Meet the Cast of TOOTSIE- Now in Previews!

The new comedy musical, Tootsie begins performances on Broadway tonight, March 29th, with an opening night of Tuesday, April 23rd.

TOOTSIE tells the story of a talented but difficult actor who struggles to find work until an audacious, desperate stunt lands him the role of a lifetime.

TOOTSIE features an original score by Tony Award-winner David Yazbek (The Band's Visit, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), a book by Robert Horn(13; Dame Edna, Back with a Vengeance), choreography by Tony Award nominee Denis Jones (Holiday Inn, Honeymoon in Vegas), and musical direction by Andrea Grody (The Band's Visit). Tootsie is directed by eight-time Tony Award nominee and Olivier Award winner Scott Ellis (She Loves Me, On the Twentieth Century).

The entire company from last fall's world premiere Chicago production will return for the Broadway production, including Tony Award nominee Santino Fontana as Michael Dorsey, Lilli Cooper as Julie Nichols, Tony Award nominee Sarah Stiles as Sandy Lester, John Behlmann as Max Van Horn, Andy Grotelueschen as Jeff Slater, Julie Halston as Rita Marshall, Tony Award winner Michael McGrath as Stan Fields, and Tony Award nominee Reg Rogers as Ron Carlisle.

The company also includes Sissy Bell, Barry Busby, Paula Leggett Chase, Britney Coleman, Leslie Donna Flesner, Jenifer Foote, John Arthur Greene, Drew King, Jeff Kready, Harris Milgrim, Adam Monley, Shina Ann Morris, James Moye, Katerina Papacostas, Nick Spangler, Diana Vaden, and Anthony Wayne.

Get to know the cast below as they begin Broadway performances!

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Santino Fontana (Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels): Perhaps best known to national audiences for providing the voice to the villainous 'Prince Hans' in Disney's Academy Award-winning animated feature, Frozen. He was also seen in Universal Studio's Sisters, starring opposite Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. On television he's starred on The CW's critically acclaimed musical comedy series, "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," as Greg. Simultaneously, Santino played David Saperstein, opposite Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta, in NBC's drama series, "Shades of Blue." On stage, Santino most recently starred in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater and 1776, as part of the New York City Center's Encores! series, for which he received rave reviews. Santino's portrayal of Moss Hart in Lincoln Center's production of Act One, which was filmed for PBS, also received critical praise.

In 2013, Santino received a Tony Award nomination for his leading role as Prince Charming in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, and in 2012, he won Obie and Lucille Lortel awards for his acclaimed performance in Stephen Karam's Sons of the Prophet. Santino's other theatre credits include The Importance of Being Earnest (Clarence Derwent Award), A View From the Bridge, Brighton Beach Memoirs (Drama Desk Award), Billy Elliot, Zorba, and Sunday in the Park with George. As a vocalist, Santino has recently performed in jazz venues such as Lincoln Center's Appel Room and Birdland. As an orchestra soloist, Santino has sung at Carnegie Hall, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and other top tier venues with symphonies, big bands, and smaller ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, the New York Pops and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Santino has recently wrapped shooting "Singularity," a pilot for FX from producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. His other television credits include guest stars on "The Good Wife," "Nurse Jackie," "Brain Dead," and "Royal Pains."

He can also be seen in the popular web series, "Submissions Only." He has four independent film projects due to be released soon, including the romantic comedy, Off the Menu, the psychological thriller Impossible Monsters, the dramatic short Limit of Wooded Country, and the comedy Papercop.

Lilli Cooper (Julie Nichols): Broadway: SpongeBob SquarePants (Sandy Cheeks), Spring Awakening (OBC), Wicked (Elphaba). Theater favorites: Sundown, Yellow Moon (WP Theater), Natasha, Pierre...Great Comet (ART), The Wildness (Ars Nova), Noir (NYSF & NAMT), The Threepenny Opera (Atlantic Theater). TV: "Instinct," "The Good Fight," "Bull" & "Elementary" (CBS). Film: The Post, creator and star of the web-series: "It's Not Okay, Cupid" (Glamour.com). LaGuardia Arts and Vassar alum. www.lillicooper.com

