Vulture hit the opening-night red carpet of Pretty Woman: The Musical (a simpler time, a tranquil time, with everyone in high spirits before the review bloodbath) and caught up with actor Santino Fontana, of Frozen, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and, if you are an anxiety-ridden musical theater nerd, your dreams. Though Fontana left CXG at the beginning of season two, his involvement with the show recently became the subject of much speculation (and many a Twitter fan meltdown) after star and creator Rachel Bloom revealed that his character, Greg Serrano, would be returning this season — but “reimagined†in the form of Pitch Perfect heartthrob Skylar Astin. Upon being asked if he has any advice for his replacement, Fontana was nothing but supportive: “I love Skylar! He’s a buddy of mine,†he said, continuing, “We’ve been texting, we’ve got a whole back-and-forth going. We’re brothers from the same mother. That’s what I’m calling it. Brothers from the same mother.â€
It’s certainly easy to be magnanimous when your next project is a star vehicle all of your very own: Fontana is stepping into Dustin Hoffman’s pastel pumps as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels in Tootsie, a musical adaptation of the classic 1982 comedy by David Yazbek (fresh off the Tony-sweeping success of The Band’s Visit). When asked if Tootsie was a factor in his departure from CXG, the actor winked at us in the first charming and not-creepy wink we have ever received. Fontana has been attached to Tootsie for years, so we can safely assume there will be no recasting this role with any Pitch Perfect cast members before the show comes to Broadway in the spring. (Stay in your lane, Anna Kendrick! We know what you are capable of! We saw Camp!)