Steffi DiDomenicantonio Has Some Hot Takes on Musical Theatre in Canada
About This Episode:
This week on Stageworthy, Phil talks with Steffi DiDomenicantonio: actor, musical theatre artist, and Canadian Idol alumna better known as Steffi D. From the very first question, the conversation takes off into a frank and energetic discussion about the state of musical theatre in Canada: the shortage of venues, the lack of homegrown stars, the price of tickets, and more.
Guest: 🎤 Steffi DiDomenicantonio
Montreal born and Ottawa raised Steffi DiDomenicantonio is a bilingual Dora Award nominated performer who has appeared on stages and screens for almost 20 years. Most notably, she played the role of Ilse over 600 times in 44 cities in the first Broadway national tour of Spring Awakening, was a Top 5 finalist on Season 4 of Canadian Idol and performed the role of Janice & Others in the original Canadian cast of the smash-hit musical Come From Away over 1,300 times in Canada and on tour in the United States.
Her other favourite theatre credits include leading lady turns in productions of Cabaret, Next to Normal, The Last Five Years, The Addams Family, The Rocky Horror Show, Cinderella, Rock of Ages and the Heated Rivalry musical.
On the small screen, she has appeared in over 60 TV shows, movies and commercials including Transplant, Frankie Drake, The Umbrella Academy, Mayday, Star Trek, Crawford, Murdoch Mysteries, Stage Fright (with Meatloaf) and Chucky.
Steffi was named after tennis legend Steffi Graf and she is a proud Italian French-Canadian musical theatre nerd slash Liza Minnelli lookalike who loves karaoke, trivia, thrifting, horror movies, poutine and Taylor Swift, all at once or separately and in no particular order. Her current record breaking DuoLingo streak is over 1,545 days long.
Connect with Steffi
🌐 Website: http://www.steffid.ca
📸 Instagram: @steffid5
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Transcript
[Phil Rickaby]
Hello, welcome to Stageworthy. I’m Phil Rickaby, the host and producer of this podcast. Stageworthy is Canada’s theatre podcast, and on Stageworthy, I talk to theatre makers of all kinds, from actors to directors to playwrights.
If they make theatre in Canada, I talk to them. Some of the people I talk to are household names, and the rest are people that I really think you should get to know. Before we get into today’s guest, a couple of things that I do want to talk about in the new year, the 500th episode of Stageworthy will be coming out, which is a big deal.
It’s a milestone for this podcast for me as a host, as a producer. I want to celebrate it, and there are ways that I’m thinking about doing it and still working out the details of what that 500th episode is going to be. But if you want to help me celebrate, you could help me to raise awareness of this podcast.
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There is a link at ko-fi.com/stageworthy. And you can leave a one time contribution to helping me keep this show going. All right, that’s that’s more than enough housekeeping for now.
Let’s get into today’s guest. My guest this week is Steffi DiDomenicantonio, better known to some as Steffi D. Steffi is an actor, a musical theatre artist, a Canadian Idol alumni, recently celebrating the day that she was voted off of Canadian Idol, which we will talk about in the episode.
I love this conversation. There’s some I mentioned last week, there’s some hot takes in this episode. And I love when we get to have some really great conversations about about theatre and theatre in Canada.
So yeah, I think you’re gonna like this one. And this is my conversation with Steffi DiDomenicantonio. Steffi DiDomenicantonio, thank you so much for joining me.
I really appreciate it.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Phil, thank you so much for having me. I love having an excuse to talk about theatre and musical theatre and everything on stage and off.
[Phil Rickaby]
Absolutely. That sounded so like we hadn’t said that before. Perfect.
But speaking of musical theatre, there aren’t enough venues. I don’t think there are enough venues for that in Canada. We have the Mirvish Productions, which does the mostly touring productions with the occasional sit down.
Theatre Aquarius and the occasional theatre that’s doing some and just it but there aren’t enough venues for how do you see the health of the industry as far as musical theatre goes?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
You know, it’s so funny, Phil, it’s like you’re reading my mind because I was literally just talking to my friends about this very issue like the other day.
[Phil Rickaby]
Okay, what’s the what’s the what’s the the verdict?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Okay, so here’s here’s what I think. Okay, this may sound harsh.
[Phil Rickaby]
Okay.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
But I think that musical theatre in Canada needs to get its shit together.
[Phil Rickaby]
You know, I think sometimes tough love is important. You know, when you love something, it’s important to be able to talk critically about it. And I think that you’re right, because I, you know, when I was in theatre school in the very olden days of the 1990s, we had at that point, Phantom of the Opera was in its who knows what year, I think when I started theatre school, Les Misérables was in its second year at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.
There was like this really robust setting of like all of these shows that were produced in Canada and sitting for a long time. And then those shows closed, and it’s like that never happened again.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yeah, I yeah, and I’m sorry that I literally just said like, I think Canada needs to get their musical theatre like act together like they need to get there. But I do want to elaborate a little bit. I would love to elaborate.
No, please. Yeah. Let’s talk about it.
I really do think that like, look, New York City, we got Broadway, we have like a whole tourist attraction that’s literally just like theatre, musical theatre, new ideas getting put on stage literally constantly all the time. You have like, tons of writers, tons of talent, like just tons of stuff like getting produced all the time. And I think that in Canada, we have like the Mirvish stages, which I’ve been lucky enough to perform on.
We haven’t like had other than the Mirvi, as I love to call them plural. We don’t have like a lot of opportunities for new musicals or for like funding to do said new musicals. And like often we’re getting stuff from the States often we’re getting I just feel like we have so much room to grow here when it comes to musical theatre.
I think we have a great theatre scene here. I really do think that like, I love Soulpepper and Canadian Stage. I think they put on like some really, really great stuff.
But I find that like, we need to start encouraging talent here to like, write, write more and produce more and like, and and encourage musical theatre nerds and fans everywhere to like make Toronto an attraction. Like, hey, come to Canada, come to Toronto, and come see all the amazing Canadian stories we’re putting on stage or for some reason, I just feel like Canada doesn’t champion as much like some new ideas. There’s just a smaller market.
[Phil Rickaby]
It’s not just a smaller market. We don’t have the venues.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Fair.
[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, you know, I was talking with a friend of mine who has been living in in New York for the last six years. And I was like, so you’ve been like, ensconced in the theatre scene in New York. And what’s the what is the what do you notice there is a difference between Toronto and and Canada, or Toronto and New York.
And she said, it’s the venues. There are so many venues, not just for there’s all of all these indie spaces, but then you have all kinds of places where you can workshop a show. There’s all kinds of spots where you can do this.
And we fund things very differently between the two places.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yes, correct. Yeah, I agree with that wholeheartedly. I just I yeah, I’ve always been you know, you sent me your little questionnaire before we did this, this podcast.
And, you know, I kind of wrote, you’re like, do you want me to know anything or whatever? And I was like, I’m actually moving into the film and TV era of my life. I think because listen, I love I love working in Canada.
And I love musical theatre. I love theatre here. But again, I find that the opportunities are not as bountiful as elsewhere in the world.
And we have a booming film and TV scene here. So many American shows come and shoot here for so many incredible opportunities. And yeah, it’s taking me a long time to kind of like readjust to be on camera.
