

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – PLAY

Janet Ulrich Brooks – “When She Danced” – TimeLine Theatre Company

Cindy Gold – “Awake and Sing!” – Northlight Theatre

Rebecca Spence – “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” – Remy Bumppo Theatre Company

Stacy Stoltz – “A Streetcar Named Desire” – Writers’ Theatre

Wandachristine – “The Old Settler” – Writers’ Theatre

Natalie West – “Abigail’s Party” – A Red Orchid Theatre

Jacqueline Williams – “The Brother/Sister Plays” – Steppenwolf Theatre Company
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – MUSICAL

Rebecca Finnegan – “Cabaret” – Drury Lane Productions

Heidi Kettenring – “Hairspray” – Marriott Theatre

Valisia LeKae – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

Barbara Robertson – “Yeast Nation (the triumph of life)” – American Theater Company

Paula Scrofano – “Thoroughly Modern Millie” – Drury Lane Productions

ACTOR IN A REVUE

Mississippi Charles Bevel – “Low Down Dirty Blues” – Northlight Theatre

Rob Lindley – “Oh Coward!” – Writers’ Theatre

Gregory Porter – “Low Down Dirty Blues” – Northlight Theatre

Sam Richardson – “Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies” – The Second City
ACTRESS IN A REVUE

Christina Anthony – “The Absolute Best Friggin’ Time of Your Life” – The Second City e.t.c.

Felicia P. Fields – “Low Down Dirty Blues” – Northlight Theatre

Kate Fry – “Oh Coward!” – Writers’ Theatre

Sandra Reaves-Phillips – “Low Down Dirty Blues” – Northlight Theatre
SCENIC DESIGN – LARGE

Jeffrey Bauer – “A Guide for the Perplexed” – Victory Gardens Theater

John Culbert – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” – Court Theatre

Kevin Depinet – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

Kevin Depinet – “Thoroughly Modern Millie” – Drury Lane Productions

Collette Pollard – “The Illusion” – Court Theatre

Todd Rosenthal – “A Parallelogram” – Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Walt Spangler – “A True History of the Johnstown Flood” – Goodman Theatre
SCENIC DESIGN – MIDSIZE

Aimee Hanyzewski – “Of Mice and Men” – Oak Park Festival Theatre

James Leaming – “Tobacco Road” – American Blues Theater

Timothy Mann – “‘Master Harold’…And The Boys” – TimeLine Theatre Company

Angela Miller – “Jeeves in Bloom” – First Folio Theatre

Inseung Park – “The Hiding Place” – Provision Theatre
COSTUME DESIGN – LARGE

Jacqueline Firkins – “The Illusion”- Court Theatre

Nancy Missimi – “The Drowsy Chaperone” – Marriott Theatre

Tatjana Radisic – “Cabaret” – Drury Lane Productions

Alison Siple – “The Mystery of Irma Vep” – Court Theatre

COSTUME DESIGN – MIDSIZE

William J.  Morey – “Into the Woods” – Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago

Sarah E. Ross & Kristin DeiTos – “Tobacco Road” – American Blues Theater

Emily Waecker – “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” – Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
SOUND DESIGN – LARGE

Mikhail Fiksel – “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” – Victory Gardens Theater i/a/w Teatro Vista…Theatre With a View

Joshua Horvath and Nick Keenan – “The Illusion”- Court Theatre

Joshua Horvath and Ray Nardelli – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”- Court Theatre

Ray Nardelli – “Hephaestus: A Greek Mythology Circus Tale” – Lookingglass Theatre Company and Silverguy Entertainment
SOUND DESIGN – MIDSIZE

Victoria Delorio – “Mary’s Wedding” – Rivendell Theatre Ensemble

Mikhail Fiksel – “War With the Newts” – Next Theatre Company

Nick Keenan – “End Days” – Next Theatre Company

Miles Polaski – “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”- The Gift Theatre
LIGHTING DESIGN – LARGE

Brian Sidney Bembridge – “Hephaestus: A Greek Mythology Circus Tale” – Lookingglass Theatre Company and Silverguy Entertainment

