Santino Fontana Steps Into Hello, Dolly! on Broadway March 13

The Tony Award nominee temporarily replaces Gavin Creel in role of Cornelius Hackl.

Santino Fontana steps into Broadway's Hello, Dolly! beginning March 13. The Tony Award nominee temporarily takes on the role of Cornelius Hackl, filling in for Tony winner Gavin Creel while he recovers from back surgery. The role has been played for the past few weeks by understudy Christian Dante White.

“Santino’s an amazing performer,” Creel said. “He'll be absolutely wonderful in the part.” An end date for his engagement has not yet been announced.

The show welcomed a slew of new cast members in January, including three-time Tony Award recipient Bernadette Peters, who replaced Bette Midler in the title role, along with Tony nominee Victor Garber as Horace Vandergelder, Charlie Stemp as Barnaby Tucker, and Molly Griggs as Minnie Fay. The three took over from David Hyde Pierce, Taylor Trensch (who is now starring in Dear Evan Hansen), and Beanie Feldstein.

Fontana, an alum of the CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, is set to headline the musical adaptation of Tootsie, premiere in Chicago this fall before a spring 2019 Broadway Bow. He was last seen on Broadway in 2014 in Act One. His additional stage credits include Cinderella, The Importance of Being Earnest, A View From the Bridge, Billy Elliot: The Musical, and Sunday in the Park With George.

Read: TOOTSIE MUSICAL, BY DAVID YAZBEK, WILL PLAY CHICAGO BEFORE 2019 BROADWAY PREMIERE

Rounding out the principal cast are Tony nominee Kate Baldwin as Irene Molloy, Will Burton as Ambrose Kemper, Melanie Moore as Ermengarde, and Tony nominee Jennifer Simard as Ernestina.

Directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks and choreographed by Tony winner Warren Carlyle, Hello, Dolly! began performances on Broadway on March 15, 2017, and officially opened on April 20, 2017. The production is the winner of four 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical.

Fontana has been a special guest performer on Playbill’s Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Tickets are now on sale for the Broadway on the Rhône River 2 cruise April 7–14, 2019, and the Broadway on the High Seas 10: Odyssey Through the Greek Isles cruise June 24–July 1, 2019. Lineups of top Broadway stars will be announced at a later date. Call Judy Perl Worldwide for tickets at (844) 561-3625. Visit PlaybillTravel.com for booking and information.