But yeah, it’s funny. I yeah, I hate to say it because I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer about this. I’m I’m the biggest supporter of theatre in the live arts and musical theatre.
But yes, I think because of the lack of venues and kind of like the lack of maybe like championing new works. I think we’re just we just we just need to we just need a boost. We need we need something.
[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, no, absolutely. And you know, we have, you know, the musical stage does its best to, like to try and and give new musicals a chance and new composers and new teams the opportunity to to get stuff written and out there. But then it’s like, what’s the path?
What’s the path to getting it on the stage?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
You know, what is the path? Yeah, totally. Yeah.
And the other thing is, that’s interesting is like, why do you think in America, because I have a fear about this. Why do you think in America, we you know, they they’re able to make like superstars and like musicals like people like really, really care about the theatre artists in New York City? And listen, I have a hypothesis that honestly, I’ve only told a few people about, but I really do think all these years I’ve been correct.
[Phil Rickaby]
I’m curious. I would love to hear this because I feel like I have my own suspicions and might be on the same page. So.
So let’s go.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
OK, so. OK, so let’s do this because OK, here’s what I think is missing when it comes to making our theatre artists here, as well as our film and TV Canadian artists here, like famous, like skyrocket to like world levels of fame. We don’t have tabloids here.
[Phil Rickaby]
Is that what you were going to say? That’s absolutely not what I was going to say. That’s so far from what I was going to say.
It’s so insane. I get it. I get it.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
OK, please hear me out. I really do think that like America has mastered the art of gossip and and people love following celebrity in a way of like, what’s that person? And look, I worked in America a couple of times.
I was on the Spring Awakening tour when I was 19 to 21 years old. And I also went on tour with Come From Away. And I think what I noticed is that people get like interested in who the people on stage are, like what their personal lives are.
They get attached. They get like, I don’t know. And I really do think it’s because of like there’s tabloids, there’s gossip, there’s people like wanting to know about.
And I feel like in Canada, we’re really, really polite. And I think we’re like never trying to get information from people’s lives because I think we’re too polite. And I really do think that if we were more honest about being curious about what’s on behind the scenes, maybe we would have more like die hard fans.
[Phil Rickaby]
You know what? I think that I think that’s definitely part of it. I also think that producers should be putting names at the top of the poster.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Okay, so was that what you were going to say?
[Phil Rickaby]
I was gonna be really cynical and say that the producers don’t want it like, because it keeps the price down. We don’t they don’t want celebrities, right? Because then they have to pay for celebrity.
Yes. But you could at least put people’s names on the goddamn poster.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yeah, you know what would be really, really cool. Because honestly, when I look at Stratford and Shaw, every time I go to Stratford and Shaw every year, I’m seeing their stars like stars of the festival. And that’s usually pushed, I will say like, it’s like, come see Sara Farb funny girl, like, you know what I mean?
Like, and that’s great. And that’s amazing. I just think we need to be doing that everywhere and like pushing that.
And yes, I agree with you. I think that the more that we start seeing names, but again, like when that kind of go hand in hand with the tabloid thing, like, oh my god, like, come see Steffi D in this. And like, let’s like run this like, gossip piece about how she had so many showmances and this now.
Come and see her and see if she’s gonna have another one. Like, this is what I mean. Like people might get interested like, oh my god, like, did you hear like this girl that like always dates her co stars is like in this thing.
And she’s doing this love story. And like, will they won’t they? Like, I don’t know.
But yeah, maybe maybe a bit of both.
[Phil Rickaby]
I think it can’t hurt. And I think, I think, you know, too many of our theatres, like, I’m thinking, you know, yes, Stratford Shaw, they have their those names out there. They’re like, say, you know, they’re, they’re really, you know, for funny girl, it’s like Sara Farb’s name is absolutely right.
That’s right. In Stratford, you’ve got so many of the names everywhere. When, when when Paul Gross in something, they put his name everywhere.
André Sills’s name is everywhere. And then we look at a lot of our other theatres. And the show name is there.
And the actors names if they’re there at all, small print at the bottom.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
And you know, the other thing that I’d love to bring up is that again, I think like being an actor for like now professionally almost 20 years. Oh my god, where did the time go? How old am I?
I’m having an existential crisis currently. I just go like, why? Why are we not championing our artists?
And like, you know, we’re seeing a lot of similar is and I feel like, again, Stratford and Shaw, like I love that they always do photo shoots, like their posters for the shows are always are always the people who are going to be in it and you start recognizing, recognizing the faces. And you know, the other thing that I’ve learned over the 20 years of being professional kind of actor is that like, sometimes actors, I feel like are sometimes treated like we’re at the bottom of the barrel a little bit, even though we’re the people selling the product, you know, and I feel like that kind of also feels like that has to change because and I think that would help with maybe selling shows and selling, you know, musicals and going like, come see this specific person play this part. Like, this is a really big deal. Yeah.
I don’t know. I’m so glad we’re getting into this. I really do think you read my mind.
Like, I was like, I have so much to say about this.
[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, it’s it’s so it’s such a big topic, because I do also think it also ties in. I think why theatres are able to get away with not putting names on the poster is because Canadian culture has always suffered from what they refer to in Australia and New Zealand as cultural cringe, which was like our stuff isn’t as good as the stuff from the UK and the US. And when people would see because we used to it used to be that if you would be like if you were a regular person and you were like, here’s a Canadian show and an American show, you’d be like, well, obviously the American show, that’s the one I’m going to see because it’s obviously better because the Canadian show that’s Canadian.
And we still kind of we still suffer from that in a lot of ways.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Well, you know, I will also say this. I do really think that there was a pre 9-11 and a post 9-11 world in Canada and Toronto because we talked about it a lot when I was on Come From Away that that tourists from America used to come to Toronto all the time because their dollar went so much further in Canada. So I think one of the main things that like Mirvish really thrived in was like, come see the commercial shows here.
It’s cheaper. It’s just as good. And yeah, this cultural cringe thing itself.
I don’t know if I’ve ever like actually heard that specifically.
[Phil Rickaby]
The phrase the phrase is not ours. The phrase is one that they’ve that they used in Australia and New Zealand. But it kind of amounts to the same thing here.
Yeah. OK. It’s like when you have somebody who they, you know, they might work in Canada for a long time and they’ll go to the they’ll go to the States, they’ll do a show in New York and they have a successful show in New York and they come back and everybody’s like, well, now they’re have you heard of this new guy, this new guy who’s all this stuff?
He did this thing in New York. And then we celebrate that person.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yes. And, you know, like it’s so funny you say that. I was shooting a TV show with an actress who’s Canadian, and she told me that exact story.
She said nobody was casting me as leads here in Toronto in in movies. She meant more so. But she went and then I moved to L.A. and the first job I got was a lead in a Toronto series. So I had to fly back. But it’s like I’ve heard that story time and time again of going like we don’t take people that seriously unless they try like New York City or L.A. or whatever. I don’t think that’s that’s correct.
[Phil Rickaby]
Right. Well, we also we also have this this thing, you know, you’re talking about like like film and television that’s shooting in in in Toronto and in Canada. Every time I see one of those shows, I start to look.
