Two-time Tony winner (and Broadway sweetheart) Sutton Foster is kicking ass and taking names as the title character in the first-ever Broadway mounting of Violet. Foster plays a severely physically scarred woman who hops on a bus, puts her faith in a televangelist and eventually finds love—it’s a great performance, catchy score and all-around can’t-miss production. BroadwayBox caught up with the stage and screen star to reminisce about childhood idols and all-time favorite musicals, and get her answer to that age-old question: which Sex and the City girl are you?
1. I had such a good time during your number “All to Pieces.” When you were younger what celebrity did you want to look like? Who did you try to style yourself after?
The first person that popped into my head is Cyndi Lauper. I’m an ‘80s kid, so, as far as fashion, it was her. But if I could choose someone’s face, probably Cindy Crawford. I wanted to dress like Cyndi Lauper but look like Cindy Crawford.
2. What's your must-have item when you travel on a long trip?
My pillow. When I was a kid, I used take all the pillow cases off my pillows, and eventually my mom said I was carrying around three pillow cases; so she took away two of them and she gave me one and it became like my blanket. As I got older it became my pillow, and I would carry my pillow around. I literally buy the cheapest pillow from Target—that flat $3.99 one and the pillow case. It's not the exact one I had as a kid, but I found the same pattern. They are from the ‘70s; I ordered them from eBay and bought several of the same pattern, and that's my pillow.
3. Your new TV series Younger is created by Darren Star, who is famous—of course—for Sex and the City. I want to know which Sex and the City girl are you and which do you think Violet would be?
Oh, good lord! I don’t know. I’ll go for Carrie. I would put myself between Carrie and Charlotte. I don’t think Violet is any of them…though she has some sass in her and she has had to put on a serious coat of armor to face the world, so maybe Miranda.
4. What's the original cast recording that even now you still can’t get enough of?
Sweeney Todd, the original. It was beginning. That original Broadway cast recording will always be my favorite. It would be a dream come true to be in that show. I’d be in the ensemble. Anything.
5. What’s the wallpaper of your cell phone right now?
It’s a sad one. My mom passed away in September, and it's the sunset of the night she passed away. It was an extraordinary sky; it was so beautiful.
Don't miss your chance to see Sutton Foster in Roundabout Theatre Company’s 'Violet', playing at Broadway's American Airlines Theatre through August 10.
