Tony Award winner Santino Fontana known for his Broadway leading roles in TOOTSIE, for the voice of Prince Hans in Disney’s animated feature FROZEN, for his beloved role of Greg on televisions CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND and much more, joins us in Florence at Teatro Niccolini for a concert featuring some of Broadway’s greatest music of the last 100 years and the stories behind them. Accompanied by cherished Broadway performer and maven Seth Rudetsky of Sirius/XM Satellite Radio’s SETH SPEAKS – ON BROADWAY and SETH’S BIG FAT BROADWAY. An evening of Broadway Bliss in Florence like none other.
Santino Fontana
Santino Fontana has cemented himself as one of Broadway’s foremost leading men as well as a formidable screen talent. In 2019, Santino won the Tony Award for “Best Actor in a Musical” for his tour de force performance as “Michael Dorsey”/”Dorothy Michaels” in Tootsie. His dual role also garnered him a Drama Desk and an Outer Critics Circle Award.
He is widely known for lending his voice to the villainous “Prince Hans” in Disney’s Academy Award-winning animated feature, Frozen. He was also seen in Universal Studio’s Sisters, opposite Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
He will soon be seen starring opposite Martin Sheen, Dennis Haysbert, and June Squibb in Lost and Found in Cleveland, opposite Tommy Sadoski in the drama Stalking the Bogeyman, and in the dark comedy Brenda & Billy and the Pothos Plant at the Tribeca Film Festival.
His independent film work includes the romantic comedy Off the Menu, psychological thriller Impossible Monsters, and comedy Papercop, for which he won a Best Actor Award at the Williamsburg International Independent Film Festival.
On television, Santino was featured on Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. He also starred on The CW’s critically acclaimed hour-long musical comedy series, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, as fan favorite “Greg” while appearing on NBC’s drama series Shades of Blue, opposite Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta, simultaneously. Other television credits include Singularity, an FX pilot from producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, as well as roles on Fosse/Verdon, The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, Brain Dead, Mozart in the Jungle, and Royal Pains.
One of Broadway’s brightest stars, Santino is highly regarded for his work onstage. The New York Times wrote, “Santino Fontana [is] one of the most promising actors to emerge in the New York theater in recent years.” Santino received a Tony Nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of “Prince Topher” in Cinderella. His other Broadway credits include his roles in Scott Rudin’s Tony-winning mega-hit, Hello Dolly!opposite Bernadette Peters, as “Moss Hart” in the Tony-nominated Act Oneopposite Tony Shalhoub, The Importance of Being Earnest (Clarence Derwent Award), A View from the Bridge, Brighton Beach Memoirs (Drama Desk Award), Billy Elliot, and Sunday in the Park with George. Santino won a Lucille Lortel Award, Obie Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and Drama League Award for his acclaimed performance in Stephen Karam’s Sons of the Prophet. He also starred as “John Adams” in 1776 and “Elliot Rosewater” in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, both for New York City Center Encores!.
As a vocalist, Santino has performed in jazz venues such as Lincoln Center’s Appel Room and Birdland. As an orchestra soloist, Santino has sung at Carnegie Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and other top-tier venues with symphonies, big bands, and smaller ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
@santinofontana
SETH RUDETSKY
Seth Rudetsky When Broadway shut down, Seth and his native Texan husband James Wesley started hosting the livestream “Stars In The House” which raises money for The Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund). So far, they’ve raised over $1.2 million dollars and recently celebrated their three-year anniversary of the show. Before that, Seth spent many years on Broadway as a pianist and conductor as well as two years as a comedy writer on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” (three Emmy nominations with his co-writers). He is now the afternoon deejay on the Sirius-XM Broadway channel as well as the host of “Seth Speaks.” He performed his show, Deconstructing Broadway, in London, Boston (Irne award), and L.A. (with Barbra Streisand in the audience!). He co-wrote and co-starred in Disaster! (New York Times’ critics’ pick) on Broadway which was licensed by Music Theater International and is being performed around the country. He’s written the books Seth’s Broadway Diary Volume 1 and 2 (Dress Circle publishing) and has also authored two young adult novels My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan and The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek (Random House) and the just available Musical Theatre for Dummies. Seth and James co-produced the “What the World Needs Now Is Love” recording with Broadway Records (number one on iTunes) featuring amazing singers like Jessie Mueller, Carole King, Audra McDonald, Lin-Manuel Miranda and so many more to help the victims and families of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub Shooting. He and James also produce and host the yearly “Voices for the Voiceless” concert to benefit You Gotta Believe which helps older foster kids find families (stars have included Tina Fey and Megan Hilty) as well as producing/hosting 13 Concert For America benefits which help non-profits like National Immigration Law Center and MAACP (stars have included Barry Manilow and Chita Rivera). James and Seth run “Seth’s Big Fat Broadway Cruise” which brings Broadway stars and Broadway lovers together to fabulous destinations!
