An Evening with Sutton Foster at the Eccles

Last night I went to see Sutton Foster at the Eccles Theatre with my friend Wendy.  This concert commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Eccles so it is only appropriate that I was there with Wendy because we met at Beautiful, the first Broadway touring production at the theatre, and we have been sitting next to each other at every Broadway show ever since (as well as at concerts featuring Jeremy Jordan and Leslie Odom, Jr. because we are theatre girlies).  Foster began the show with the jazz standard "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer and then continued with "The Nearness of You" also by Carmichael and Ned Washington.  During "Love Somebody, Yes I Do," instead of the usual lyrics in the final refrain ("but I won't tell who"), she sang "and his name is Hugh" which got a huge laugh from the audience.  She then talked about the major changes in her life and how the spirit of her mother comforted her by telling her that everything will be all right.  She dedicated a mashup of "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley and the Wailers and "Feelin' Groovy" by Simon & Garfunkle to her.  She spoke about how her daughter Emily has introduced her to all kinds of new music before singing the viral song "It's Raining Tacos" (she reminded us that she is a two-time Tony winner after this hilarious performance).  She also dedicated both the humorous "Undecided" and the tender "Goodnight My Someone" from The Music Man to her daughter.  She was joined by local performers Naomi Sharette as Young Fiona and Alexa Shaheen as Teen Fiona for "I Know It's Today" from Shrek The Musical (she objected to being called the Old Fiona) and by the seniors in the MTP program at the University of Utah for "On My Way" from Violet and "Anything Goes" from Anything Goes complete with the iconic tap choreography from the Broadway show (you know how I love to see tap dancing and this was exhilarating!). These students performed a lovely interpretation of Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" arranged by Foster's music director Michael Rafter while she changed her tap shoes and then she joined them once again for an epic rendition of "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" from Anything Goes (this was amazing!).  She performed a mashup featuring "If I Were a Bell" from Guys and Dolls and "Singin' in the Rain" from Singin' in the Rain (I've heard her sing this before) and then a beautiful rendition of "Up on the Roof."  She dedicated a mashup of "Love is All Around" (which was used as the theme song for The Mary Tyler Moore Show) and "Top of the World" (made famous by The Carpenters) to her dad and then concluded with "Never Alone."  For an encore she performed "Till There Was You" from The Music Man.  As I mentioned, I've seen her perform in concert before and she is always so charming and personable.  I loved her interactions with the crowd and with the students on stage (the crowd reacted with thunderous applause every time she yelled "Go Utes" because I guess there is an important football game this weekend).  This was a delightful concert and I am so glad that I have been able to see so many wonderful shows at the Eccles during the past ten years!