Theater News

Santino Fontana to Adapt and Star in New Version of Roar of the Greasepaint Musical

The production will receive a workshop at the Powerhouse Theater.

Santino Fontana's adaptation of the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd will receive a workshop at Powerhouse Theater.
Santino Fontana's adaptation of the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint — The Smell of the Crowd will receive a workshop at Powerhouse Theater.
(© David Gordon)

Tony nominee Santino Fontana (1776) will adapt and star in a new version of the classic Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley musical The Roar of the Greasepaint — The Smell of the Crowd, to be presented as part of Vassar and New York Stage and Film's summer Powerhouse Theater season.

The musical will be seen as a workshop during the theater's annual summer season of new plays and musicals. Fontana's involvement with the piece comes from a commission by Roundabout Theatre Company.

Running from June 24-July 31, the season will include two full-staged productions: Lucy Thurber's Transfers (June 30-July 10) and Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves (July 21-31). The works will be directed by Jackson Gay and Lila Neugebauer, respectively.

Along with Greasepaint, the musical workshop presentations include a 12-hour marathon performance of material from Taylor Mac's A 24-Decade History of Popular Music on July 30. The piece is codirected by Mac and Niegel Smith. The summer will also include a reading of Lorien Haynes’ new play Good Grief, directed by John Slattery (Mad Men), and a reading of Sacred Valley, a play by How I Met Your Mother star and Powerhouse regular Josh Radnor.

The season will also provide a private artistic residency for the new musical Head Over Heels, with a book by Jeff Whitty and music by the Go-Go’s, directed by Michael Mayer with musical supervision by Tom Kitt.