Published on February 18, 2025 04:00PM EST

Sutton Foster will soon be back on Broadway! 

The two-time Tony Award winner, 49, is set to play Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter, a new musical in development about the country icon's music and life.

Based on Lynn and George Vecsey’s autobiography and the 1980 Sissy Spacek-starring movie of the same name, Coal Miner’s Daughter unites Foster with a pair of heavyweight Broadway creatives: director Sam Gold and composer Jeanine Tesori, who last worked together on the Tony-winning Fun Home. 

“Coal Miner's Daughter chronicles Loretta’s rise from humble beginnings in rural Kentucky to country music legend,” reads a press release. “The stage adaptation will include songs from Loretta’s career and share stories from Loretta’s life beyond the film’s ending.”

Lynn left an inspiring country music legacy when she died in 2022 at age 90. Among the new stage show’s collaborators are consulting producers Patsy Lynn — the Grammy winner’s daughter and manager — and Nancy Russell, her longtime advisor.

“We are so grateful to see that our mother's life story and music will continue to touch the hearts of audiences and remain an important statement of the American dream,” said the family of Lynn in a statement, adding that the singer-songwriter herself approved of Foster playing her onstage. 

“As one of the last creative projects our mom was so passionate about, we are thankful that she had the opportunity to experience the initial stages of Sutton's sincere portrayal,” continues the statement. “Mom absolutely fell in love with her and thought she was just the right person to play her onstage. The family is moved by this incredible team's commitment to her legacy."

The Coal Miner’s Daughter film was a critical and commercial hit, winning Spacek an Oscar and earning a Best Picture nomination. News of a stage adaptation has circulated before; in 2012, Lynn announced that Zooey Deschanel would play her in a Broadway production that never came to light.

Foster will earn her 15th Broadway credit for The Coal Miner’s Daughter. She last appeared as Princess Winnifred in 2024’s revival of Once Upon a Mattress, and earned her seventh Tony nomination in 2022 for the Hugh Jackman-starring revival of The Music Man.