Laura Osnes: Cockeyed Optimists—The World of Rodgers and Hammerstein

After leapfrogging to Broadway in Grease as the winner of a reality-TV casting series, Osnes has proved the snobs and cynics wrong in a succession of winsome Broadway roles, most recently including a widowed girl singer in Bandstand.  Along the way she has headlined two Rodgers and Hammerstein classics, playing spunky nurse Nellie in South Pacific
and the titular royal runaway in Cinderella. Now the versatile soprano returns to the Carlyle with a new set devoted to the R&H catalog, with Ted Sperling at the piano and Ryan Silverman providing smooth baritone guest vocals.