New York City Center | Talking OFF-CENTER with Sutton Foster and Jonathan Groff

Photo by Matt KarasIt’s a tale as old as time: Broadway actor breaks out, abandons the theater for Hollywood, then slinks back 30 years later for a limited-run Sondheim revue. But Sutton Foster and Jonathan Groff are bucking that trend. The onetime Millie and Melchior have both managed to carve out fascinatingly eclectic screen careers while regularly returning to the stage. In the past year alone, Foster bagged a Tony nomination for Violet and starred in the TV Land sitcom “Younger,” while Groff did a Clint Eastwood movie, shot the final season of HBO’s “Looking,” and joined the cast of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s genre-busting juggernaut Hamilton.
This summer, they’re coming to City Center in musicals that find them playing radically against type. Groff is playing a cynical Jewish songwriter in William Finn’s A New Brain (June 24-27) and Foster will play a Jazz Age hoofer trapped in a cycle of abuse in Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party (July 15-18). We chatted with the two stars about car crashes, stage-door fans, and taking risks at Encores! Off-Center.
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