Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara will honor Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews with tribute concert joined by Colorado Symphony

I remember seeing Sutton Foster’s utterly charming breakout role as Millie Dillmount in the 2002 Broadway musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and thinking, “This must be what it was like for audiences who saw Carol Burnett’s breakout role as Princess Winnifred the Woebegone in the 1959 musical ‘Once Upon a Mattress’.”

And, hand to the Alps, I remember seeing Kelli O’Hara’s breakout role as Clara Johnson in 2005’s “The Light in the Piazza” and wondering if witnessing the arrival of this powerful yet utterly vulnerable fresh new face was anything like audiences seeing Julie Andrews’ breakout role as the melancholy Polly Browne in 1954’s “The Boy Friend.”

And then, in 2024, it happened: Sixty-five years later, Foster took on Burnett’s Winnifred role in a Broadway revival of “Once Upon a Mattress.”

Woe!

On Thursday, two of the most popular musical theater stars of this generation are clasping hands to celebrate two of the most popular musical theater stars of a previous generation. “An Evening with Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara,” performed with the Colorado Symphony at the Boettcher Concert Hall, is a gathering fully inspired by a legendary 1962 CBS special called “Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall.” They’ll mostly be performing songs and stories from their most iconic Broadway roles backed by our full hometown orchestra.

First, to set the lineup:

Kelli O’Hara: Is celebrated for her classically trained and “endlessly agile” soprano; her diversity of stage characters; and her deeply nuanced acting. She is as at home at the Metropolitan Opera as she is on a Broadway stage. O’Hara has a record-breaking eight Tony Award nominations (yet somehow, only one statue). On TV, you might know her from “The Gilded Age,” “The Accidental Wolf” or “13 Reasons Why.”

Sutton Foster: Exudes superstardom from every pore with her Mary Tyler Moore looks, her unmatched Broadway belt, and her “triple threat” skill set (singing, dancing and acting). She is a star on whatever stage she sets foot on. I mean, she’s only 50, and she’s had leading roles in 16 Broadway musicals. That is the definition of legendary. She has seven Tony Award nominations and two wins. Plus, she’s funny, and, sealing the deal – she loves rescue dogs.

Julie Andrews: Is Julie Andrews.

Carol Burnett: Is Carol Burnett.

That’s four of Broadway’s greatest living leading ladies, all together – well, in a way – for one unforgettable night in Denver.

Faraway friendships

Foster and O’Hara grew up a thousand miles and a year apart. And yet, like millions, they both grew up right alongside Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews – who themselves grew up 5,500 miles and an ocean apart. But when they finally met, Andrews has said, “It was as if two ladies discovered that they lived on the same block and they hadn’t ever been introduced.” But once they were, they bonded straight away. 

“I was obsessed with Carol Burnett,” Foster said of her younger days outside of Detroit watching “The Carol Burnett Show.” “It was so awesome seeing a tall, funny lady on TV. I think I was especially inspired by the ensemble nature of the show and how Vicki Lawrence, Harvey Korman and Tim Conway all worked together and supported each other.” Andrews, she said, was also a huge inspiration: After all: “Mary Poppins and “The Sound of Music?” How could she not be?

For O’Hara, it was “all-Julie and all-Carol all the time” in tiny Elk City, Okla., where there was no live theater. “I only had movie musicals and TV shows,” she said. “So all my dreams started by watching these two women.”

Sutton and O’Hara share a longstanding friendship, having met 20 years ago at a workshop performance of “Little Women.” But there’s longstanding – and there is looooooongstanding.

Burnett, 92, and Andrews, 90, share a 60-year friendship that began all the way back in 1961. They say it’s based on mutual respect, similarly problematic childhoods and, of course, a shared love for humor.

They have both been recent guests on Julia Louis-Dreyfuss’ great podcast, “c,” where every guest has had more lived experience than Louis-Dreyfuss. Simply put, Andrews  told her of Burnett: “We’re chums. I love her so much.

“Carol is honest and real and unbelievably talented. And she makes me better, which is odd, because she brings out the worst in me – the most bawdy in me. I do not know why, but she does. And we laugh a lot.”

That 1962 CBS special was the first of what became a once-a-decade ritual. “About every 10 years, we managed to get a special made together,” Andrews said. “At first it was like, ‘Who are you dating?’ Then it was about parent-teacher conferences. And eventually, it was like, ‘Do you take Metamucil?’

“It doesn’t matter where we are. We just pick up where we left off. It’s so easy.”

But that first TV special, Andrews added, only happened because these two pioneering women joined up, rather than ganged up.

“I’ll never forget that Carol was the one who gave me the strength and the courage to do that first special,” Andrews told Louis-Dreyfus. “Before we taped, I remember we were on (opposite sides) of the stage before that first entrance. And we were doing thumbs-up and blowing kisses.

“It was because I could see her across from me, and I felt her strength, and I also knew she knew mine. It was true friendship.”

And that, O’Hara told the Denver Gazette, is what Thursday night is all about. At this time, when there is so much division and general anxiety in the world, O’Hara wants younger audiences – especially women – to take meaning from seeing two female stars locking hands and performing together side by side in that same spirit of true friendship as their forebears.

“That is precisely why we put this show together,” O’Hara said. “Not only did we build it to get the message of teamwork and unity out there, especially between women, but we also take a moment in our show to highlight this exact idea: We are stronger together.”

And so, in that spirit of friendship, I had to ask, separately but equally:

“Sutton, what’s one fun thing about Kelli that most people don’t know?” Her response: “She always has a piece of chocolate after every show, and she shares one with me.”

“And Kelli, what is one fun thing about Sutton that most people don’t know?” Her response:  “She is known to play video games.”