I’m like I start to get curious, like, all right, who in this cast is Canadian? And it’s almost never any of the regular cast. And it’s mostly people who are like waiter number one and secretary number two.
And it it ends up not being like we have the talent here, but those shows don’t use that talent.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yes, I think I would like mostly agree with that, too. I think the union is working on that, like the actor union working to get like more opportunities to our people here for bigger parts. That’s a whole other story.
But yeah, you know, I once had a coach tell me this many, many, many years ago, and I never forgot it. But but the Canadian theatre and film and TV industry kind of got described this way, like working as an actor in Canada is kind of like a ladder on the ground. You can move around on the ladder, but you’re neither going up nor down.
[Phil Rickaby]
Okay.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
It’s like a ladder on the ground. I think like elsewhere in the world, master the art again of just like, they create stars like even in Quebec, because I’m French Canadian, if I can throw that in. Quebec has like this crazy star system.
They like push their people like hard. And people in like Quebec, know people’s names who are in musicals in theatre, who are gonna do a TV show. And then from the TV show, they cast somebody in theatre.
And it’s like almost like, yeah, yeah. And I think also, I think New York, particularly like Broadway, I think is doing it. I think there’s also like maybe a problem on the other side of the spectrum, which they’re casting so many celebrities that people who have actually been training for this their entire lives aren’t getting the opportunities they should be getting, which is also problematic.
[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, you can definitely go too far the other way. That’s that’s absolutely another problem. And on the Quebec side, I was just talking when I was talking with Aaron Shields, we were talking about the scene in Quebec.
And we talked about how, you know, people go to the theatre there, it’s an essential part of their lives there, but also talking about celebrity. Do you know the show Taskmaster? I do, what’s that?
The UK show Taskmaster? I don’t think so. It’s this show where every series, they have like five comedians, and they make them do these tasks in a house.
And they bring them into the studio and over 10 episodes, they show the tasks and they rate them. And it’s basically a comedy show. It’s a show for comedians.
But that show has in Australia, in New Zealand, and Quebec.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
I’m telling you, Quebec like knows where it’s at, like legit, every time. Like, every time I go there, I’m just like, I see the names on the posters. This is why I’m saying we need to get our shit together here.
The names are on the posters, even in Quebec. You know what I mean? Yeah, I feel really strongly that we should be making celebrities.
I know maybe the tabloids gossip thing isn’t the best idea in the book, but I really do think that when we get interested in somebody that way, I think we also go, I’m really curious to see, based on their life experience, what they’re going to bring to a certain role.
[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah. I mean, the whole thing with Quebec, Quebec, of course, has celebrities because they’re the national identity within Canada. It’s so important to them.
And that’s the thing, is the difference between the two cultures is one has a very solid essential arts culture, where when there was the suggestion that there might be cuts to art funding, people literally went out on the streets.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yes.
[Phil Rickaby]
And in the rest of Canada, if you talk about cutting arts funding, it’s like, well, okay.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yeah. Why?
[Phil Rickaby]
Well, it’s because English Canada doesn’t see the value, right?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yeah, sure. But here’s the thing that I love about theatre. Here’s the thing that I love about all performing arts, honestly.
It’s the most deeply human thing. And the thing is people can say cut arts funding all they want, but what are you doing at the end of the day after you’re nine to five? You’re probably watching television or you’re counting on people to entertain you.
And guess what? Takes people to do that. You know what I mean?
And I do also think my other qualm with Canadian theatre right now across the board is we need to make ticket prices more accessible. I find that like, it’s just gotten too out of hand. Like even me as an arts worker, like I get arts workers deals, but sometimes I’m like, my friends who live in my building, they love theatre, but sometimes it’s like, I can’t justify the $150 price tag on this ticket.
You know what I mean?
[Phil Rickaby]
This is the problem that we have, especially in this economy. Yes, in this economy. When groceries are getting more and more expensive, then we ask people to come and see a show for $150 or whatever they’re paying for it.
And it’s too much to ask sometimes, you know? There needs to be… I think so too.
You know, I was talking, I have a coworker who lives in Berlin. And in Berlin, every theatre has subsidized tickets and that’s just part of the culture. The government subsidizes a large number of tickets so that they are affordable to people who go to see the show.
And that again, that’s a culture where going to the theatre is an essential part of their everyday. Correct.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yeah. Yeah. I really wish that even, I don’t know how often high schools bring the school, the class to see theatre, but I just feel like I was in a theatre program in high school.
So we were going to see plays all the time at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, where I grew up. But I just go like, you know, right now the audiences are, I would say, older. Based on my experience, they’re older.
It’s something incredible to do when you’re a senior. But we need to start also producing stuff that gets young people excited.
[Phil Rickaby]
I have been having this conversation for 10 years of this podcast, essentially. It’s all well and good to say that theatre is important and we produce important theatre. But that’s like saying, take your vitamins.
It’s good for you. You do it because you should, not because you want to. And we should be giving people, you know, people say, I’ve had people push back saying, what are we just going to do like popcorn stuff like in Hollywood?
I think you could do both.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Absolutely. Yeah. I think we’re getting, sometimes we get too far into the like, sometimes it’s okay for something to be like a hamburger.
You don’t always have to have a filet mignon. You know what I’m saying? Absolutely.
And honestly, if it gets people talking, gets people to the theatre. And may I bring up an example that I think is like perfect for right now. So Alan Kliffer, Canadian guy, you know, moved to New York many, many years ago.
And he’s been producing a whole bunch of stuff, lots of comedy stuff. But he recently, I recently worked with him on the Heated Rivalry musical. And I was like, what an incredible idea to do an unauthorized parody of Heated Rivalry, because look at that.
It’s relevant. People love it. And it’s getting young people in the theatre.
It’s absolutely incredible. We need more thinkers like that, or like people who are have their finger on the pulse going like, sometimes you do have to go with the trends. Like sometimes you should be doing things that’s like, so many young people are going to come see this.
We’re going to change lives. They’re going to be excited. They’ll tell their friends.
Social media is free. Social media is literally free. Imagine if, you know, when I see a lot of theatre companies starting to utilize it more and more, but I just go like, start marketing.
It’s literally free to market your show on social media.
[Phil Rickaby]
100%. You know what I mean? I mean, sometimes you work against the algorithm, but absolutely.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yes.
[Phil Rickaby]
The thing that always strikes me is I’ve spoken with a number of people who are, they’re interested in theatre and they’re on the younger side and they can’t afford theatre. So what do they do? They watch bootlegs on YouTube.
Yes. Now that’s not good, but also if they had the opportunity, would they go see that show? Abso-fucking-lutely they would.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Of course.
[Phil Rickaby]
If they had the opportunity, they would rather see it in person.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yes. And you know, the other thing that’s really cool, I will say, we’re seeing more and more pro shots coming out. Oh yes.
Like, you know, Hadestown and Six just did a pro shot and I just go like, yes. Like even for the people maybe who can’t afford the, you know, a certain bracket of going to the theatre, you can, you know what I mean? 20 bucks to go see a movie, to go see the show, like shot beautifully.
You’re basically, you’ll have the best seat in the house. Like it just go like, this is, and you know, I did go see the Hadestown pro shot. I was shocked.
