“To say that this is a dream come true is an understatement,” marveled Sutton Foster in 2002 when Jerry Orbach and Doris Roberts called her name as the winner of the Tony Award for her performance in “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” Now exactly 20 years later, Foster could win her third trophy for her work in the revival of the classic Broadway musical “The Music Man,” starring opposite fellow Tony winner Hugh Jackman. Below, see a list of all seven of Sutton Foster’s Tony nominations and her two wins.
SEE Can Sutton Foster (‘The Music Man’) parlay her Drama League upset into Tony Award #3?
Foster contends this year for her turn as Marian Paroo, the librarian in River City who Jackman’s Harold Hill tries to woo. She earned the seventh nomination of her career for the role in the Actress in a Musical category, even though Barbara Cook, who originated the part, won the Tony in Featured Actress in 1958; Rebecca Luker, who played Marian in the most recent revival, earned a bid in Actress in 2000.
If Foster wins her third Tony this year, she would tie Broadway icons Mary Martin and Gwen Verdon with three wins for Best Actress in a Musical; only Angela Lansbury has more with four. The actress has earned every single one of her seven nominations in this category. She received her first recognition in 2002 for “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” for which she took home her first prize. She went on to land nominations for “Little Women,” “The Drowsy Chaperone,” and “Shrek The Musical” before taking home her second trophy in 2011 for a revival of “Anything Goes” directed by Kathleen Marshall. She earned one more nomination in between 2011 and 2022, when she netted her seventh for “The Music Man.”
SEE our review roundup and Tony Awards analysis of ‘The Music Man’
Even though critics weren’t entirely enamored with this production of “The Music Man,” most had praise for Foster. Helen Shaw (Vulture) wrote that Foster and Jackman both “radiate Golden Age glamour” and praised the actress as “a true musical-theater miracle.” Tim Teeman (Daily Beast) noted how this revival “becomes Marian’s show,” adding, “It is Sutton Foster who ultimately commands our attention and applause… Foster not only sings beautifully, she acts this role perfectly.”
To take home her third Tony, Foster will have to best the category frontrunner Sharon D. Clarke (“Caroline, or Change”), Joaquina Kalukango (“Paradise Square”), Mare Winningham (“Girl From the North Country”), and Carmen Cusack (“Flying Over Sunset”). If she wins, she will be the second performer to take home the trophy for playing Marian after Barbara Cook.
Below, see the complete list of Sutton Foster’s past Tony nominations and victories:
2002 — Actress in a Musical (“Thoroughly Modern Millie”) — win
2005 — Actress in a Musical (“Little Women”)
2006 — Actress in a Musical (“The Drowsy Chaperone”)
2009 — Actress in a Musical (“Shrek The Musical”)
2011 — Actress in a Musical (“Anything Goes”) — win
2014 — Actress in a Musical (“Violet”)
2022 — Actress in a Musical (“The Music Man”)
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