Give Santino Fontana the Tony. — Page 2

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#26

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 11:35am

Mike Barrett said: "Believe me, with the snark on this board, I won’t bother starting any thread ever again!"

That is the thought process anyone should have when starting a new thread here. Should I even bother? That's the level of reticence we need!

#27

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 11:42am

I have not seen two of the nominees yet, so I will not comment on whether he does or does not deserve it vs. some other nominee.

Re Tootsie, as time goes by, I find myself disliking it more and more, my disinterest driven by the awful score. Because of that. I would rather have seen it as a straight play.

I thought Fontana was fine in the role -- probably could not have been better, given what he had to work ,i.e., bad music, unimaginative direction, choreography constrained by the limitations the music. I think the lack of good musical material limited his performance; and, as a result, I don't think he would be a sure thing in a season with better musicals.

Looking back over the last decade, were the show presented in any of those seasons, I think I would have voted for him maybe once: in 2015 (I hated Fun Home and am not a homophobe).

#28

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 11:48am

Everyone's allowed their opinion. I've seen all the performances, and I'd give it to Brooks hands down, but that's me. Brightman earns it more than Santino, in my personal opinion. But I totally get seeing an impactful performance and being 1000% invested.

#29

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 11:51am

Not going to quote the snarky poster, since they never add anything to the conversation on here except to be snarky and rude, but this was a harmless thread for fun discussion. Since I didn’t see all the shows, should I even watch the Tony’s, with your logic? Since I haven’t seen them I guess I can’t have any investment in them! Man these boards suck. Been fun y’all but honestly I’m done here. Way too many trolls who can’t seem to not click on, read, and comment on a thread that they don’t enjoy.

#30

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 11:57am

My gays and I were debating this at brunch last weekend (yass gay brunch). We were about 50% Brooks and 50% Santino. I'm personally team Santino. I loved Tootsie and I loved how extra his Michael was compared to Dorthy. I do think I'm a little bias because I hated The Prom.

I should’ve been Blac Chyna.

#31

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 12:10pm

His Michael is just a boring, boring character, and he brought nothing to the role to make us root for that character. It doesn't help that he doesn't get any really great songs, like the other characters do. I think we'll see that many, many actors will take this part and run with it and it's not just his take on it. But, whatever. He's still going to win since he's the title character, and people seemed to have liked it. I think Brooks brings so much more to a weaker show and elevates the material.

#32

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 12:37pm

I disagree about his Michael - I've known people in real life who act just like that so I found it pretty funny. I was so annoyed by everything during The Prom so I can't really remember anything about Brooks. Literally the only thing I remember loving about the show was the dancing.

I should’ve been Blac Chyna.

#33

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 12:54pm

Mike Barrett said: "Not going to quote the snarky poster, since they never add anything to the conversation on here except to be snarky and rude, but this was a harmless thread for fun discussion. Since I didn’t see all the shows, should I even watch the Tony’s, with your logic? Since I haven’t seen them I guess I can’t have any investment in them! Man these boards suck. Been fun y’all but honestly I’m done here. Way too many trolls who can’t seem to not click on, read, and comment on a thread that they don’t enjoy."

*Tonys

#34

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 12:57pm

I think Santino has the edge, but there isn't a weak one in that category, so I'd say we're pretty spoilt for choice there.

"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008

#35

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 1:13pm

Very interesting to read this thread and see how across-the-board these opinions are.

Funnily enough, I actually thought Santino was much better as Michael than as Dorothy. While neither “character” was particularly interesting, Michael seemed more in line with Santino’s skill set as an actor. Meanwhile I feel like there are tons of actors who could have done a better job with Dorothy. Whenever he was Dorothy, I kept thinking “ok, so he put on a dress and is doing a voice - so what? There’s nothing else there.” And BTW I’m saying this as someone who generally really likes him. He was my favorite part of the Cinderella revival, and his performance in God Bless You Mr Rosewater was phenomenal. But for me, this just wasn’t his role.

Meanwhile I hated The Prom, but Brooks was one of the only aspects of the show I DID like, and he’s actually my pick to win. Plus, he’s been delivering consistently strong Performances on Broadway for years, and rarely, if ever, has he gotten a role that really lets him take the spotlight like this one.

I also wouldn’t mind seeing Damon win, or really any of the nominees over Santino to be honest.

#36

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 1:21pm

Mike Barrett said: "Since I didn’t see all the shows, should I even watch the Tony’s, with your logic? Since I haven’t seen them I guess I can’t have any investment in them!"

There is no prequisite to watch the Tonys. For a lot of people, it is their first sense of what is even playing on Broadway. Not sure why it is so outlandish and disconcerting to suggest one needs to see five things to pick which of those things is the best. A lot of people who only saw Black Panther thought it should win Best Picture, so certainly not a new thing.

That said, it is also a bit silly to think art can be ranked to begin with, which is why I just enjoy the night and am happy with whomever wins. Everyone in a Broadway show already won...

#37

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 2:20pm

I think y’all are being a little bit hard on Mike Barrett.

If you re-read the original post, the point is clearly to praise Santino’s performance on its own terms, with the Tony comment just being a means of expressing how great he is. Correct me if I’m wrong Mike, but it seems like your point was more along the lines of “Santino is giving a Tony-worthy performance and therefore I hope he wins” and NOT “I know for a fact that nobody deserves it more than Santino.”

