Tonys Tuesday: Fontana, Osnes discuss 'Cinderella' story
- Roles of Cinderella and prince score Osnes her second Tony nod%2C Fontana his first
- Both enjoy watching the %22enchanted%22 kids in their audiences
- Fontana says he has %22no prayer%22 of winning%3B %22I%27m going to be drinking%2C%22 he quips
It's a very lucky couple that gets to live happily ever after eight times a week. For Laura Osnes, 27, and Santino Fontana, 31, who play Cinderella and her prince in Broadway's Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, the icing on the wedding cake was a pair of Tony nominations, for leading actor and actress in a musical.
The nomination is Osnes' second; she was a contender in the same category last year for playing a rather less wholesome character in Bonnie and Clyde. It's the first for Fontana, who has won other prestigious awards in dramatic roles on and off-Broadway.
At a recent gathering of fellow contenders, the two shared a chair — "She is so skinny," Fontana remarked of his co-star — and some chat.
Q: What was your reaction when you learned that you were both nominated?
Osnes: The nomination for best actor came first. I was thrilled to hear your name — I started crying. Then they read my name, and I started crying.
Fontana: I was sleeping. I had a concert at Carnegie Hall that night. So my girlfriend told me, and I was like, "Oh, yay!"
Osnes: Your phone didn't explode?
Fontana: It did, but I slept through it. I sleep through everything.
Q: I brought my 5-year-old daughter to your show — she gave it an excellent review — and we noticed a lot of kids there.
Osnes: The kids are enchanted. One night, I made my first entrance, I remember, and a girl in the front said, "That's Cinderella" — I heard her say it.
Fontana: There was a little boy a few shows ago who walked down the aisle and stood at the lip of the stage — for the whole show. And no one stopped him. It was like, yeah, he's fine there.
Osnes: The girls come in their little princess dresses and tiaras. I saw one dancing in the front row during the ball scene. And the adults love it.
Fontana: It's a great traditional story, with a modern twist — with humor and spectacle and romance. There's something that everyone can connect to.
Q: You're playing one of the most famous couples in fiction, really — that must be fun.
Osnes: It's true. Cinderella and the prince — they're iconic. The ballgown, the glass slippers. He has a princely sash.
Fontana: And a sword.
Osnes: And armor.
Q: Have you thought about preparing an acceptance speech?
Fontana: No. I'm very aware of the brilliance in the category I'm in. Please — there will be no prayer (of my winning).
Osnes: I'll probably write down a list of names to make sure to thank, if I get up there.
Fontana: You should. I'm going to be drinking.
Osnes: Did he say that?
Fontana: No. It'll be fun. She doesn't drink.
Osnes: I drink a little ...
Fontana: She doesn't, at all! Just edit out anything that makes me look bad.