Award-winning Broadway star Santino Fontana to appear at T2's 2022 Gala

Broadway, television and film star Santino Fontana is a really big deal—when Carol Burnett was notified she would be receiving Virginia’s Signature Theatre’s Stephen Sondheim Award on May 16, she specifically requested Fontana and Broadway legend Bernadette Peters perform during the awards ceremony. But less than a week before that, Fontana will be on stage right here in Northwest Arkansas, presenting a command performance for TheatreSquared’s Gala for Education and Access.

Fontana swept theatrical awards in 2019 for his performance as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels in Broadway’s Tootsie, earning a Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award. His hilariously villainous turn as Prince Hans’ in Disney’s Frozen means his voice is recognizable by fans of all ages. And he’s been in popular movies and television series like Sisters, opposite Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

“Santino Fontana [is] one of the most promising young actors to emerge in the New York theater in recent years,” wrote The New York Times.

In advance of his Northwest Arkansas appearance, Fontana answered a few questions for us about the importance of theater education, his visit to Arkansas, and the state of theater after a two year pandemic.

TheatreSquared’s Gala for Education and Access is to fundraise for the theater's educational outreach programming. Do you think performing arts outreach is important in the school system and, if so, why?

I grew up in a town where no one made a living as a professional performing artist, so theater and music in education was all I had. I got sucked into performing pretty early on. I think the idea that I could pretend to be anyone I wanted, anywhere, was just too inviting. I did the school plays, made a home movie with my classmates using my backyard as a holding trailer. I don’t know who I’d be now if I didn’t have those formative experiences telling stories, while learning about myself and gaining confidence in the process.

How do you decide what numbers to sing for an event like this?

Well, I spoke to TheatreSquared and wanted to make sure I hit the main points. Every gig is different, though. I’ve done shows entirely made up of requests, and other shows you could set a clock to. This will hopefully be a perfect mix chosen specifically for that evening.

What's it like for you to travel to little pockets of the country like Fayetteville, Arkansas?

I love traveling. I wish I was constantly traveling. I never toured formally in any way, and I wish I had. There’s nothing I like more than dropping in on a place I know nothing about it, and no one there knows anything about me. And getting to perform for a mix of different people is what it’s all about for me, bringing strangers together for a shared experience. Connection.

Will you have time to see anything else in the Northwest Arkansas area while you're here, like Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art?

I hope so. Not sure yet, but I’ll put it on my list. I’ve never been to Arkansas, or much of the south at all, really, so I’m very excited.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the performing arts—how have the last two years altered your career plans?

It’s true. At the end of 2019 I think I had a dozen or so gigs lined up that all got postponed come March 2020. At this point I’ve been able to get back to most of them, although there are a few that went away forever, and a couple others we’re trying to figure out. I think a lot of people underestimate what the pandemic has done to performing artists…because yes, it’s been a challenge for all of us financially, but then you add on top of that the fact that performing is the thing we do that reminds us who we are and fulfills us in ways we otherwise can’t otherwise. That’s what’s been hardest. And thank God we’re starting to come out of that and getting back to doing what we were so used to.

You have such an impressive resume— was there a role or a project that you did where you looked at where you were and thought, wow, I have REALLY made it now?

Thank you, that’s very kind. No. I think, like most actors, I’m always wondering... is it over now? Will I ever work again? Being an actor is a lot like being a scuba diver convinced their oxygen is almost out…we’re all just praying for that next breath. I will admit though, last week I was talking to a director who was asking about what I’ve been up to, and in the last 2 months, I’ve had the honor of performing at Carnegie Hall twice with mentors of mine as well as old friends from theater and Frozen. And later this month I go to DC to sing and celebrate Sondheim and Carol Burnett at her request, with Bernadette Peters. I’m very lucky to have so many “pinch me” moments.