It’s not so unreasonable to see a performance and consider it win-worthy without having seen the other nominees. Because it is possible for more than one nominee in a category to be giving a performance that is good enough on its own terms to warrant a Tony Award.

Whether or not that person deserves a Tony MORE than everyone else is a different question, and for that I think you need to have seen all nominees. But that didn’t really seem to be Mike Barrett’s intention.

#38

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 3:36pm

JBroadway said: "I think y’all are being a little bit hard on Mike Barrett.

If you re-read the original post, the point is clearly to praise Santino’s performance on its own terms, with the Tony comment just being a means of expressing how great he is. Correct me if I’m wrong Mike, but it seems like your point was more along the lines of “Santino is giving a Tony-worthy performance and therefore I hope he wins” and NOT “I know for a fact that nobody deserves it more than Santino.”

It’s not so unreasonable to see a performance and consider it win-worthy without having seen the other nominees. Because it is possible for more than one nominee in a category to be giving a performance that is good enough on its own terms to warrant a Tony Award.

Whether or not that person deserves a Tony MORE than everyone else is a different question, and for that I think you need to have seen all nominees. But that didn’t really seem to be Mike Barrett’s intention. "

Exactly, this was meant to be a harmless thread. This is why I’m getting sick of it here, just no conversation and people always trying to belittle each other. Too toxic tbh, just sucks the fun out of theatre for me lately to be honest. I’m all for different opinions and debate but that’s not what it’s like here, often. Too much snark for me I guess, oh well. Taking a break from here for sure.

#39

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 4:04pm

Agreed, I’ve said it before, but wish his Dorothy was more of a LuPone type character. And the voice he uses is kind of awful.

#40

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 4:39pm

JBroadway said: "I think y’all are being a little bit hard on Mike Barrett.

If you re-read the original post, the point is clearly to praise Santino’s performance on its own terms, with the Tony comment just being a means of expressing how great he is. Correct me if I’m wrong Mike, but it seems like your point was more along the lines of “Santino is giving a Tony-worthy performance and therefore I hope he wins” and NOT “I know for a fact that nobody deserves it more than Santino.”

It’s not so unreasonable to see a performance and consider it win-worthy without having seen the other nominees. Because it is possible for more than one nominee in a category to be giving a performance that is good enough on its own terms to warrant a Tony Award.

Whether or not that person deserves a Tony MORE than everyone else is a different question, and for that I think you need to have seen all nominees. But that didn’t really seem to be Mike Barrett’s intention. "

My impression, Mike, is that you had just seen the show and were wowed by Fontana's performance. Because of the thread title and the fact that the Tonys are 2 days away, people - including me - were focused on the 'Santino should win' idea instead of the 'Santino gave a great performance' message.

I too enjoyed the show, more than I was expecting, and thought Fontana did a fine job - at times because he acts so well with his co-stars and often when he wasn't speaking. (Robert Horn does let him down in a couple of key scenes, I thought, but his overall book was funny enough that I didn't mind.)

#41

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 9:21pm

Mike Barrett said: "Believe me, with the snark on this board, I won’t bother starting any thread ever again!"

For what it's worth (which, I am fully aware, is nothing to the vast majority of people on these boards), I thoroughly enjoyed Tootsie and Santino Fontana's performance. I've seen it twice. I'd be delighted to see him win Sunday night.

I've seen many of the other nominated performances and think, as usual, there are good arguments to be made for all them with regard to the Tonys.

To all those inclined to jump on me for favoring Santino: I respect your theater experience and expertise. I learn a lot from you. But I learn from the critics, too, and many of them gushed about how good he is in the role.

#42

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 9:21pm

Duplicate.comment. Please delete.

Updated On: 6/7/19 at 09:21 PM

#43

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/7/19 at 10:37pm

Mr Fontana does an amazing job of taking a star creating role and making it into one of the more bland performances of the past few years.

#44

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/8/19 at 3:48am

He did what he could with the LAUGHABLE book.

#45

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/8/19 at 8:38am

the book is about to win a TONY. what are you talking about? The secondary characters are brilliant in TOOTSIE while the 2 leads are like watching paint dry up there.

#46

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/8/19 at 9:02am

I agree for me, it was probably one of the worst performances of the season. I’m not sure if he was sick when I saw it, but his voice was off the whole time. I mean the show itself didn’t really thrill me at all. In fact, I was pretty bored from the moment it started ‍ But to each their own, right!

#47

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/8/19 at 10:05am

His vocals weren’t great when I was there - at least singing the headvoice stuff. Just frustrates me that he will now be a Tony Award winner because the category is so weak.

#48

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/8/19 at 12:27pm

massofmen said: "the book is about to win a TONY. what are you talking about?"

And that is SO SAD.

#49

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/8/19 at 12:33pm

All the Tootsie hate in this thread is grating. Santino is giving an excellent performance and the book is miles away the best of the season.

#50

Give Santino Fontana the Tony.

Posted: 6/8/19 at 12:46pm

Yeah, I loved Santino’s performance and think he’s easily the best in the category. I think the book absolutely deserves its win too, I can’t think of a better one from this season.

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