The theatre was completely sold out. And I was like, where are these people when we’re doing a musical in Toronto? Where are they?
[Phil Rickaby]
Well, those people were in London.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Oh, well, yeah, I guess. But I meant like literally in Toronto, like I was at the Scotiabank Theatre. I was watching Hadestown, the theatre was full and I turned to my boyfriend and I literally said, where are all these people when we’re doing shows?
Like, where are they? Because they were all young.
[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, but they’re looking at the price of the tickets and maybe they haven’t been able to hear about the show, right? Because Mirvish could put its posters on the side of a streetcar and on every subway, but Tarragon, Passe Muraille and Factory sure can’t.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yes, sure. Yeah. It just seems like we don’t have a lot of in-between theatres in Toronto.
It’s like we have our commercial theatres, the Mirvishes, and then we have like mostly independent theatres other than that.
[Phil Rickaby]
But even then we don’t have that many truly independent theatres. We have, again, Theatre Passe Muraille, we have Factory, we have Tarragon, which are three sort of mid-sized theatres. We have Soulpepper.
But the tier below that, there’s only like three truly independent theatre spaces that are affordable for independent artists to use. And that’s another thing that we’re missing is like, people need those affordable spaces to cut their teeth, do something really interesting and cut their teeth on these shows, these things that they’re producing independently.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
I think you’re right. And listen, they always say, like, the advice I’m constantly getting is also like, you need to produce your own work, like write your own stuff, like do this and that and whatever. And that’s correct.
But also, and then what?
[Phil Rickaby]
Well, I was about to say, yes, everybody says write your own stuff. But then then what? I mean, sure, you can go to the Fringe Lottery.
But again, that’s a lottery. And more shows enter that get chosen. And that’s more than ever before in the last few years.
So you’ve got this thing. And if you don’t get selected in Fringe, and then what theatre are you going to do with it?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
And are you self-producing? Is the money out of your pocket? Or are you applying for grants?
Like, there’s just so many things. I will say the other thing about Fringe that I think is really cool is that in the last few years, we’ve seen shows musicals get picked up from Fringe, which is incredible. I think like, I think that’s so cool.
And I think that is a call to action for artists to go, you know what, let me apply for the lottery. And like, maybe all the important people will see my musical and go, I’m gonna…
[Phil Rickaby]
You gotta swing big. And the Fringe is a great place to do it. You know, you have a built in audience, and an opportunity for people to see Absolutely.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yes, totally. I’m so glad we talked about this, Phil.
[Phil Rickaby]
Me too. This is the kind of stuff that, I don’t know if you noticed, this is the kind of stuff that gets me riled up.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Me too. I feel kind of bad. I’m like, all of my Italian is coming out in this moment, because I’m like getting so passionate about it.
But I’m so glad that out of the gate, we talked about this, because it’s like, we need to get our shit together.
[Phil Rickaby]
I think we have to talk about this stuff. And we have to, we’re all passionate about it. And we don’t put that out there.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
We’re so polite and Canadian.
[Phil Rickaby]
Oh my goodness, so polite and Canadian. You mentioned a couple of shows that I do want to talk about. You were talking about doing Come From Away with Mirvish Productions.
But both, I think you did the sit down in Toronto, and you were tooling it around Canada and the US. That show now, I mean, that show now, like every theatre’s doing it right now. It’s like, it’s the show that all the theatres are doing, both in Canada and the US.
You had the unique opportunity to see Canadian audiences experience that show and American audiences experience that show. What was the difference between those two audiences?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
There was a difference. I will say there was a big difference, actually. And I also want to say I saw recently a meme that was like, what did it say?
Oh my god, I’m going to screw this up. It was like 50%. It’s like, right now, you can count that 50% of people have done Come From Away or are about to.
And I think it’s so funny because Come From Away used to be my street cred. Like, you know, people would be like, oh, you’re an actor? What have you done?
Have I seen you in?
[Phil Rickaby]
And you could be like, Come From Away and everybody would be like, oh my god.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yeah. People would be like, oh my god, you were in Come From Away? Like, that’s so cool.
And now like literally all of my friends and my family who aren’t even actors have done Come From Away. Like, honestly. And you know what I also absolutely love?
That a Canadian story. Like, can you believe like David and Irene have created this like enduring, beautiful, like incredible, like world smash hit. It is literally all over the regional theatres now.
It made its rounds everywhere with the original production as well in the UK, in Australia, in America, in Canada. It’s like, honestly, the most, dare I say, the biggest Canadian success story probably of all time for a musical.
[Phil Rickaby]
Probably. I mean, as far as Canadian musicals, you might say Drowsy Chaperone, but I think this has surpassed Drowsy Chaperone.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Sure, Drowsy was amazing too. I think so too, but don’t tell the people of Drowsy Chaperone, I guess. But what was your question again?
Oh, the difference between, yeah. So here’s what I noticed. I think I noticed that in Canada, people were coming in with more of a like, let’s party vibe.
Like it was like, let’s party, our story, we know the Newfoundlanders, you know, we’ve all met a Newfoundlander or dated a Newfoundlander or come across a Newfoundlander or worked with one or whatever. We’re like, and the jokes, honestly, would land kind of completely differently in America. Like the Americans loved the American characters in the show, especially when they would talk about politics.
So those would get huge laughs. And in Canada, those jokes were not getting laughs as much. But I would say overall, the party atmosphere was more present, I would say in Toronto.
And then in America, I think because of, you know, doing so close to home to where 9-11 actually happened, and how many lives were lost and how devastating that time in history was, I think that people come in with more reservation off the go. And then they’re with you like 100% by the end of the story of going like, oh, this is a story. Because can I tell you like, the amount of people I have run into who have not seen Come From Away or heard of Come From Away, which is really weird to me, but sometimes they’ll be like, oh, you’re an actor?
What have I seen you in? Because that happens all the time. And I’ll be like, Oh, have you seen Come From Away?
And they’ll be like, no, what’s that? And I’ll be like, so it’s a musical about 9-11. And they’ll be like, well, you know, like, that is definitely like, it’s a hard in but it’s like, no, but it’s really a 9-12 musical.
It’s about what happened after this great tragedy and all the people coming together. But I would say that overall, like, the Canadian audiences felt more like they were really proud because they they knew I mean, some people knew going in that it was a story about Canadians coming together and like showing human kindness to total strangers. And I think in America, there was more, just more heaviness overall over, you know, like the bits of the show that are like so devastating and just like tear, like tear your heart out of just were more felt kind of like we’re more we’re heavier, even as a, as a cast member, I would say.
[Phil Rickaby]
I can imagine. Yeah, I guess also the other difference is most Canadians have at least been to at least one kitchen party and Americans are on it. They don’t know if the show set in Newfoundland, it’s basically going to be a kitchen party.
And I think I think Come From Away has that kitchen party feel to it in a lot of ways.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Absolutely. I mean, especially I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing any regional productions yet. I’ll say yet, because I do want to see some, but our original production, especially I find, because there’s no set really, we’re looking at like chairs and tables, actors playing arts.
There’s like really like that sense of community that’s created literally right off the top. Everybody comes out. We sing Welcome to the Rock.
