She's 'De-Lovely' and She's Coming Back! Stephanie J. Block to Return to ANYTHING GOES March 15th

Stephanie J. Block in Anything Goes - Photo by Joan Marcus" width="200" height="289">Roundabout Theatre Company announced tonight that Stephanie J. Block will return as "Reno Sweeney" to the 2011 Tony® Award winning musical comedy Anything Goes on March 15, 2012, replacing Sutton Foster in the iconic role. 

Sutton Foster will depart March 11th to begin filming ABC Family's new drama series "Bunheads." (She was previously announced to perform through April 29th.) Tony® and Academy® Award winner Joel Grey will continue to perform the role of "Moonface Martin" through April 29th. Tickets are on-sale through Sunday, September 9th, 2012. Block recently covered the role of Reno for three weeks in November of 2011. 

Roundabout Theatre Company's Anything Goes will perform on NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" between 12:35AM-1:35AM Thursday night. Tune in to see Sutton Foster and company members from Anything Goes perform the tap dancing finale of Act 1!  

Anything Goes has won the following Awards: three Tony® Awards including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical (Sutton Foster) and Best Choreography (Kathleen Marshall); five Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Revival of a Musical, Outstanding Choreographer of a Musical (Kathleen Marshall), Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Sutton Foster), Outstanding Set Design (Derek McLane) and Outstanding Sound Design (Brian Ronan); four Outer Critics Circle Awards including Outstanding Revival of a Musical, Outstanding Choreographer of a Musical (Kathleen Marshall), Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Sutton Foster), Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Adam Godley); A Drama League Award for Distinguished Revival of a Musical and a Fred & Adele Astaire Award for Best Female Dancer on Broadway (Sutton Foster).

The cast currently features John McMartin as "Elisha Whitney", Julie Halston as "Evangeline Harcourt." Colin Donnell as "Billy Crocker", Erin Mackey as "Hope Harcourt," Robert Petkoff as "Lord Evelyn Oakleigh,"Jessica Stone as "Erma," Walter Charles as "Captain," Robert Creighton as "Purser," Andrew Cao as "Luke," and Raymond J. Lee as "John."Additional cast members include Lawrence Alexander, Leslie Becker, Brandon Bieber, Ward Billeisen, Daniel J. Edwards, Kearran Giovanni, Justin Greer, Derek Hanson, Tari Kelly, Michelle Loucadoux, Shina Ann Morris, Kevin Munhall, Mary Michael Patterson, Hayley Podschun, Brandon Rubendall, William Ryall, Jennifer Savelli, Vanessa Sonon.

Stephanie J. Block (Reno Sweeney) has established herself as one of the most relevant and versatile voices in contemporary musical theatre. She most recently starred in the premiere of Lynn Nottage's play By The Way, Meet Vera Stark at Second Stage.  She is best known for her portrayal as Elphaba in the Broadway company of Wicked and for creating the roles of Judy Bernly in 9 To 5: The Musical (Drama Desk nomination for Best Actress in a Musical), Grace O'Malley in The Pirate Queen and Liza Minnelli in The Boy From Oz (opposite Hugh Jackman).  Stephanie also originated the starring role of Elphaba in the First National Touring Company of Wicked for which she won the prestigious Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.  Ms. Block has sung with numerous symphony orchestras including the Boston Pops, National Symphony Orchestra (under the baton of Marvin Hamlisch), Indianapolis Symphony, Utah Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Charlotte Symphony and the Cleveland Pops among many others. Her solo concert has been critically acclaimed and continues to sell out throughout the US and in London.  Some of her Off-Broadway and regional theatrical credits include They're Playing Our Song (starring opposite Jason Alexander), Funny Girl, Cats (St Louis' Kevin Kline Award Nominee- Best Actress), Crazy For You (L.A. Ovation Award Nominee), Oliver (Critics Award-Best Actress), James Joyce's The Dead, Triumph Of Love, The Grass Harp, South Pacific, Will Rogers Follies and the World Premiere of Wicked.  Stephanie's solo album, This Place I Know has been received with great praise, lauded by critics as "One of the best debut recordings to come out of the Broadway community in quite some time... 6 out of 5 stars". An array of award-winning songwriters assembled to help interpret their music on Stephanie's album. Composers such as Stephen Schwartz, Marvin Hamlisch and the legendary Dolly Parton join forces with Ms. Block to create a thrilling musical experience. Stephanie's voice can be heard on multiple cast recordings, including The Boy From Oz, The Pirate Queen, Wicked's 5th Anniversary Album and 9 To 5: The Musical (Grammy Nomination).  www.stephaniejblock.com.