John Culbert – “The Illusion”- Court Theatre

Jesse Klug – “Cabaret” – Drury Lane Productions

Jesse Klug – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

Jesse Klug – “Thoroughly Modern Millie” – Drury Lane Productions

LIGHTING DESIGN – MIDSIZE

Lee Fiskness – “End Days” – Next Theatre Company

Jesse Klug – “Yeast Nation (the triumph of life)” – American Theater Company

Keith Parham – “The Farnsworth Invention” – TimeLine Theatre Company

Jaymi Lee Smith – “Mary’s Wedding” – Rivendell Theatre Ensemble

CHOREOGRAPHY

John Carrafa – “Animal Crackers” – Goodman Theatre

Tammy Mader – “Thoroughly Modern Millie” – Drury Lane Productions

Marc Robin – “The Drowsy Chaperone” – Marriott Theatre

Marc Robin – “Hairspray” – Marriott Theatre
ORIGINAL INCIDENTAL MUSIC

Alaric Jans – “The Hiding Place” – Provision Theater

Lindsay Jones – “Richard III” – Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Henry Marsh – “Twelfth Night” – First Folio Theatre

Ray Nardelli and Joshua Horvath – “The Long Red Road” – Goodman Theatre

Ray Nardelli, Andre Pluess and Josh Horvath – “Hephaestus: A Greek Mythology Circus Tale” – Lookingglass Theatre Company and Silverguy Entertainment

Jesse Terrill – “The Wedding” – TUTA Theatre Chicago
MUSIC DIRECTION

Roberta Duchak – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

Doug Peck – “Animal Crackers” – Goodman Theatre

Doug Peck – “Cabaret” – Drury Lane Productions

Doug Peck – “Oh Coward!” – Writers’ Theatre

Robert Reddrick – “Nothing But the Blues” – Black Ensemble Theater
ARTISTIC SPECIALIZATION

Bridges Media – Multimedia Design – “Trust” – Lookingglass Theatre Company

Sage Marie Carter – Projections Design – “Ragtime” – Drury Lane Productions

Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi – Circus Choreography and Movement Direction – “Icarus” – Lookingglass Theatre Company

Nick Sandys – Fight Choreography – “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” – Remy Bumppo Theatre Company

David Woolley – Fight Choreography – “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” – Victory Gardens Theater i/a/w Teatro Vista…Theatre With a View

The cast of “Daredevils’ Hamlet”. Photo credit: Candice Conner

Review by Dan Jakes

Here’s two parts of a play you’d never think to look forward to: pre-show and actor’s Q&A. Leave it to one of Chicago’s most innovative ensembles to make both entertaining.

Before the house lights fade, the cast of would-be stuntmen invites the audience to jump onstage and play four-square with the actors. Is it a gimmick? Sure. But is it effective? Absolutely.

It’s this spirit of “why not?”—along with an adept comic ear, charismatic cast (particularly Barrel of Monkeys’ company member Brennan Buhl) and fast pace—that makes Halena Kays’ performer written “Daredevil’s Hamlet” a success. The five-man ensemble interweaves classical text, personal narrative, audience engagement and amateur acrobatics to create a high-spirited, physical night of theatre.

And don’t let the poster fool you. Promoted “Jack-Assery!” aside, this is one sharp, thoughtful show. The Neo-futurists deconstruct Shakespeare’s behemoth titular character and delve into the themes of thought versus action, masculinity, and sacrifice with the ensembles’ own personal histories, all while keeping the experience light and accessible. No small feat. Conceptually, daredevil work and Shakespeare may seem like odd bedfellows, but who better to macho up than Hamlet? Mixing the physical commitment of acrobatics with the intensely cerebral nature of the famed prince yields a fresh, very watchable new take on an old story.

Ryan Walters stars in “Daredevils’ Hamlet”. Photo credit: Candice Conner

In one of the production’s strongest ideas, fog, music, wrestling and poetry recitation are broken up by “moments of thought”—honest, bare, in-the-present check-ups on the actors’ mental state.

One by one, the Daredevils step onstage and answer a list of simple questions. (“Are you nervous because it’s opening night? Why did you choose this image of your father to show?”) Instead of the usual self-indulgence these meta-theatrical tricks usually produce, the Q&A serves as little palette cleansers that provides interesting insight and some humorous ad-libs.