Sarah Stiles (Sandy Lester): Broadway: Jessica in Hand to God (Tony nomination), Muriel in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Kate/Lucy in Avenue Q, The 25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee. Sarah also appeared as Jessica in MCC's production of Hand to God, for which she received a Lucille Lortel nomination for her performance. Additionally, she played Annelle in Judith Ivey's production of Steel Magnolias at the Alliance Theatre. Shakespeare in the Park: Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods. Off-Broadway/original cast recordings: Joanne in Vanities (Second Stage), Nazirah in The Road to Qatar (York Theatre). She also toured in the first national companies of Spelling Bee and Tommy Tune's Dr. Doolittle. Sarah is the voice of Spider in the recording of Pasek and Pauls' James and the Giant Peach. She is also the lead vocalist in Gary Lucas's Fleischerei project, which features music from Max Fleischer's Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons. @lulubellestiles. www.SarahStiles.net

John Behlmann (Max Van Horn): John Behlmann is appearing next in Michael Friedman's Gone Missing at Encores! Broadway: Significant Other, Journey's End (Tony for Best Revival). Off-Broadway: 1776 (Encores), Pretty Filthy(Civilians), Important Hats of the 20th Century (MTC), The 39 Steps (New World Stages), Significant Other (Roundabout), Eager to Lose (Ars Nova), Wild Animals... (MCC), This Is Not J.A.W.S. (Dixon Place). Regional: Created the role of Nuke LaLoosh in the musical of Bull Durham (Alliance). Film: Wolf of Wall Street, Revolutionary Road, Above All Things, Block Island, and the upcoming Billy Crystal film, We Are Unsatisfied. TV: Agent Adams in Season 2 of "Riverdale," "Good Behavior," "Instinct," "Odd Mom Out," "Blue Bloods," "The Good Wife." Training: Wesleyan University, Denver Center..

Andy Grotelueschen (Jeff Slater): Andy Grotelueschen has appeared Off-Broadway and around the world in Fiasco's Into the Woods(Menier Chocolate Factory (London), Roundabout Theatre Company, McCarter Theatre Center, Old Globe; Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Revival and nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical), Twelfth Night (CSC), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Theatre for a New Audience, St. Clair Bayfield Award), Cymbeline (Theatre for a New Audience/Barrow Street Theatre), Measure for Measure (The New Victory Theater, Long Wharf Theatre) and The Imaginary Invalid (Old Globe). He also appeared on Broadway in Cyrano de Bergerac. His other New York credits include Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew (Theatre for a New Audience), the Cyclops in The Odyssey (Public Works at Delacorte Theater), and world premieres at 13P, The Exchange, and St. Ann's Warehouse. Mr. Grotelueschen's regional credits include Yale Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theater, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Folger Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Guthrie Theater, and all across the country with The Acting Company. He has appeared on television in "Elementary," "The Good Wife," "The Good Cop" and "The Knick." His film credits include Still on the Road (PBS), Coin Heist (Netflix), Geezer, Land of Kings, and Tumorhead. He is a graduate of the Brown University/Trinity Repertory Company M.F.A. Program in Acting.

Julie Halston (Rita Marshall): Julie Halston appeared on Broadway most recently in Scott Ellis' revival of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's You Can't Take It With You, earning the Actors Equity Richard Seff Award as well as Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations. She has also been seen on Broadway in On the Town, Anything Goes, Hairspray, Gypsy, and On the Twentieth Century, for which she received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination. Halston is a founding member of Charles Busch's legendary theatre company, Theatre In Limbo, and has co-starred with Mr. Busch in numerous productions including Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, The Tribute Artist, and her Drama Desk Award nominated performances in The Divine Sister and Red Scare on Sunset. She was last seen off-Broadway in Richard Greenberg's The Babylon Line at Lincoln Center Theater. Halston recently starred in both the McCarter Theater Center and Hartford Stage's sold out productions of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. Regionally, she has appeared in the Huntington Theatre Company's adaptation of A Confederacy of Dunces and the Kennedy Center production of The Guardsman. She has appeared on television in a variety of series including "Difficult People," Woody Allen's "Crisis in Six Scenes," and "Law & Order: SVU." She is best known to television audiences for her roles as Bitsy Von Muffling from "Sex and the City" and Tina Carmello from "The Class." She is a frequent co-host of the Emmy Award winning television series "Theater Talk." In addition to her many award winning solo comedy performances, including her off-Broadway hit, Julie Halston's Lifetime of Comedy, Miss Halston was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Off-Broadway Alliance.

