Hudson Valley Summer 2004—Sutton Foster at Caramoor and Sandra Bernhard at Bard

Sutton Foster at Caramoor

July 13, 2024

Katonah, NY

caramoor.org

Sandra Bernhard at Bard 

August 9 and 10, 2024

Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Fishercenter.bard.edu

Sutton Foster performing at Caramoor (photo: Gabe Palacio)

Broadway superstar Sutton Foster has gone from strength to strength since Thoroughly Modern Millie introduced her to musical-theater audiences. Just this year, the Tony-winning actress stepped into the Sweeney Todd revival before returning in spectacular fashion to a role seemingly written for her in the slight but delectable revival of Once Upon a Mattress, in which Foster starred for a two-week Encores run before bringing it to Broadway. Originally a vehicle for Carol Burnett, the show hinges on Foster’s magnificent performance, which combines her unmatched vocal prowess, comic timing and physical aptitude.

For her one-night-only concert at Caramoor this summer, Foster was something else again. Resplendent in a green dress, Foster looked as cool as a cucumber on a hot and sticky July evening, even joking with her long-time musical director and pianist Michael Rafter that he was probably sorry to be wearing a suit and tie. (Rafter did look uncomfortably sweaty but accompanied Foster superbly throughout, as on the amusing references to the balmy weather in Christine Lavin’s hoot of a tune, “Air Conditioner.”)

Onstage, Foster is effortlessly charming and natural, a combination of her Georgia birthplace and Michigan upbringing. Opening with “Something’s Coming” from West Side Story, Foster leaned heavily on showtunes but sang a bountiful and entertaining mix of old and new, serious and funny, sentimental and witty: Willy Wonka’s “Pure Imagination” gave way to Cole Porter’s “I Get a Kick Out of You” while Dan Fogelberg’s “Same Old Lang Syne” was followed by Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You.”

Foster’s pristine soprano was on display in songs as diverse as Jason Robert Brown’s “Stars and the Moon,” John Denver’s “Sunshine on My Shoulders” and “Goodnight My Someone” from Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, which Foster memorably starred in on Broadway with Hugh Jackman in 2022. She closed with a lovely “Til There Was You,” her character Marion’s signature tune from the same show. 

But the best moments were the more intimate ones, especially the humorous but touching stories she told about her young daughter, Emily, for whom she sang “Raining Tacos,” or when she brought out a chair, sat down and crocheted—her favorite hobby, as chronicled in her entertaining memoir, Hooked—while singing. Whether in character or as herself, Sutton Foster remains one of our musical treasures.

Sandra Bernhard

In the “I Know I’m Getting Old Department,” it’s been exactly four decades since I first saw Sandra Bernhard, at the old Tralfamadore Café in Buffalo (now it’s Electric City). In the many times I’ve seen her since, whether off-Broadway, at Joe’s Pub or at City Winery, she still hilariously and savvily dissects our curdled celebrity culture. And her latest appearance, at the striking, mirrored Spiegeltent on the Bard College campus (the first of her two evenings there), showed that Bernhard has lost none of her ability to wrench singular insights out of our political and social-media climate.

Of course, with the fast-moving political events of the past few weeks, culminating in Kamala Harris and Tim Walz resuscitating the Democratic ticket in the upcoming election, Bernhard was in her element. Right after her opening song—“Ride Like the Wind,” by Christopher Cross, which she made her own and showed off impressive vocal chops—Bernhard wasted no time ecstatically conveying how she felt about the new dream team. In fact, she got so carried away with her joy over the ascension of Harris that she spoke for nearly half an hour before launching into her next song, an affecting version of “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” by Lisa Marie Presley.

Although hilarious, Bernhard’s commentary isn’t standup in the traditional sense—her “jokes” are instead anecdotes that highlight the absurdities in our daily lives, permeated by telling details that mark her singular storytelling genius. A recent trip to the Hamptons to visit friends, for example, provided grist for Bernhard, who described the ride out east on the Jitney bus and the return journey on the Long Island Rail Road, which entailed a change of train and a sympathetic conductor who didn't believe that she was old enough to buy a senior ticket. 

Her 90 minutes onstage toggles between perfectly pitched stories and songs as disparate as Rod Stewart’s “Reason to Believe,” Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” and, in a terrific tribute to Tina Turner, the Beatles’ “Help!” done in Tina’s inimitable style. Backing was her tight three-piece band—drummer Andy Martinek, guitarist Oscar Batista and pianist Mitch Kaplan, Bernhard’s longtime music director whom she jokingly introduced as playing with her since 1885.

After closing the main set with a hard-hitting take on the late-'80s Lita Ford anthem, “Kiss Me Deadly,” Bernhard returned for a couple of encores: her ubiquitous but soulful version of Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” and a poignant tune by the British boy band East 17, “Stay Another Day.” It was another satisfying trip to Sandyland.