Sutton Foster Injures Wrist; To Perform In Cast for LA's Drowsy Chaperone

Tony Award winner Sutton Foster Thoroughly Modern Millie, Little Women broke her right wrist on October 30 during a Los Angeles rehearsal for The Drowsy Chaperone, the new Broadway-bound musical which starts performances November 10 at the Ahmanson Theatre. Foster will continue on with the show, appearing onstage in a cast until her injury is healed.

The injury ironically occurred while Foster performed a musical comedy number titled "Accident Waiting to Happen." "We were doing the final run through in the rehearsal room before tech," Foster explained to Broadway.com. "The song is a duet between the bride and the groom. He's blindfolded and on roller skates and I'm dancing with him. You'd think he'd be the one to fall, but it was me. I wasn't even doing anything difficult. I just stepped backwards and my feet went out in front of me. I fell back and caught all my weight on my hand."

Foster didn't initially realize she was hurt: "My first thought was, 'Oh, how stupid. I just fell.' My second thought was, "Oh, I think I might have hurt myself.' Then I knew I hurt myself." After a visit to an orthopedic surgeon, Foster was given an x-ray, diagnosed with a broken wrist and put in a cast, which will remain on her arm for at least three weeks.

Almost immediately following the injury, Foster began discussing options with Casey Nicholaw, the Tony-nominated choreographer of Spamalot who is directing and choreographing The Drowsy Chaperone and who once starred alongside Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie. "I was on the phone with Casey every three hours," she says. "We were trying to decide if I could even do the show. I didn't want the show to be compromised or to be about the fact that I broke my wrist. But this week we ran through the show to see what I was capable of and it was much more than I thought. It could have been so much worse. So, basically, we're gonna be able to do the same show. I'll just happen to have a cast on my arm!"

The Drowsy Chaperone centers on an enthusiastic musical theater fan librettist Bob Martin who shares a favorite 1920s musical comedy with the audience via a rare original cast recording LP which proceeds to come to life onstage. Foster is featured in the show-within-the-show as a Broadway star who leaves showbiz for married life. Also featured in the cast are Danny Burstein, Georgia Engel, Edward Hibbert, Troy Britton Johnson, Eddie Korbich, Garth Kravits, Jason Kravits, Beth Leavel, Kecia Lewis-Evans, Angela Pupello, Jennifer Smith, Joey Sorge, Patrick Wetzel and Lenny Wolpe. Performances at the Ahmanson are scheduled to conclude on December 24 with an official opening set for November 18.

"I think the show is really special," Foster adds. "As a musical theater lover myself, being part of an original musical theater production that celebrates musical theater is really exciting. It's funny and sweet and smart and touching and something completely different for me. I'm really excited for audiences to be able to see it."