We’re literally welcoming the audience in. There’s no fourth wall. It’s like, you know, it’s a very like it’s a direct story that’s being told like in the moment.
You’re not like a spectator. You’re a part of the story. So it does feel kind of like a kitchen party, I guess.
[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, for sure. I think you said that you’ve done that show at least over 1,300 times. Is that is that right?
Yeah.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Oh, yeah. 13. Yes.
So listen, I lost track of how many times like it got really difficult to keep up with how many shows I had done. But I think I’m a little bit over 1300 times that I’ve done that show. And that’s over the span of like I started it in 2017.
Can you believe that? So like what? And I literally ran the show for like over the span of eight years on and off.
There was a pandemic in the middle. A bunch of stuff happened. It’s kind of crazy where I started like I was 27 years old, like eight years going by and all like all the different things in my life that happened, the babies that were born, not my babies, but like babies in the cast, people got married, people got divorced.
It was like we saw literally so many seasons of each other’s lives in that show, like just the cast. Or, you know what I mean? Like, it was crazy.
We were like a big family and everything that comes with that as well. Like it was pretty crazy experience.
[Phil Rickaby]
Well, when a show runs for a long time, I mean, any show is it becomes a little bit of a family. And the longer a show runs, the the more that family sort of comes together because everybody starts to get to know and on tour as well. Like you’re seeing everybody like your best days and your worst days, you know, and the family gets together and you learn a lot about your castmates.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yes. Yes. I mean, sometimes to the dismay of everyone around you, but I would say, yes, you honestly, we got to all know each other so well.
Like again, like I said, we saw each other through milestones of life. Like it was kind of crazy. Like again, the weddings, the divorces, the babies, the boyfriends, the girlfriends, the like, like honestly, it was it was wild.
Like it was wild. I and what was also really interesting about running a show that long in general was I wasn’t the same Janice in twenty seventeen than I was in twenty twenty five. What year is it?
Yeah. Twenty twenty five. You know, I literally I feel like I grew with the show and I had time to go through the ups and downs of like sometimes I felt like, you know, like I was good in the show.
I was bad in the show. It went well. It didn’t go well.
Mistakes were made. The show was perfect some nights or close to or like I was one hundred percent. I wasn’t one hundred percent.
It was one of the biggest like challenges also as an artist to like to consistently show up at like my one hundred percent every night to tell the story and like just in case. Also, I always told myself I was like, we might change somebody’s life tonight. There might be somebody in the audience who’s never seen the show who’s going to like it’s going to change their life, because I know when I was seeing Awakening for the first time in New York City on Broadway, I like literally it changed my life like I was sitting in a theatre and I literally remember the moment like my mind was blown and I just went like, holy shit, this is what musical theatre can be.
[Phil Rickaby]
Well, speaking of that show, I mean, you saw that show in New York and it changed your life and then you went on to do that. I think that was 18 years ago. That national tour opened.
So what was it like for you having seen that show and had that experience and then being in that show?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Oh, gosh. In the Spring Awakening can of worms. Wow.
Listen, I went to New York City and before the Tony Awards had happened, I was at the TKTS booth with my mom and we were like trying to decide what we were going to see that night. And I remember reading the play, like the original play. And I was like, oh, is this a musical?
Should we go see this? And my mom was like, OK, we got to TKTS tickets to go see the show, sat down, knew nothing. Like I didn’t know what to expect at all.
And I just remember like hearing like the bitch of living and like we fucked. And I honestly I was like, whoa. You know, I was 17 or 16 or 17 or whatever.
And I was looking at basically people kind of my age telling a story about people my age. And like it was the biggest revelation of my entire life. I was like, wait, what I’m going through is what they’re going through and all the angst and the sadness and the confusion.
And honestly, it just it changed my life. And then after that, I begged my mom to go see it again a few days later. So I saw it again.
I like and and I just I just was like, and I recently found the photos like the like on film photos of the original cast. Like I have a picture at the stage door with all of the original cast and like with Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff and like John Gallagher, Jr. And I was obsessed. I listened to that album like so much.
And honestly, like this is going to sound crazy, Phil, like, but I’ve told this story a couple of times, like many, many years back on a couple of podcasts. And I I manifested my way into that show. And maybe that sounds insane, but I manifested my way into that show.
[Phil Rickaby]
Tell me tell me about how you manifested yourself into that show.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yeah, I’ll tell you about that. I had just look, I was an angsty teenager, OK? And my mom one day rented The Secret.
Do you remember they made a movie about the book The Secret?
[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yeah. So they made a movie and my mom was playing it one night at our place. And I was just like, OK, so you’re telling me I can just ask the universe for whatever I want is going to happen?
I was like, sure. You know what? Let me give this a try.
Like, give this a try, because if this is going to work, I might as well try. So I made a vision board. I printed out the Spring Awakening poster logo thing.
And I literally wrote on the top like I like glued now starring Steffi D on top. And it was like Spring Awakening in the middle. And I had other stuff like on the video.
And every night and every morning I would like wake up and say, thank you so much for casting me in Spring Awakening. I’m so grateful. Thank you so much.
I did that for like a year probably when I was in college at George Brown Theatre School. And literally, I remember the moment I got a phone call from my friend Justin, who was at George Brown Theatre School with me. And he’s like, he’s like, oh, my God, Steffi, did you hear?
And I was like, what? They’re coming to Toronto for open calls for Spring Awakening. And I remember this wave of calm came over me.
And I was like, this is it. This is my time. The universe is showing me the path.
And now I just need to take and not fuck it up. So anyway, all this to say, I stood in line at five o’clock in the morning in the in the Toronto winter. I woke up like, you know, three o’clock in the morning, warmed up, got myself dressed, stood outside in the snow.
It was freezing cold. And by the time they got to my number, it wasn’t 16 bars. It was eight bars of music to sing.
And I was just like, OK, I better make this count. I sing my eight bars and I made it through to the next round. And they’re like, can you read these sides?
I read for Wendla at the time. And I was like, sure. And then they’re like, can you come back for a call back tomorrow?
And I was like, yep. And they’re like, they gave me the stuff. And I was like, OK.
I went in for my call back the next day. And then after that, like a week later, they call me and they go, hey, like, can you fly to New York for your final call back? And I was like, yes.
And I remember flying to New York. I think my mom came with me, but I don’t quite remember. I think.
Yeah, I think she came with me. But I just remember waiting. I was at Ripley-Grier Studios, which is like the famous, you know, everybody auditions there on Broadway and New York.
And and I I remember I ran into Blake Bashoff and Kyle Riabko. They were both there for callbacks also or for something. I don’t quite remember.
But I went up to them and I was like, hey, nice to meet you. Like I’m auditioning for Ilse, whatever. And I remember just going into that room and everybody was there, you know, Steven Sater, Duncan Sheik.
May he rest in peace. Oh, my God. My heart is so broken.
But I yeah. And I just remember I was like, OK, here goes. And I just like did it.
And I remember feeling calm, like it went well and I felt calm. And when I walked out, my mom was like, how did it go? And I was like, good.
Like, was that it? Like, do I get to do it again? Like, how do I?
And then a week later, I was at your friend theatre school after hours. We were rehearsing our Shakespeare scenes and I was in the hallway and I got a voicemail from my agent at the time. She was like, hey, can you call me back?
