Santino Fontana
Encyclopedia
Santino Fontana is an American
stage actor
, director, and composer. Fontana graduated Richland High School in Richland, WA in 2000. His Broadway
debut was Sunday in the Park with George
in 2007. Fontana originated the role of Tony in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot
from October 1, 2008 to July 4, 2009. He was awarded the 2010 Drama Desk Award
for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his work in Brighton Beach Memoirs
. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota
/Guthrie Theater
BFA
Actor Training Program, class of 2004.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, director, and composer. Fontana graduated Richland High School in Richland, WA in 2000. His Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut was Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical was inspired by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat...
in 2007. Fontana originated the role of Tony in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot
Billy Elliot the Musical
Billy Elliot the Musical is a musical based on the 2000 film Billy Elliot. The music is by Sir Elton John, and book and lyrics are by Lee Hall, who wrote the film's screenplay. The plot revolves around motherless Billy, who trades boxing gloves for ballet shoes...
from October 1, 2008 to July 4, 2009. He was awarded the 2010 Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his work in Brighton Beach Memoirs
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Brighton Beach Memoirs is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon, the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy. It precedes Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound.-Characters:*Eugene Morris Jerome, almost 15...
. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
/Guthrie Theater
Guthrie Theater
The Guthrie Theater is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the result of the desire of Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Oliver Rea, and Peter Zeisler to create a resident acting company that would produce and perform the classics in...
BFA
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
Actor Training Program, class of 2004.
Broadway credits
- "Algernon Montcrieff" in The Importance of Being EarnestThe Importance of Being EarnestThe Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
(revival) (2011) - "Rodolfo" in A View From The BridgeA View from the BridgeA View from the Bridge is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller that was first staged on September 29, 1955 as a one-act verse drama with A Memory of Two Mondays at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway. The play was unsuccessful and Miller subsequently revised the play to contain two acts; this...
(2010) - "Stanley Jerome" in Brighton Beach MemoirsBrighton Beach MemoirsBrighton Beach Memoirs is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon, the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy. It precedes Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound.-Characters:*Eugene Morris Jerome, almost 15...
and Broadway BoundBroadway BoundBroadway Bound is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It is the last chapter in his Eugene trilogy, following Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues....
(revival) (2009) - "Tony Elliot" in Billy Elliot the MusicalBilly Elliot the MusicalBilly Elliot the Musical is a musical based on the 2000 film Billy Elliot. The music is by Sir Elton John, and book and lyrics are by Lee Hall, who wrote the film's screenplay. The plot revolves around motherless Billy, who trades boxing gloves for ballet shoes...
(2008) (originated role) - "Alex/Bather/Soldier", "George" understudy Sunday in the Park with GeorgeSunday in the Park with GeorgeSunday in the Park with George is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical was inspired by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat...
Roundabout Theatre Company (2007) Broadway debut
Other stage credits
- "Joseph" in Sons of the Prophet (2011)
- Perfect HarmonyPerfect HarmonyPerfect Harmony is a Disney movie that is set in the US Civil Rights era. The story highlights the racial tensions of the Black and White populations within a South Carolina town and its private school. The production was filmed at Berry College, and is noted for its soundtrack which featured...
Off-Broadway, Theatre Row (2008) - "Matt" in The FantasticksThe FantasticksThe Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It was produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into...
original Off-Broadway revival cast (2006) *cast recording - "Hamlet" in HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
Guthrie Theater (March 4-May 7, 2006) - "Simon Bliss" in Noel CowardNoël CowardSir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's Hay FeverHay FeverHay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York...
Old Globe Theatre, San Diego (July 14 – August 19, 2007)
- Loves Labour's Lost Chautauqua Theater Company
- On the Verge Chautauqua Theater Company
- 9/11 Project Chautauqua Theater Company
- Once in a LifetimeOnce in a Lifetime (play)Once in a Lifetime is a play by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, the first of eight on which they collaborated in the 1930s.-Plot:The satirical comedy focuses on the effect talking pictures have on the entertainment industry...
Chautauqua Theater Company - As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
Guthrie Theater - Death of a SalesmanDeath of a SalesmanDeath of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was the recipient of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. Premiered at the Morosco Theatre in February 1949, the original production ran for a total of 742 performances.-Plot :Willy Loman...
Guthrie Theater and Gaiety Theatre (Dublin Theater Festival) - La TraviataLa traviataLa traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
Washington East Opera - Six Degrees of SeparationSix degrees of separationSix degrees of separation refers to the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made, on average, to connect any two people in six steps or fewer...
Guthrie Theater (2003) - A Christmas CarolA Christmas CarolA Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
Guthrie Theater