As for the stunts, the “Daredevils’ Hamlet” is admittedly no “Cirque du Soleil”—which is no problem—much of the show’s entertainment and charm comes from the realization that no one onstage really knows what they’re doing. That goes for the Shakespeare, too. Much of the show revolves around this theme—an actor playing a classic role just beyond his reach, a singer rocking a song a smidge out of tune and a cast performing tricks better left to professionals.

But what’s more captivating—and for that matter, inspiring—than seeing someone throwing caution to the wind and just balls-to-the-wall going for it? Not much.

Recommended

“Daredevils’ Hamlet” runs through September 25, 2010 at The Neo-Futurarium at 5153 N. Ashland in Chicago. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.NeoFuturists.org.

For additional theatre news and reviews, please visit www.TheatreInChicago.com.

The company of Provision Theater’s “Godspell”. Photo credit: Ingrid Oyen

Review by Alissa Norby

Despite sustained notions of flower power, organic ponchos and other peace-keeping accoutrements adorning each of “Godspell’s” varied arenas, composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz long ago set the record straight regarding the rock musical’s assumed Bohemian leanings. The carousal-inspired pastels once donned by the Off-Broadway company’s original peacenik pack was in homage to Harvey Cox’s treatise, “The Feast of Fools,” an examination of festivity and fantasy, as well as the interface that these two realms often hold with liturgy. As such, conceiver John Michael Tebelak’s beloved riff on the Gospel of Matthew is tendered most successfully when balanced between these founding pillars. Expressly aware of both its irreverent whimsy and timeless truths, “Godspell” requires a director equally as primed to take its mirthful plunge.

Director Tim Gregory is never quite apt to venture down that old laissez-faire chute with Provision Theater Company’s offering. Gregory’s youthfully spritzed staging often solely invests in the material’s ebullience rather than its cultural acumen. However this inclination is not what one could hail as a mortal sin when it comes to the oft temporal sphere of the theatre.  After all, spiritual lessons have historically gone down the esophagus more easily with just a dollop of musical sugar.

For those with a taste for the glace, Gregory and his dependably green ensemble have pulled out most of the stops to compose what is surely a festal evening.  Replete with a litany of balloon gags, Muppet-inspired puppet shows and Facebook references, Provision’s “Godspell” is an undividedly airy offering that plays more like a tamed Sunday school pageant than an artistic examination of human-bred community.

Justin Berkobien (L) and Syler Thomas star in “Godspell”. Photo credit: Ingrid Oyen

Which is a shame, as there is nary a more opportune theatrical window to explore both the psychedelic and psychological than a book that seemingly started, or in this case revitalized, it all. “Godspell” inarguably asserted its hallowed status due to then-neophyte composer Stephen Schwartz’s pop-inspired score, an eclectic mixing of anthemic rock and meditative folk. But what has wholly embalmed the musical beyond its posturing of the Episcopal Hymnal on chic beats is its unapologetic willingness to posit the love that can bring individuals closer to a messiah but also the insecurity that can lead to entropy.

To be sure, there is plenty of contagious love to go around in Gregory’s production. But amid the incessant slapstick, improvisatory fun issued by the wholly willing ensemble, the text’s invitation to introspection is an offer that never quite materializes. Syler Thomas renders an all-too mellow Jesus in his “Lifeguard on Duty” t-shirt and unworriedl khakis. Consequently, the notion of a community’s penchant for following rock-star leaders and eventual aptitude to debase those whom they have revered is never entirely achieved.

The burden of mortal sincerity too often then falls to Justin Berkobien as John the Baptist/Judas, an assuredly fine musical actor who is relentless in his portrayal of these two sides to human nature accordingly. Berkobien is persuasively gleeful as he baptizes those around him with recycled rain water, and adroitly disquieting when the ultimate deception lets loose its shadows.

But Berkobien is too often solus in Gregory’s primordial sea of empty Beatitudes and mawkish Pharisees. The vaudevillian merrymaking often reaches points of infection, but with a dearth of emotional honesty, it is far too easy to refuse the Kool-Aid.

Somewhat Recommended

“Godspell” runs through September 26, 2010 at the Provision Theater Company. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.ProvisionTheater.org.

For additional theatre news and reviews, please visit www.TheatreInChicago.com.

Broadway In Chicago is pleased to announce that individual tickets for AN EVENING WITH SUTTON FOSTER will go on sale to the general public on Friday, August 13 at 10:00 a.m.  The Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning actress will perform an exclusive, four-night engagement to inaugurate the new Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut) September 23 – 26, 2010.

