Interview: Antonio Cipriano Talks About Working on STONE CROSSED and IN THE LIGHT Virtually

Grammy winner Antonio Cipriano stars as 'Phoenix' in Broadway's hit show "Jagged Little Pill" inspired by Alanis Morissette's album of the same name. He won the 2017 Sutton Foster Ovation Award for Best High School Theater Actor and was a finalist in the 2017 NHSMTA- Jimmy Awards. He's performed in multiple concerts at Feinstein's 54 Below, including various solo shows. His TV credits include "God Friended Me" on CBS, "City on a Hill" on SHOWTIME and NBC's pilot "Echo."

But that's not all-- in the past year, he's been hard at work on two special cast recordings, both available now from Broadway Records.

Stone Crossed tells the story of two young lovers whose lives are changed forever when they inadvertently cross the divide. Falling instantly in love, Stoney (Cipriano) & Jewel (Krystina Alabado) discover that they are more the same than they are different, despite what they had been taught to believe and start to question what has been painted in stone. Will these stone-crossed lovers choose a shorter life together over a longer life apart?

And in In the Light, A Faustian Tale, the show follows Dr. Johann Faustus (Jeremy Jordan), an astronomer, who is accused of blasphemy by the Holy Inquisition. Guided by a mysterious being called the Traveler, he flees to the small town of Hertz. There he meets a young scholarly woman named Gretchen (Solea Pfeiffer), who shares his goals.

We spoke to Antonio about working on both of these projects in a virtual landscape, collaborating with fellow Broadway stars, and filling the void with beautiful art.

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Let's start with Stone Crossed-- what drew you to this project originally?

I was first reach out to about the project while I was working in Jagged Little Pill and though I was exhausted from doing the show I was so drawn to it because it is, in essence, the classic Romeo and Juliet love story set in the stone age. I thought it was a very interesting and fun concept to play around with and I was very excited to be a part!

Creator Philip David Stern shared that recording had started right before the pandemic shut everything down-what was the transition to remote work on this project like?

Yes! So, we had recorded the first few songs in person before covid shut everything down, and then a few months into the pandemic, Philip reached out again asking where I was located and if I wanted to record more songs for the album remotely.

It was actually surprisingly a very smooth and well thought out process and that is all thanks to Philip and the amazingly talented musicians and music producers we were able to work with recording this.

I recorded most of the songs from a small town in Tennessee with Philip on Skype and another few songs in Los Angeles.

Your role Stoney is played opposite of the character Jewel, played by Mean Girls' Krystina Alabado- what was it like working together on this star-crossed lovers story?

Yes! I love Krystina!!! We had actually been friends for a while and when I heard she was going to be a part of it I was so pumped! Sadly, we never actually got to sing the songs with each other in person but being able to sing along to the recordings was still equally amazing!

Alongside Krystina, this project also features stars from Dear Evan Hansen, The Prom, Heathers, Hamilton, and of course your Jagged Little Pill co-star Celia Rose Gooding. Did you all get a chance to celebrate the album's release?

The show is completely STACKED and I loved every single person who is a part of it. Unfortunately, we were not able to celebrate the release because of Covid but seeing peoples reaction to the album has been a celebration in and of itself!

You also appear on the In the Light album- can you share how that project came together?

I have been with the project since November of 2018 when Michael reached out via direct message for me to send over a tape to audition, and I have since been apart of two workshops and this album so far!

In the track Tomorrow Begins Today, you get to sing alongside Broadway stars Ciara Renée, Jeremy Jordan, and Solea Pfeiffer. How great was it to work alongside these stage stars and the rest of the In the Light cast?

It is truly so humbling to be a part of this insanely talented cast. Sadly, due to Covid, we were not able to record these songs together so I haven't been able to work on the show with any of them except Jeremy as of now. But I cannot WAIT for that day in the future hopefully!!

Both of these albums really show off some great collaboration that came out of the past year during the pandemic. How important are these projects to your journey as an artist?

This year has truly shown us that even if we're hundreds of miles away from each other, we can still be connected through the arts and that very much shines through in these beautiful labors of love. I was lucky enough to be apart of these projects that were able to fill that void of creativeness and togetherness that I'd been lacking throughout quarantine, and I am forever grateful for that.

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Listen to Stone Crossed and In the Light below!