Michael McGrath (Stan Fields): Broadway: The Front Page, She Loves Me, On the Twentieth Century, Nice Work If You Can Get It(Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards), Born Yesterday, Memphis, Is He Dead, Spamalot(Tony and Drama Desk noms.), Wonderful Town, Little Me, Swinging On A Star (Theatre World Award, Drama Desk nom.), The Goodbye Girl, My Favorite Year. City Center Encores: DuBarry Was A Lady, The Boys From Syracuse, and Follies. Off-Broadway: The Government Inspector, The Cocoanuts, Forbidden Broadway, The Butter and Egg Man. Television: "The Martin Short Show." Film: Changing Lanes, The Interpreter, Ira and Abbey.

Reg Rogers (Ron Carlisle): Reg Rogers was most recently seen in The Iceman Cometh, opposite Denzel Washington, and in the Broadway production of Noel Coward's critically acclaimed Present Laughter, opposite Kevin Kline and Cobie Smulders. Off-Broadway, he starred in the Yale Repertory Theatre's production of An Enemy of the People, for which he received a Connecticut Critic's Circle Award. He was also seen in The Public Theater's Privacy and in the Tony-nominated Broadway revival of You Can't Take It With You, opposite James Earl Jones and Rose Byrne. He starred as Smiley Coy in Roundabout Theater Company's The Big Knife, directed by Doug Hughes, and starred in the Lincoln Center Theater's A Free Man of Color, directed by George C. Wolfe. Rogers was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance in The Royal Family at MTC. He was also nominated for the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his performance in Holiday at the Circle in the Square Theatre. On television, Rogers portrayed James Strobridge in the final season of AMC's "Hell on Wheels" and Freddy Bensimon on CBS's "Bull." Other television credits include Cinemax's "The Knick" directed by Steven Soderbergh, FX's critically-acclaimed "The Americans," Starz's Golden Globe-nominated "Flesh and Bone," and HBO's Golden Globe-winning "Boardwalk Empire." Other notable New York stage credits include All's Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure, both for Shakespeare in the Park; Bruce Norris's The Pain & The Itch (Playwrights Horizons); Richard Greenberg's The Dazzle, for which he won an OBIE and a Lucille Lortel Award; Bach at Leipzig (NYTW); and as the title role in Cellini by John Patrick Shanley (Second Stage).

Sissy Bell (Swing): Broadway: Anastasia. Off-Broadway: Trip of Love. Tour: Elf. BFA, University of Arizona. Endless thanks to this wonderful creative team and my personal team of supporters- MSA, Mommy, Jordan, M&M, Daddy, and my teachers past and present!

Barry Busby (Swing | Dance Captain | Associate Choreographer): Broadway: Sunset Boulevard, Holiday Inn, Honeymoon in Vegas. Off-Broadway/NYC: Piece of my Heart (Signature), Hey, Look Me Over (Encores!). Tour/Regional: White Christmas (1st National) H2$(Kennedy Center), Moonshine (DTC). B.F.A. University of Oklahoma. Love to family, friends, and all the teachers along the way. @brbusby www.BarryBusby.com

Paula Leggett Chase (Ensemble): Broadway: On the 20th Century (Imelda Thornton), Bye Bye Birdie (Gloria Rasputin), Curtains, The Pajama Game, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Kiss Me, Kate, Damn Yankees!, Crazy For You, A Chorus Line(final cast of the original run). National tour: Cabaret with Joel Grey, also, Applause at Encores! PLC has been privileged to play roles in regional theaters across the country, most recently, Souvenir(Florence Foster Jenkins) at New Harmony Theatre and The Comedy of Errors (The Courtesan) at Hartford Stage. TV appearances include "Younger" (Jackie Dunn), "The Sound of Music, Live" (Baroness Eberfeld; nun), "30 Rock" (Randi in the "Queen of Jordan" episodes), "Law & Order," PBS's "Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego?" (Medeva) with David Yazbek. In her early showgirl career, PLC made numerous appearances on "The Late Show with David Letterman" doing everything from singing political parody ditties to cooking mussels with Jacques Pepin. www.paulaleggettchase.com

Britney Coleman (Ensemble): Broadway: Sunset Boulevard (Heather, Betty u/s) and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Lucille). Tour: Beautiful (First Nat'l). New York City: Hey, Look Me Over! (Janie/Barbara, City Center Encores!), Stop the Virgens (IVB, St. Ann's Warehouse). Favorite regional productions: Camelot(Guenevere, Westport Country Playhouse), Annie (Grace Farrell, The Muny), Into the Woods(Cinderella, TUTS), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Silvia, The Old Globe), and Dreamgirls (Deena Jones, NSMT). Concerts/Recordings: World Premiere of Andrew Lippa's Unbreakable with the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus (Ghostlight, 2018). BFA: The University of Michigan.

