Make 'Em Laugh! Cinderella's Santino Fontana 'Wasn't Impressed' the First Time He Saw His Musical Obsession Live

Valentine’s Day is a yearly celebration of love—so what better way to mark the holiday than by asking stage stars to reminisce about the musical that sparked their love of theater? Read on for a treasure trove of musical memories and inspirational stories from your favorite Broadway actors.

SANTINO FONTANA (Prince Topher in Cinderella)

Musical that sparked my love of theater:
Singin' in the Rain. My grandfather would take me to Blockbuster and pick out his favorite movies he wanted to see; and then I'm pretty sure he'd just keep rewinding the tape and playing it, so I would stay glued to the TV and he could get stuff done. But I remember being obsessed with those short vaudeville scenes. I had never seen live theater, and it seemed so immediate and exciting.

My first memory of this musical was:
Sitting on my grandparents' living room carpet with my mouth open. Probably eating. Something I shouldn't have been.

The closest I came to performing in the musical was:
I think I saw a tour of the stage production of it with my family when I was 11. I wasn't impressed. Hahahaha! Gene Kelly is hard to beat. In college, we had to take a circus class, and I devoted a solid 10 minutes to learning how to do that Donald O'Connor backflip.

The most romantic song from the show Is:
I think "You Are My Lucky Star" is pretty great. And, of course, the title song ain't too bad either.

Click here for other theater stars' Showmance stories.