How Sutton Foster Brings an Unhinged Version of Myself to Broadways Once Upon a Ma

Publish date: 2024-08-29

Optimistic, curious, adventurous. Also: Zero complexity. That’s how Sutton Foster describes Princess Fred, the character she plays in the Broadway revival of “Once Upon a Mattress.”

Listen to this week’s “Stagecraft” podcast below:

“What’s so fun is that I can just be wide-eyed, like: Everything’s great!” Foster said on the new episode of “Stagecraft,” Variety’s theater podcast. “I thought: What a fun way to look at life,” she continued, adding with a laugh, “It’s essentially just an unhinged version of myself.”

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Foster reprises her lead role in “Mattress” after the production first played a short run in January as part of the annual Encores! series at Manhattan’s City Center. During that initial engagement, the actress was simultaneously preparing to step into the complicated role of Mrs. Lovett in the Broadway revival of “Sweeney Todd.”

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“I was just coming off the heels of learning ‘Sweeney,’ which is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to learn,” she remembered. “And then — gratefully — stepping into a role that is all about leaping gleefully, naively, into the unknown, which is Fred. So the character sort of mirrored what I was going through in my life.”

The part Foster plays in “Mattress” was famously originated by Carol Burnett. On the new episode of “Stagecraft,” the actress reveals why Burnett’s work has been so influential on her, citing her predecessor’s generosity with other performers and the fact that “she was so unafraid to be goofy.” And while she was on the topic of parts previously played by Burnett, Foster also mentioned she wouldn’t mind getting a chance to take on Miss Hannigan in “Annie” sometime down the line.

She also let listeners in on her “side hustle as trainer” — that is, her fondness for teaching dance-cardio classes whenever she’s available at a fitness studio called The Limit. She led multiple classes a week during her downtime, just after her run in “The Music Man” opposite Hugh Jackman.

“I miss it,” she said. “It really teaches you to push yourself to a limit and be able to be comfortable there. And that works in life as well. … Now when I feel like I can’t do something, I know I can because I’ve survived teaching six dance-cardio classes a week!”

To hear the entire conversation, listen at the link above or download and subscribe to “Stagecraft” on podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and the Broadway Podcast Network. New episodes of “Stagecraft” are released every other week.

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