You have an offer for Spring Awakening. And I started screaming in the hallway. I just like yelled.
Everybody came out of the classrooms. They’re like, are you OK? And I’m like, yeah, looks like the universe freaking delivered in my vision board freaking worked because I just booked Spring Awakening.
[Phil Rickaby]
What what year of the program were you in? Were you like in your third year?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
I was only in first year. It was my first year. Yeah.
So it was out of high school. I went to George Brown Theatre School one year and then I was like, great, I’m dropping out, I guess, because I just got this this audition. And the other thing is, too, at George Brown, I loved my time there, by the way.
I’d like learned so much and I felt like it really prepared me for like my time on Spring Awakening. But but for my callback, I had to miss some school, had to miss a bit of George Brown Theatre School. And they were like not going to let me go.
And I remember, listen, I can be quite a rebel when I want to. And I was just like, I’m not fucking this up for myself. I was like, I’m sorry, but I’m not showing up tomorrow morning because I’m going to my callback.
You guys can deal with it. Like, write me up, whatever. But oh, my gosh, my thing is falling.
But anyway, I was like, write me up, like do whatever you need to do. But I’m going like I’m going too bad for you. You know what I mean?
So I just like, yeah, I just like remember being like such a rebel. And yeah. So that’s right.
How do you feel about that?
[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah. Well, I mean, I remember I remember. I mean, when I was when I went to George Brown.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Oh, you went to George Brown.
[Phil Rickaby]
I was in George Brown in the like in the in the 90s in the space on River Street. That’s no longer there. Like there was an old warehouse at King and River.
And that was where our school was at the time.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Hey, OK.
[Phil Rickaby]
Like if I in first year, I remember somebody was like, yeah, I’m doing this. There’s this this like site specific Macbeth and I got to roll it. And school was like, we’re going to kick you out.
Like you’re going to be out of the program because you’re not allowed to do any shows.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
It’s crazy to me, though, Phil, you’re going to theatre school to get. Like, you know, like the audacity, though, to be like you’re going to get kicked out if you if you do this. It’s like, OK, kick me out.
[Phil Rickaby]
Well, I mean, they wanted they again, they wanted you to be like dedicated, like full time in the program and that sort of thing. But also it was like you’re also not going to kick me out.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
No, I’m paying tuition and you need me. You know what I mean?
[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, exactly. So there’s that. But it’s it’s you know, it is it is wild.
Like you were like I had an agent. I was like, you had an agent.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
You know what? I had an agent. We weren’t even allowed to have.
Oh, I see. You know what? Maybe it was different from where I came from.
[Phil Rickaby]
Could be.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
You know, I was I was on Canadian Idol when I was 16 years old and I had always been acting. And prior to that, I had an agent. So I was like going in for some stuff like, you know, Ottawa kind of has like some pretty decent theatres there.
And we also have like some film and TV happening. Lots of French Canadian TV. And I’m French Canadian.
So I yeah. So like that was, you know. Yeah.
That’s why I had an agent. I didn’t know we weren’t allowed. I don’t know if George Brown had a rule about that.
It’s possible they did.
[Phil Rickaby]
They probably never mentioned it. They probably never mentioned it. Like if you were in the program and you were like, I’m looking at agents, they would have been like, that’s for third year.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Oh, I see. Yes. Because then there’s like this.
[Phil Rickaby]
You can look for an agent in third year, but not.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
And there’s like the theatre showcase, right? Isn’t there like a theatre showcase that happens and like all that kind of stuff?
[Phil Rickaby]
There is. There wasn’t when I not really when I was there, but I think it became a bigger thing later on. But yeah, that was the thing that was that was happening a lot.
But yeah, you mentioned Canadian Idol.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yes. So should we talk about it?
[Phil Rickaby]
You you’ve been talking about that on social media a lot because you’ve been celebrating, if that’s the right word, the 20th anniversary of your elimination from Canadian Idol.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
That’s right. Yes. So I’ve been.
Yes. And I’ve been celebrating it really hard. And can I tell you, Phil, it’s the only time I’ve ever had a video go viral.
God, like I think it’s like I posted it also on the off chance that I was like, I was like, oh, like it’s right now, like my my 20th anniversary is like today. I was like, I should post something. I literally like didn’t think of it.
Didn’t think about it twice. I posted like my elimination song, which was These Boots Are Made For Walking. Country music be damned.
Am I right? Anyway. And then and then honestly, like it went viral.
I got like almost 700,000 views on it or something. I couldn’t believe it. It was insane.
So yeah, I just like I I yeah. So yes, I am. I do feel like I am celebrating because I think what I’m learning more and more as I get older in this business is that we also have to celebrate our failures because I think like failure is like incredible because you always get to try again in this business.
You always get to like get the next audition, do the next song, hit the next note. You’re like literally constantly reinventing yourself. And I think I think failing is important and I think failure should be celebrated more.
And honestly, like I wasn’t going on Canadian Idol to win. You know, I had never sung a pop song in my life before I was on that show. So I wasn’t really going to to to win.
You know what I mean? I was going to experience and kind of like to to see what life could could bring. It wasn’t about that.
So I think that’s why I was celebrating my elimination for sure.
[Phil Rickaby]
I was one of my questions was going to be like, what made you want to mark that anniversary? But that’s it sounds like like like that’s it.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Failure. Yeah, I really do think like I wanted to mark that and also like how far have I come? My goodness gracious, I was a 16 year old musical theatre nerd weirdo.
You know what I mean? And we’ve we just come so far. We’ve come so far from that, you know, looking back on that, on this elimination.
[Phil Rickaby]
What did the elimination give you that you didn’t expect?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Oh, you mean like the actual elimination day or you mean the actual like being eliminated from the competition?
[Phil Rickaby]
Looking back on that, what did that give to you?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Canadian Idol was like one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life. And I really do feel like it gave me a whole different version of myself that was able to do things I didn’t know I could do. So like, as I mentioned, I had never sung a pop song before in my entire life before I was on the show.
I kind of went to the auditions with a friend who was going because I was like 60. You had to be 16 to like go on the show. And and and I think the age limit was like 28 or 30 or something.
And I was just like he was like, do you want to go like we have to go to like the I don’t know this mall to like audition for the producers or whatever. And I was like, sure, that sounds like a cool experience. And you know, he didn’t make it through any of the rounds.
And then I started making it through all of the rounds. And before I knew it, I was like on national television, like singing. I don’t know he was so insane.
But essentially, I really do think that Canadian Idol gave me that, that assurance kind of and look like when you’re 16, 17, like you have no fears. But I think it like gave me the boldness and the almost the fuel to say, you know what, you should keep going. Because it was like, I felt like I opened this Pandora’s box of like, you know what, it doesn’t only have to be musical theatre.
Maybe it can be other things. Maybe you can explore different things. But it really like it was almost a trial.
It was a trial by fire, that thing. Like it was like, here like sing, sing music in front of millions of people live every week. It was super grueling.
And it was it was, you know, we were like training, we were meeting with mentors, they were flying us around, we were shooting stuff for the show. And it kind of almost felt like a, like, I don’t know, it was almost like superstar. You know, it kind of felt like, yeah, it gave me so much like that show gave me so much and and honestly, people I still talk to that I was, I was within the top 10.
