Star Profile: The Importance of Being Earnest's Santino Fontana pt. 1

Star Profile:

Name: Santino Fontana

Show: The Importance of Being Earnest

Character: Algernon Moncrieff

Q&A

Q: Where are you from?

A: Victorian England. Can’t you tell?

Q: Can you recall your first big audition? How’d it go?

A: My first big audition?…Well the audition process for HAMLET at the Guthrie was pretty extensive…I think I ended up with either 4 or 5 auditions where I ended up doing all the soliloquies, the closet scene with Gertrude and…I’m forgetting another one. But basically the entire play, and off book, because there’s no other way to do that stuff full out…and the final audition was a 2 1/2 hour session on the big old 1400 seat thrust stage. The last Roundabout show I did, which was my first Broadway job was SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and the day I auditioned for that, I was at home, probably watching The Real World, and my agent called, sounding concerned. ”where are you? Where are you”…”home. why?”…”you just missed your audition for SUNDAY IN THE PARK”…”WHAT audition for SUNDAY IN THE PARK?”—-I had either misplaced the appointment sheet, or there was a mix up in communication and I never knew I HAD an audition. I jumped up, got in a cab, ran into Colony, the music store on 49th) and was looking for any Sondheim song I knew by heart, and found the sheet music to “Not While I’m Around”…didn’t look at it, by the way, just grabbed it, paid for it, ran to the audition room (which is the same room we’re rehearsing in now)…got to the green room, and Stephen Kopel the casting director came out and met me and calmed me down a bit, handed me the sides from the script I’d be reading, and told me to look them over quickly. I did. And just decided “i’ll just flirt with the reader”. Then I realized the sheet music was in a MUCH lower key…really low. But the role I was going in for was more of a baritone anyway, so I thought, that could be fine.

They called me in. And I acted cool as a cucumber. And the character I was going in for, The Soldier, has this silent deaf and mute soldier friend who is always at his side in the show…so I decided to sing this comforting ballad about loyalty and protection to my silent deaf and mute soldier friend as if at the hospital just after he had lost his hearing and powers of speech. And I think I even signed and mouthed the last line of the song. That day I heard I got called back and couldn’t believe it.

Q: Any favorite audition pieces?

A: Lot’s Wife from Caroline or Change. Honestly, I don’t really have any favorite pieces…typically we’re given material from the script, unless its a musical…and I’ll try to find something different for each piece. There was an animated feature I got very close to and for the audition I couldn’t find a song that I thought was perfect–so me and some friends wrote one ourself.

Q: You’re currently in rehearsals for The Importance of Being Earnest, how have they been going?

A: Rehearsals have been great. I’m excited to get in the theater and into those costumes. I play an impeccably dressed and stylish guy, and the design for the show is pretty incredible. I can’t wait to get into that world.

Q: How’s working with Brian Bedford (Director and performing as Lady Bracknell)?

A: Who? Kidding. He’s fantastic. Every day is like a mini master class. I’ve never worked with a director who speaks so specifically about style. And he’s incredibly personable and almost paternal in a great way. It’s very clear that he’s strongly in everyone’s corner and is there to help everyone discover this play and these characters. And he can also always trump anyone by just saying, “Gielgud would tell you to do it this way.”

Q: How do rehearsals and performing effect your social life, if at all?

A: I used to try and shut down everything in my life while I was in rehearsals or performing at night. But that’s too extreme for me…it’s definitely a challenge balancing it all, but I just trust my gut and spend time doing what I feel is needed. The hardest thing is hanging out with friends who aren’t actors, because when the show is up and running, I’m free during the day when they’re working and they’re free at night when I’m working. But it works itself out.

Q: On average, how long do you have to personally prepare for a role before rehearsals begin?

A: Every project is different and I definitely try to mix it up a bit. I don’t think it makes much sense to prepare the same way for different types of work. And I also think there’s a big danger of coming in with a performance or preparation that excludes what’s going on around you. I’m big on absorbing the lay of the land and learning the rules of the playground before I start having opinions.

Stay tuned for the second installment of our Q&A with Santino once performances begin for The Importance of Being Earnest at the American Airlines Theatre on December 17, 2010.