The symphonic setting

The added, necessary bonus of seeing O’Hara and Foster perform together in 2026 is that the 1962 CBS special upon which the evening is based was performed with a full orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Enter the Colorado Symphony. And what a rare treat for their fans.

According to a recent survey, Broadway orchestras — even for major musical revivals — are topping off at about 22 to 25 instruments out of pure economic necessity. So I asked both: What will it mean for your fans here in Denver to hear your selected songs in a concert setting backed by a full orchestra of 80 pieces?

 “It’s surreal to sing with such an amazing symphony and that many musicians,” Foster said. “Hearing some of these songs performed that way is just … beyond. I still look around in awe that all of these people have come together to play music, especially now, when we need live music. To look at all of these humans creating music together is incredibly powerful.”

It’s true, O’Hara added, that orchestra sizes are getting smaller on Broadway. “So, hearing these new arrangements played by 80 musicians is what dreams are made of,” she said. It’s not only the audience. Sutton and I, too, feel totally inspired and lifted up by the brilliant musicians with each show. It makes it feel like a very special event.”

They both want to make it plain that while the concert celebrates the iconic Andrews and Burnett, it’s mostly their own songs they will be singing on Thursday, so they are not necessarily playing those two icons as characters. But, c’mon. Foster is not getting out of Denver without singing Burnett’s iconic comic lament “I’m Shy,” from “Once Upon a Mattress.”

And the comparisons are irresistible. Starting with the hair. The vocals. The styles. 

“We don’t play Julie and Carol, per se, and we were both inspired by them equally, as you might suspect, O’Hara said. “But for sake of the pairing, I’ll be the soprano and Sutton will be the belter. So that makes me ‘Julie’ and her ‘Carol.’

Personality-wise, Foster furthered, “I guess I’m more like Carol, and Kelli is more like Julie. But honestly, we both have aspects of each of them, so we’re kind of a mishmash of both.”

The idea for this concert event began with O’Hara but, she clarified, “everything after that idea has been a joint effort.” The first concert took place, as if there were any alternative, at Carnegie Hall back in November 2023. They’ve performed it with four or five orchestras since.

To date, neither Andrews nor Burnett has been able to attend the show in person, but “Carol and I have become friends, and I sent her an audio recording of our show from Carnegie Hall, which she listened to,” Foster said. O’Hara further teases: “Yes, the ladies haven’t seen the show, but they do make an ‘appearance.’ And they definitely advised us.”

Take this down

That this interview you are reading happened at all is a bit of a miracle. O’Hara just finished starring in the Off-Broadway play “This World of Tomorrow” with Tom Hanks (and Denver’s Jamie Ann Romero). And she returns to Broadway in April in a revival of Noël Coward’s “Fallen Angels.” Foster is readying her own return to Broadway as Loretta Lynn in “The Coal Miner’s Daughter.”

All of which is to say: We did all this by email. Which allowed us to address a variety of other subjects, and both stars kindly agreed to end with a bonus question submitted by a Denver Gazette reader. Here goes:

Sutton’s famous brother, Hunter Foster, is a Tony Award nominee who originated the role of Bobby Strong in “Urinetown.” He’s now a huge deal at Theatre Aspen, where he will return this summer for his sixth season to direct the canine comedy “Sylvia.” I asked Sutton what it was like  growing up in a household with two future Broadway stars. How does that even happen?

Sutton: “Growing up, we were just normal kids,” she said. “We didn’t even know you could work professionally in theater; it was just something we did for fun. Neither of our parents were in the entertainment industry, but doing local theater really brought us together as a family. Hunter and I did a lot of theater growing up, but the fact that we both ‘made it’ on Broadway is still wild to me.”

I also asked Foster: Is there one part of your artistry that surprised you by arriving late — and how did you recognize it when it finally showed up?

Foster: “I think the thing that arrived late came with getting older and wiser, and that’s a little more ‘ease.’ When I was younger, I worked so hard, and maybe that wasn’t always such a good thing. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found more ease, and that has surprised me.”

And, for O’Hara: Can you share a specific example of one of your favorite ‘quiet’ moments on a stage, and why?” 

O’Hara: “It’s a really great question – and has me thinking – and I realize the answers are very personal and perhaps lose their power if given away.  And by power, I mean that bit of strength or bolstering we need in order to carry on, to quiet the noise. But it’s true, there is so much of a personal adventure that runs in tandem with the show. At least for me.” 

Now, the readers speak

Question for Foster, from local director Kelly Van Oosbree: “What do you believe is the responsibility of a leading actor to the ensemble in a production you are in?”

Foster: “I always think it’s my responsibility to set the tone of a company. I show up on time. I’m responsible, respectful, I listen, I’m kind and I do my job generously while always allowing others to do the same. I think it’s incredibly important to be a good leader; they always say it trickles down from the top. Especially when there are young people in the cast, you want to set a good example. I was lucky to have that when I first started out.”

And for O’Hara, from local True West Award-winning actor Jennasea Pearce: In your early years of performing, how did you deal with uncertainty and imposter syndrome?

O’Hara: “What do you mean, ‘early years?’ It never goes away, hah. But, honestly, I do have to admit that the older I get, the more deeply I let go of trying to be what I’m not.  And, many things have opened up even more for me emotionally and professionally once I started being able to do that.  But if it’s any help, in those ‘early years,’ I think I had no choice but to keep going. Sometimes it’s not about who is most talented.  A lot of it has to do with staying power.”

Just ask Carol and Julie.

John Moore is the Denver Gazette’s Senior Arts Journalist. Email him at john.moore@denvergazette.com.

An Evening with Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara

• When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26
• Where: Boettcher Concert Hall, Denver Performing Arts Complex
• Tickets: $67.20 and up
• Info: coloradosymphony.org