We still chat. I started a band with one of the guys like many years ago, we’re not we’re not banding anymore. But we, you know, I, I learned all these cool different skills that I don’t think I would have learned had I not been on a show where I was singing pop music, you know?
[Phil Rickaby]
Well, you mentioned like pop, like it’s like superstar training. How often in this country does anybody get anything close to that to be on television weekly and have a like people talking about you and, and flying around and doing all that stuff? That’s not something we get to do very often.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yeah, and I think that it’s almost full circle to the beginning of our conversation, which is almost like Canadian Idol was this cool thing where it was creating like little Canadian stars. You know what I mean? Like, people were watching us on TV every week.
Like we built a fan base. Like it was, you know, people would buy our t shirts and have signs in the audience that said like, go Steffi or whoever. And we were signing autographs after the live shows.
Like, yeah, that’s what I’m saying. It was almost like superstar training. It was like, it was imagining a world where like something like possible and I think when I was a kid, I was like, oh, well, I’m going to win an Oscar by the time I’m 25.
And this and that, whatever, you know, like, you know, I dreamed really, really big. And, and Canadian Idol was kind of like this like beautiful gift of kind of like, here, like have this incredible experience. And I think like doing even Spring Awakening to tie it back into that too.
Again, like huge fan base. Like people were invested in us and invested in the show in a personal way because of who we were. Go like, yeah, I think like maybe that’s a thing.
That’s what I’m saying. A thing in Canada maybe overall that I think is missing. It’s different.
It’s just different. And like, you know, I guess reality TV does that too, in a way.
[Phil Rickaby]
I mean, it does. It does in its own way. Like it creates these celebrities who are known for a thing.
It’s just a matter of like, can you parlay that into something else? Right?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Absolutely. Yeah. And yeah, I wish Canadian Idol had not gotten cancelled.
I really do think that AVE, so many young artists, a cool opportunity. Like when I look at Melissa O’Neil, and I look at everything she’s done, and she’s reinvented herself many, many times. She’s an incredible actor.
But like, you know, she started there and like, you know, Elena Juatco, who’s doing lots of film and TV stuff. And yeah, I just think it gave us a cool platform that we don’t often have in Canada also, to like, I don’t know, like have a name. Also, I would not be Steffi D without Canadian Idol because it’s the judges who said like, I don’t think Ben Mulroney is going to be able to say Steffi DiDomenicantonio.
So like, let’s give him something easier to say when he’s talking about you. So that nickname was also born from that. Like, I just feel like it became like a different persona for me in a way.
And like the possibility of, I don’t know, like just having people like care about your art and care about your talent and like, pushing you forward and also the boldness that it took and the fearlessness as a young person to be like, I can do this. Like, I just think it gave me kind of like, it gave me badass training to like, be able to like, take on take on really scary situations. And I honestly, at the time, I, I loved it.
Like, if you told me like, hey, you’re gonna do that now as a 37 year old, I’d be like, sounds absolutely terrifying. Like, I think I would buckle more under the pressure now than I did when I was a teenager, almost.
[Phil Rickaby]
Because you don’t know when you’re a teenager, you’ve got like, all of the courage in the world.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yes. It’s like the, somebody explained it to me how like, it’s like the, the comfort of total ignorance. Like when you’re young, you’re like, you’re not scared of anything because you don’t know anything.
[Phil Rickaby]
Yes. Yes.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
I miss that. I miss it.
[Phil Rickaby]
Oh man, don’t we all? Now, you mentioned going to George Brown and you, you had, you, you, you manifested Spring Awakening from the time that you were quite young, 16. You went on Canadian Idol.
I imagine that you had like, prior to that, you had only sung like, musical theatre songs. Is that, was that your thing?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yeah, totally. I was like a, I was a total musical theatre girlie. Also, people would never believe this, but I was classically trained.
My singing teacher in Ottawa was, would only allow me to sing classical music for 50 minutes. And for the last 10 minutes, I could sing whatever I wanted in musical theatre. But she said, if you know how to sing classical music, then you can sing anything.
So we always like, kind of trained soprano and some opera arias and all that kind of stuff. And for the last 10 minutes, I could always do that. And I’m forever grateful to her because I have another crazy story for you, Phil, if you want to hear it.
[Phil Rickaby]
Yes. 100%.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
When I was 11 years old, I got cast in the Ottawa Little Theatre production of The Miracle Worker. And I played Helen Keller. I don’t know if I get cancelled for that now.
However, even though she does not speak, obviously, I, I had to make a lot of noises and like, scream a lot and grunt a lot. And honestly, that like, fucked up my voice. Like, I was an 11 year old.
Like, I sounded like a smoker. Like, it was bad. Like, after I was done that run of that show at the, you know, community theatre, the things we do, the things we do for our art, you know?
And yeah, and my singing teacher, like, honestly, like, found me, I was singing at the Kiwanis Festival. I sounded absolutely horrific. And this is probably one of my most traumatic memories.
But I sounded horrific during one of the competitions. And my singing teacher came up to me after the show. She wasn’t my singing teacher yet, obviously.
But she said like, Hey, I think your voice is in trouble. But I can help you because I’ve been there before. Here’s my card.
Call me. I remember being like, Oh, like, what does she know? Like, I’m 11.
And I know everything. My voice is fine. But anyway, I went to her.
And honestly, she nursed my voice back to health. Like, it’s, honestly, when I think back at that moment, and I go, my life could have gone two very different ways. And I go, like, thank God that I took the sliding door of like, meeting my singing teacher and her helping me kind of nurse my voice back to health.
Yeah.
[Phil Rickaby]
How did musical, how did you get interested in theatre? Like, not everybody gets interested, like wants to sing show tunes. How did that, how did that become a thing for you?
Because for me, like, though, though, my parents original soundtrack or original Broadway cast albums were actually my gateway to the theatre, right? Like those, that original cast Godspell.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
So what your parents?
[Phil Rickaby]
Okay, like they had, everybody had, like, they’re, you know, they’re at a certain age, at a certain era, like musical theatre albums were just part of, of the record collection. My Fair Lady, Oklahoma, the original cast Godspell, those were like, the things that were like, all in our house. And I listened to those.
And I was discovered that those told stories. And I became, that was my gateway into musical theatre, into theatre in general. How did you become a musical theatre girly?
What was your intro?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Wow, that’s okay. So that’s really interesting, because I kind of wish my parents had been into musicals, but that’s not what happened. I come from a medically oriented family.
I have lots of doctors in my family. My mom’s a pharmacist. My dad’s a radiologist.
My brother’s a gastroenterologist. My aunt’s a dermatologist. I have a lot ofologists in my family.
And ever since I was little, like, I don’t know where it came from. I think that’s why I’m kind of the black sheep in my family. I just loved, like, I don’t know, I love performing.
Ever since I was a little girl, my mom used to tell me, I used to point at the TV and say that one day I was going to be in the TV. Like when I was like a little girl, like, I don’t know, my mom bought me one of those like Fisher Price, like, you know, the microphones, little cassette tapes. And I would like put on, yeah, you know, the ones I would put on like a song and I would sing along to it like karaoke.