Tony® Award-Winner Sutton Foster gives a rare intimate concert performance during AN EVENING WITH SUTTON FOSTER with music direction by Michael Rafter (Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Sound of Music, Jersey Boys, The King & I).  Although Sutton has been working on Broadway and national tours since she was 17, she became a Broadway legend when she became an “understudy to the rescue” and took on the lead role of “Millie” in Thoroughly Modern Millie, eventually winning the 2002 Tony Award® for Best Actress in a Musical.  Since then, she has created four original roles in four new Broadway musicals Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein and Shrek The Musical; a record unsurpassed by any musical theatre actress of her generation.  Of the evening, Broadway World.com recently wrote “A stunning performance…Ms. Foster proved she’s a major force to be reckoned with, not just on Broadway , but in concert as well.”  Foster will perform Broadway hits along with songs from her CD Wish (Ghostlight Records), which was co-produced, arranged and music directed by Mr. Rafter.  AN EVENING WITH SUTTON FOSTER is produced by Fox Theatricals.

Broadway In Chicago and Water Tower Place recently announced the addition of a new venue, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut Street to its family of theatres.  Broadway In Chicago entered into a long-term agreement with General Growth Properties (owner and manager of Water Tower Place) that will allow the theatre, formerly known as the Drury Lane at Water Tower Place, to re-open as the Broadway Playhouse.  In addition to the inaugural performance of AN EVENING WITH SUTTON FOSTER, Traces will perform at the Broadway Playhouse October 26, 2010 – January 2, 2011 and a newly adapted version of the musical Working is slated to open on February 15, 2011.

Individual tickets to AN EVENING WITH SUTTON FOSTER are $55 – $60. Single tickets will go on sale Friday, August 13 2010, at 10:00 a.m.  Tickets are available at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St. and 18 W. Monroe St.); the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (800) 775-2000; all Ticketmaster retail locations (including Hot Tix and select Carson Pirie Scott, Coconuts and fye stores); and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com.  Groups of 15 or more should call (312) 977-1710.

The performance schedule for AN EVENING WITH SUTTON FOSTER is as follows:

Thursday, September 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, September 24 at 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, September 25 at 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, September 26 at 2:00 p.m.

SUTTON FOSTER recently starred on Broadway as Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical, for which she was honored with Tony and Drama Desk nominations, and the Outer Critics Circle Award.  Prior to that Sutton starred as Inga in The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, Janet Van De Graaff in The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations, LA Ovation Award) and Jo March in Little Women: The Musical (2005 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award nominations).  She is the recipient of the 2002 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Astaire Awards for her performance as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie, a role she created in the 2000 La Jolla Playhouse premiere.  Other Broadway credits include Les Miserables, Annie, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Grease!.  Recordings include The Maury Yeston Songbook (PS Classics), Jule Styne in Hollywood and the original cast recordings of Thoroughly Modern Millie, Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein and Shrek The Musical. In April 2010 she starred in the highly-anticipated City Center Encores! Production of Stephen Sondheim’s Anyone Can Whistle. Her debut solo CD, Wish (Ghostlight Records), was recently released to critical acclaim and is now available in stores.  For more information, visit her website at www.suttonfoster.com

MICHAEL RAFTER recently returned from Melbourne, Australia where he supervised the music for the hit Broadway show Jersey Boys. Sutton Foster and Michael collaborated on her first solo CD, Wish, that was release in February and performed it live at the Lincoln Center American Songbook series.  The New York Times wrote: “Michael Rafter’s subtle, glowing arrangements for ten musicians…created a softened 1920s sound, at once lifting and refined.” Michael conducted Gypsy on Broadway, as well as the TV movie starring Bette Midler, and won an Emmy award for his music direction of the movie.  He has supervised the Broadway and/or national touring companies of Thoroughly Modern Millie, Sunset Boulevard, The Sound of Music, The Buddy Holly Story and the current hit Jersey Boys.  On Broadway, Michael has served as music director/conductor of Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Sound of Music, The King & I and Gypsy.  As a guest conductor, Michael conducted the Memphis Symphony and the Tulsa Philharmonic for an evening of Jule Styne’s music.