You might not recognize Santino Fontana right away, but chances are, you’ve encountered his work — and his voice — at some point.
The Tony-award-winning actor’s long resume includes Broadway and TV shows, films, audiobooks and more. If you haven’t seen him on the stage performing as Prince Topher in the original Broadway cast of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella or as Michael Dorsey and Dorothy Michaels in Tootsie, perhaps you’ve heard him narrating the hit Netflix thriller You or seen him in TV roles in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
If you haven't seen or heard him in any of those roles though, almost certainly, you’ve heard him voice the evil Prince Hans of the Southern Isles in Disney’s Frozen. He’ll sing the delightful, silly duet “Love is an Open Door” with Iowa State University musical theater student Annika Baker Oct. 5 during his performance with the Des Moines Symphony.
Audiences can expect to hear a series of iconic Broadway standards during the performance, including songs from West Side Story and Cinderella, as well as songs popularized by musical greats, like "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," originally sung by Barbra Streisand and "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home," once sung by Judy Garland.
Fontana added performing with symphonies to his resume about a decade ago, when a music director asked him to perform with a symphony in Alabama. He’s since performed with the New York Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestra as well as top venues like Carnegie Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
“Ever since then, any time an orchestra asks me to sing with them, I say yes, because it’s something so few people get to do, and it’s thrilling,” he said. “I can’t express what it’s like to have a full orchestra behind you.”
Fontana organized the set of songs with Des Moines Symphony Conductor Joseph Giunta, who also added some songs from Fontana’s upcoming solo album that will be sung live for the very first time in Iowa.
“He did a great job of making it very varied and fun,” Fontana said.
Fontana’s performance with the Des Moines Symphony will take place Saturday, Oct. 5 at the Des Moines Civic Center.
Des Moines Performing Arts is an underwriter of IPR.