I was a big ham when I was a kid. I don’t know. I was I just always liked being seen and dancing around and dressing up and none of those things have changed really.
But musical theatre specifically, I think on a family trip to San Diego, we went and saw I think my first ever musical was Forever Plaid, of all things. And I just saw Forever Plaid and I was just like, whoa, this is cool. And then I think the second musical I ever saw was like Jekyll and Hyde.
I was like, whoa, this is pretty cool. And then I started watching VHSs of musicals like I loved Annie Get Your Gun, and like Little Shop of Horrors. And what I like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
And like, me and my brother would like wear out these VHSs like we were just like watching singing along and watching and singing along and just, yeah, I don’t know. I think I just got obsessed. Got obsessed like gradually, I guess.
But I always want I was always a ham and I always wanted to perform. I always knew that. But then I guess like musical theatre just came the most naturally because when I started taking my first acting class, it was a musical theatre class.
Like I begged my parents to like, I was like, I want to dance and sing. And I was named after Steffi Graf, the tennis player. And I did start playing tennis very young.
And I and then my coach told my parents, I think Steffi should go semi pro. And then I went, no, I want to sing and dance. So then I went into singing and dancing classes and acting, you know, whatever.
And then like, honestly, it just evolved from there. But my parents weren’t like, I didn’t grow up in a very musical household. My grandma loved to sing Italian songs at the dinner table.
But otherwise, no one was like really like artsy in any way, shape or form. So I have no idea really where it came from or the inspiration. It just felt like a calling in some kind of way.
And I’ve never wanted to do anything else. And at this point, between you and I, Phil, I don’t think I can do anything else. I’m like, basically, my skill set is really very set into probably just singing and singing and acting at this point.
[Phil Rickaby]
I mean, we all we all have. I mean, listen, actors, we all find our jack of all trades, right? We learn things along the way and we can we can surprise ourselves with the things that we did during the pandemic.
I believe you co-hosted a podcast.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yes, I did.
[Phil Rickaby]
You did research with with with Lisa Humber.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
I loved doing Check In From Away because it was like also a bit like a musical theatre nerd’s dream because we were connecting with all these really cool artists, sometimes from like all over the world. Like we had a Come From Away episode where we interviewed people from Australia and the UK. We also talked to someone on the Hamilton tour.
It was like it was almost like living my dreams as a musical theatre nerd, but like disguising it as like, I’m doing this for the people and the fans of Mirvish and come from away. But like, really, it was like almost for me like it was just so much fun to get to connect with people, you know, and hear their stories. And I absolutely love that.
I always told myself, like, if you haven’t noticed already, I think if talking was an Olympic sport, I would probably like when I have a lot to have a lot of feelings and I have a lot to say all the time. And I’ve always loved hosting things. I’ve always loved like talking God, that sounds terrible.
But yeah, I’ve always loved talking. And I just feel like Check In From Away was like the perfect outlet in a time where we weren’t doing any theatre, nothing else going on. And it was kind of like keeping connected and like keeping the magic of theatre alive.
And the more I did the Check In From Away episodes, the more I was like, God, I miss theatre. Like this theatre is the best like theatre is the best like I can’t wait to get back on stage. So we can tell stories and like sit in a dark room together and laugh and cry and clap and like, you know, just like applaud and stand up and like feel our feelings, you know?
[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, I do. You know, going back coming back to like what we were talking about, like almost right at the top about about audiences and things like that and bringing in audiences and young audiences. I always think that, you know, sometimes our barrier, it’s not just price, it’s people don’t know what they’re missing in the theatre.
They don’t know that it’s different from seeing a movie. They don’t know that like there can be a moment when the entire audience is inhaling and exhaling at the same time as the person on the stage. And that is magic.
And you will chase that for the rest of your life. And that’s the kind of thing that we need to we need to connect with people and bring them into the theatre and so they can experience that and know that this isn’t a movie. This is so much more and so different.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
One hundred percent. You’re right that I think there’s a gap there between what people think the theatre is or whatever. I will say that what I loved about Come From Away is that it brought so many people to the theatre who have never been to the theatre.
There was something about that story that made people want to come to the theatre, like honestly, and just go like, oh, yeah, I heard something about that. And like, so many of my neighbours even were like, I’ve never seen this before in my life. But sure, let me come and see you in this.
I was like, oh, it’s going to change your life. Like, you’re going to be like, why haven’t I loved musical theatre before? Like, this is crazy.
But yes, I feel like but that’s why I think introducing it like at a young age, just going like theatre is so cool. Like theatre is like it’s an experience unlike anything else. And I think, look, like people love sports.
I was going to say, I want to say across the board, people love sports. And there’s something about the live nature of sports. You get to cheer, you get to whatever.
And I’m like, theatre is kind of the same thing. Like you get to you don’t get to yell at us all the time, but you do get to like, you know, clap and cheer us on and whatever. It’s very, I feel like it needs to be introduced like early on or, or we need to come up with a plan to go like, come, come see this.
Like, it’s so cool. It might change your life. Like, and God forbid, it makes somebody in the audience go, I think I want to be an actor.
[Phil Rickaby]
I mean, that that is always the danger. It is it is. I always think every time you do a show, you have the opportunity to be somebody’s first show.
And that is a magical thing to think about. Like somebody could be in the theatre and it’s the first time that they are in seeing a live show in the theatre and you are showing them what it can be.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
100%. I always told myself that anytime I do a show, I’m like, this might change somebody’s life. Or like, this might be somebody’s first experience, like experiencing like a musical or like whatever, like it’s so cool and exciting that we get to be a part of that sometimes, you know, I think we need to make theatre cool again, though.
We need to like show people how cool it can be.
[Phil Rickaby]
I think sometimes like when I feel like when I say that, I feel like, yeah, my mom says I’m cool. Like, that’s what I feel like, like me doing it is like, is like that kind of thing. But I do think you’re right about that.
But to do that, we need to have shows that people want to see. We need to have shows, popcorn shows, as well as shows that have meaning, right? And a popcorn show can have meaning.
We need both. We need both.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Absolutely. So I agree with you 100%. It’s just like we’re having a full circle moment right now where we go, theatre has to get its shit together.
[Phil Rickaby]
There we go. Top and bottom of the whole episode, right?
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Yeah, yeah, there you go.
[Phil Rickaby]
It has been a complete joy talking to you today, Stephanie. Thank you so much.
[Steffi DiDomenicantonio]
Phil, thank you so much for having me. I hope that my hot takes don’t get me cancelled. Okay.
[Phil Rickaby]
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Stageworthy. If you are watching on YouTube, please like this episode, leave a comment so that I know that you were here. And if you like Stageworthy, hit the subscribe button and the bell icon so that whenever a new episode comes out, you’ll get notified that a new episode is available.
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All right, let’s get into next week’s guest. My guest next week is the outgoing Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival, Antoni Cimolino. I was so thrilled to get the chance to talk to Antoni.
Antoni has been the Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival for so long. He’s been with the festival for 39 years and the impact that he’s had on that festival cannot be denied. And I get to talk to him about that and you’ll get to hear it next week on Stageworthy.
