Berkshire Theatre Festival Welcomes Sutton Foster in Concert, 8/22

Artistic Director/CEO Kate Maguire has announced that Tony® award winner Sutton Foster will be bringing her cabaret performance An Evening with Sutton Foster to Berkshire Theatre Festival on August 22 at 7pm on the historic Main Stage. Tickets for the evening are $25 and $45, with a limited number of VIP tickets at $70. VIP tickets feature prime seating locations and admission to an exclusive post-show reception featuring the artists. This evening of song and laughter, presented with her Musical Director Michael Rafter accompanying, is fueled by Ms. Foster's sparkling wit and incredible voice. Songs for the evening are drawn from her critically-acclaimed debut solo album Wish and from the stage roles that have helped make her famous, such as Thoroughly Modern Millie and The Drowsy Chaperone.

Sutton Foster recently starred on Broadway as Princess Fiona in Shrek: The Musical, for which she was honored with Tony and Drama Desk nominations, and the Outer Critics Circle Award. Prior to that, Sutton was Inga in the Mel Brooks musical, Young Frankenstein, Janet Van De Graaff in The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations, LA Ovation Award) and Jo March in Little Women: The Musical (2005 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award nominations). She is the recipient of the 2002 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Astaire Awards for her performance as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie, a role she created in the 2000 La Jolla Playhouse premiere. Other Broadway credits include Les Miserables, Annie, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and Grease!. Regional productions include What the World Needs Now (Old Globe), Dorian (Goodspeed), The Three Musketeers (San Jose Musical Theater), Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Sally in Me and My Girl (both at Pittsburgh CLO). She has toured nationally in The Will Rogers Follies, Les Miserables, and Grease!.

Foster has appeared as Svetlana in Chess in Concert and as the "I'm the Greatest Star" Fanny Brice in Funny Girl in Concert, both Actors Fund of America benefits. On television, Sutton recently guest starred on "Law & Order: SVU." Other appearances include the Disney Channel's "Johnny and the Sprites" and several episodes of the HBO series, "The Flight of the Conchords." Sutton has performed in concert at Lincoln Center's American Songbook series, with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, at Feinstein's, Joe's Pub, and at concert halls and theaters across the country. Recordings include The Maury Yeston Songbook (PS Classics), Jule Styne in Hollywood, and the original cast recordings of Thoroughly Modern Millie, Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein and Shrek. Her debut solo CD, Wish (Ghostlight Records), was recently released to critical acclaim and is now available in stores. In April 2010, she will star in the highly-anticipated City Center Encores! production of Stephen Sondheim's Anyone Can Whistle. Visit her website: www.suttonfoster.com.

Michael Rafter recently returned from Melbourne, Australia where he supervised the music for the hit Broadway show, Jersey Boys. He has traveled the globe this past year, working on the other 6 productions as well--from Toronto and Las Vegas to Melbourne. Sutton Foster and Michael collaborated on her first solo cd, Wish, that was released in February and performed it live at the Lincoln Center American Songbook series. The New York Times wrote: "Michael Rafter's subtle, glowing arrangements for ten musicians ... created a softened 1920s sound, at once lilting and refined." He also co-produced Norm Lewis's solo cd, This Is The Life, and the recording of Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori's Broadway show, Caroline, Or Change. Michael conducted Gypsy on Broadway, as well as the TV movie starring Bette Midler, and won an Emmy award for his music direction of the movie. His recent movie credits include two movies with Hugh Grant: Music And Lyrics (piano/vocal coach, produced vocals) and Did You Hear About The Morgans? (produced vocal and instrumental tracks). He has supervised the Broadway and/or national touring companies of Thoroughly Modern Millie, Sunset Boulevard, The Sound of Music, The Buddy Holly Story and the current hit Jersey Boys. On Broadway, Michael has served as music director/conductor of Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Sound of Music, The King & I and Gypsy.

Michael did the arrangements for the Broadway productions of Swing and Sweet Charity. He was one of the two piano duo that played the Broadway revival of The Most Happy Fella, and worked on The Tap Dance Kid and Les Miserables as well. In addition, Michael was the music director/conductor for The American Songbook series at Alice Tully Hall. He was also the music director for Broadway's Best on Bravo where he worked with such artists as Trisha Yearwood, Kevin Bacon, Joan Osborne, Mandy Moore, Cyndi Lauper, Darius Rucker, and Shawn Colvin. As a guest conductor, Michael conducted the Memphis Symphony and the Tulsa Philharmonic for an evening of Jule Styne's music. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, composer, Jeanine Tesori and their daughter Siena.

Tickets for event range in price from $25 to $45 with a limited number of VIP tickets available at $70, which feature prime seat location and post-show reception with artists. Contact the BTF Box Office at 413-298-5576 ext. 33 or visit www.berkshiretheatre.org to purchase tickets. No special offers or discounts apply to this event.

Founded in 1928, Berkshire Theatre Festival is one of the oldest professional regional theatres in the United States and the longest-running cultural organization in the Berkshires. Now under the helm of Artistic Director and CEO Kate Maguire, BTF presents theatre that matters-world premieres, contemporary works, and classics that speak to who we are in our world today. The Main Stage (408 seats), cataloged by the National Register of Historic Places, was originally designed and built by Stanford White as the Stockbridge Casino in 1888. The mission of BTF's second stage, the intimate Unicorn Theatre (122 seats), is to provide a home for emerging artists and new theatrical ideas. BTF's education program, BTF PLAYS!, reaches over 10,000 children annually through school residencies, touring performances, and summer performance training and writing programs. During the summer months BTF opens its doors to over 75 administrative, acting, and technical interns and apprentices.

For more information about Berkshire Theatre Festival, please visit www.berkshiretheatre.org.