Barre Hopping: Sutton Foster Copes With Devastating News on Bunheads

Two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster is lighting up the small screen as former Vegas showgirl Michelle Simms on ABC Family’s hit summer series Bunheads. On this week’s episode, Michelle reacts to the devastating news that her new husband, Hubbell (whom she barely knows), has died in a car accident. Left all alone in Paradise, California, with her mother-in-law, Fanny (played by Chorus Line alum Kelly Bishop), Michelle grapples with the loss and tries to provide support to the grieving town. Ellen Greene (Little Shop of Horrors) joins the cast as Fanny’s kooky friend, and ballerinas Boo, Sasha, Melanie and Ginny provide comic relief. We’ve sifted out the best moments from the episode below. Check back next week for more Barre Hopping!

Michelle’s Episode 1 Recap: “Well, we got here, I bought a dress, went to a party, fought with his mom, had sex, danced with his mom, he got in a car accident and now he’s dead.”

What the Locals Call Michelle: The Sex at the Party Girl

Motto: “There’s no crying in baseball! Or ballet.”

Memorial Must-Have: Dalai Lama custom cocktail napkins

Michelle's Coping Strategy: Walking a stranger's dog

Paradise Diet Tips:
Michelle: "I just went out and got some bagels if everyone’s hungry."
Fanny: "No one eats carbs anymore."
Michelle: "Oh, okay. Well, they’re stale, if that helps at all. You know, all that chewing burns extra calories."

Musings on Michelle by Fanny's Pal: “She’s awfully tall, isn’t she? Was she ever a man? I just think the town could use a woman who used to be a man to go with the Republican and the Liza Minnelli impersonator.”

Sasha’s Theory on Hubbell: “You’re a virgin for 75 years and then the first time you have sex you do it with a Las Vegas showgirl? He couldn’t handle it! He drove right into a tree.”

Michelle’s Memorial Schedule: “The caterer wants to know if the headcount is really 500 'cause if it is, there’s a problem with the tarts, which would push the memorial back 'til Friday, which is great for the woman [played by Ellen Greene] making a sculpture of my husband’s genitalia out of old hubcaps.”

Best Dance Sequence: Paradise Dance Academy's touching memorial ballet for Hubbell

Dancing Tune: “Picture in a Frame” by Tom Waits