Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster Honor the 'Extraordinary' Understudies Who Kept The Music Man Open Through COVID Outbreaks | Playbill

Video Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster Honor the 'Extraordinary' Understudies Who Kept The Music Man Open Through COVID Outbreaks

Jackman and Foster appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers May 5.

Next stop, River City! The Music Man stars Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers May 5 to talk all about what the production means to them, what scared them about stepping into Harold Hill and Marian Paroo's shoes, and the ways in which The Music Man has been saved by the production's understudies and swings.

Watch the video above to see Jackman and Foster wax poetic on how their understudies and swings saved the day when a COVID outbreak swept through the company shortly after they began performances. Watch the full appearance above, and another segment about Jackman and Foster's experience co-starring in the Meredith Willson musical revival below.

"Our company is extraordinary," shares Foster. "What everyone did, especially when we were first opening, everyone rose to the occasion... Unbelievable talent, collaboration, everybody just kind of came together to keep the show going. At one point there were 14 people out of our show, and swings... Ryan Worsing was doing seven tracks, and we were just trying to keep the show up."

Jackman continued, "Our dance captain, Ryan, who is incredible, has done 15 different tracks already. He's played 15 different parts."

In addition to Jackman and Foster, The Music Man stars fellow Tony winners Shuler Hensley as Marcellus Washburn, Jefferson Mays as Mayor Shinn, Jayne Houdyshell as Mrs. Shinn, and Marie Mullen as Mrs. Paroo.

The cast also includes Remy Auberjonois as Charlie Cowell, Gino Cosculluela as Tommy Djilas, Emma Crow as Zaneeta Shinn, Benjamin Pajak as Winthrop, Kayla Teruel as Amaryllis, Garrett Long as Ethel Toffelmier, Linda Mugleston as Alma Hix, Jessica Sheridan as Maud Dunlop, Rema Webb as Mrs. Squires, Tony nominee Phillip Boykin as Olin Britt, Eddie Korbich as Jacey Squires, Daniel Torres as Ewart Dunlop, Nicholas Ward as Oliver Hix, and Max Clayton as the standby for Harold Hill.

Rounding out the ensemble are Nick Alvino, Jordan Beall, Ronnie S. Bowman Jr., Maria Briggs, Audrey Cardwell, JT Church, Kammie Crum, Aydin Eyikan, Carlee Flanagan, Ethen Green-Younger, Emily Hoder, Curtis Holland, Eloise Kropp, Ethan Lafazan, Kayla LaVine, Andrew Minard, Sean Montgomery, Tanner Quirk, Lance Roberts, Daniel Patrick Russell, Ann Sanders, Sherisse Springer, Mitchell Tobin, Kathy Voytko, Branch Woodman, and Ryan Worsing.

The Music Man, which features a book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, tells the story of what happens when con artist Harold Hill arrives in River City and falls in love with the straight-laced librarian, Marian. It first opened on Broadway December 19, 1957, at the Majestic Theatre. A 2000 revival played the Neil Simon Theatre.

Jerry Zaks directs the new production of the musical, which also features choreography by Warren Carlyle, sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto, sound design by Scott Lehrer, lighting by Brian MacDevitt, vocal and dance arrangements by David Chase, orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, and music direction by Patrick Vaccariello.

Look Inside Opening Night of The Music Man

 
Today’s Most Popular News:
 X

Blocking belongs
on the stage,
not on websites.

Our website is made possible by
displaying online advertisements to our visitors.

Please consider supporting us by
whitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.
Thank you!