Show People with Paul Wontorek: Santino Fontana of TOOTSIE

Get Tickets to TOOTSIE: www.broadway.c...
TOOTSIE star Santino Fontana discusses bringing the beloved movie to the Great White Way, his quick-change "pit crew" and awards season.
Here are some of the must-read highlights:
ON GETTING HIS DOROTHY MICHAELS LOOK DOWN
“They showed me all of these boards William Ivey Long had in the studio, where he had taken celebrities-Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Tina Fey-women that he felt like I could be related to. But he cut out my face and their face, and there was a whole sequence of photos where he literally combined them-so like my eyes were on their face or their eyes were on my face. He was like, ‘How does this make you feel?’ I was like, ‘Strange?’ He was like, ‘We all thought you would start crying.’”
ON HIS TOOTSIE CAST BFFS
"We really are a family. This cast: we are genuinely friends. We really do hang out. We're going to Medieval Times as a group."
ON TOUGH CONVERSATIONS
“I think of myself as a progressive guy and a feminist. I know a lot of people don’t like labels and that means different things to different people. I am 100 percent in favor of equal rights for all people. If that makes me a feminist, then I am. That said, I don’t know what I don’t know. I feel like a lot of men who are allies don’t want to upset people, and the danger there is we retreat. We back up, and we get silent. Suddenly, we’re doing no different than the people who are actually trying to rewind progress. How do you become a part of the conversation respectfully?”
ON BRINGING TOOTSIE TO BROADWAY
“I don’t think any of us thought it was going to be as funny as it is. Scott Ellis called me three years ago. He called and said, ‘I got this script, will you read it?’ So, I watched the movie then. That part’s great. I’ve gone to the screenplay a bunch. I’m a huge [original Tootsie screenwriter] Larry Gelbart fan. Little Night Music was based on a movie. It just wasn’t as popular. The vast majority of successful musicals that we all can name are adaptations: books, movies, plays-they’re all adaptations.”
ON HIS GLAM SQUAD
“It’s a pit crew. It’s like a village with flashlights. We do fingernails. We do hair. We do makeup. We do glasses, lips, corset, dress, bra, shoes. I really want them to have people follow us. It’s never the same. Something will go wrong. A fingernail will pop, and I have to say “left pointer.” I keep bleeding. We don’t know why exactly. There are eight million props. I get snagged on them. It’s fast. Bing, bang, boom, baby! It’s like a war back there. It’s a war movie. It’s like a war movie! There are people shouting. You can’t really tell which direction you’re facing. There’s smoke sometimes. There’s loud noises. There’s a lot of people. You don’t know who’s on your side and who’s not.”

[@swammi88]

Santino: eloquent conversation about what it really means to be woke and realize how much further you have to go. Paul: mhmm. mhmm.

[@asnalelo.165]

he is so well spoken and he is so honest. love this dude.

[@hpfan]

I got to see him in Cinderella, and I've been a fan ever since. He's such an incredible talent, and he seems like such a genuinely nice dude. Phenomenal interview as always, Paul!

[@abbyvernon8655]

hpfan OMG ME TOO! ❤️❤️

[@IlastarothTayre]

Such a bright, funny, talented man. I could listen to him talking about anything for hours, I'm just so glad I discovered him through Crazy Ex-Girlfriend! Would love to see him live on Broadway someday.

[@gracieliz95]

"The floor is lava. I'm Dorothy Michaels" -Santino Fontana

[@SweetBSS899]

"How dare you-Would you say that to a woman? Hmm-No you wouldn't." And then Paul's look to the camera. 😂😂😂

[@healthyholemealbread]

Sena Ntumy I was just about to comment about that moment!!! But he’s right!!

[@kurtt2689]

I knew him in high school. Lucky me...

[@PabloTheGreat1]

How was he like in high school good sir

[@meizink]

Sad they didn't talked about crazy ex-girlfriend

[@climbinguphill]

That is what I clicked on this interview to find out! I will still watch it because SANTINO

[@sassypants7536]

I know! It's weird seeing him in other projects now, even though he started with Broadway.

[@flannerymonaghan-morris1317]

In all fairness, I think this was before it took off in popularity....

[@itsnonna]

Can we talk bout santinos snapping That was satisfying to watch

[@maxvanhorn]

I lov him

[@scottsummers4234]

He'll get that Tony for sure.

[@stvp68]

Everything is an adaptation-makes me wonder if any of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s show were original material

[@josephgrabowski3360]

Oklahoma was an adaptation of a play! Not sure about the other shows...

[@josielozano7131]

Isn’t he from the crazy ex girlfriend

[@stvp68]

Josie Lozano Yes

[@jonathanlopez6953]

But the reason why some people don't want to see a musical adapted from a certain movie is not that they hate the concept or doesn't want it to happen but rather the over saturation of movies that been adapted to musical in this last few years. For every the full monty and dirty rotten scoundrel, there are Hair, A Chorus Line and, to some degree, Company.

[@SpringZero123]

Is it just me or everytime Santino speaks I hear Hans

[@MrQbenDanny]

He has charisma in the show and that's what the role calls for, you don't have to be Laurence Olivier to do it, it's not MACBETH.

[@tomharris195]

"The bible = your butt?" "Amen."

[@ric-oco655]

Greg 😭😭😭

[@OMGmynameisLILI]

I feel bad for the person that has to follow Santino as Dorothy on Tootsie.

[@GlennPlaysMC]

I think someone misclicked and pressed the dislike button.

[@fredd8556]

He looks like Joy Behar in drag :)

[@MABACTS]

LOL! Now I see it, and I watch The View everyday.