Leslie Donna Flesner (Ensemble): Broadway: Hello, Dolly (u/s Irene Molloy), An American in Paris, Honeymoon in Vegas, Cinderella, Chaplin, Follies, Finian's Rainbow. City Center Encores: Fanny, Finian's Rainbow. Chicago: War Paintat the Goodman Theater. TV: "Boardwalk Empire," "The Knick," "Tony Awards." BFA from Florida State University.

Jenifer Foote (Swing): Broadway: Hello, Dolly!, She Loves Me, On the Twentieth Century, Stephen Sondheim's Follies, Holiday Inn, The Mystery of Edwin Drood starring Chita Rivera, A Chorus Line, Rock of Ages, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Frank Wildhorn's Dracula, Annie Get Your Gun. She can be seen in the 2014 film, The Last Five Years and the BroadwayHD filmed versions of She Loves Me and Holiday Inn. Associate director/choreographer credits: Hugh Jackman: Broadway to Oz (Australian arena tour), The Cradle Will Rock starring Patti LuPone (The Acting Company), Rodger & Hammerstein's Cinderella (national tour), "Sweeney Todd" starring Emma Thompson (NY Philharmonic, PBS). Jenifer is a proud graduate of the University of California at Irvine.

John Arthur Greene (Ensemble): John Arthur Greene is proud to join this insanely talented creative team and cast to tell this wonderful story. Credits include: Theo, the lead singer of "No Vacancy," in School of Rock(Broadway); "American Idol Season 15 - Farewell Season" (Featured Artist); Riff in West Side Story(Broadway); Doctor, U/S Mr. Wormwood in Matilda (Broadway); Robert Mullins in "Peter Pan Live" (NBC); Luke in Mim (Off-Broadway); Jonathan in Tick Tick Boom... (LA); Action in West Side Story(50th Anniversary European Tour), Jack Kelly in Newsies (Maltz Jupiter); and Riff in West Side Story(Boston Pops Symphony), just to name a few. He performs his solo music all over the world, most recently singing "Gethsemane" for Andrew Lloyd Webber's New York Times Talk and "Jailhouse Rock" for Mike Stoller's 80th Birthday Celebration. His singles "March On!," "Hold Onto Me," "Easy," "Brooklyn" & his Debut EP "Shadows Of Light" are now available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and YouTube under his own record label JAG Records.

Drew King (Ensemble): Drew King is a Massachusetts native and Fordham University graduate (Double BA in International Studies and Spanish). Broadway/Encores!: On the Twentieth Century (Porter, Astaire Award Winner), On Your Toes. Regional: Lyric Opera of Chicago, Paper Mill Playhouse, Goodspeed Opera House, Kennedy Center, Cape Playhouse, Ogunquit Playhouse. Film/TV: "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." Instagram: @drewkingnyc.

Jeff Kready (Standby Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels): Broadway: Monty Navarro in A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Tony in Billy Elliot, Sunday in the Park with George and Les Misérables (Jean Valjean u/s). Regional: Tommy in Brigadoon (PCLO), Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (Paper Mill), Mr. Snow in Carousel (Connecticut Critics Circle Award nomination, Goodspeed Opera House), and David Sedaris's one-man-show Santaland Diaries (Hartford TheaterWorks). TV: "The Good Fight" (CBS), "Elementary" (Recurring, CBS), "Boardwalk Empire" (HBO). Follow @JK_Ready and jeffkready.com.

Harris Milgrim (Ensemble): Broadway: Cats. Off-Broadway: Grand Hotel, Paint Your Wagon, Piece of My Heart. National Tour: West Side Story (1st Nat'l). Regional: The Honeymooners (Paper Mill), How To Succeed... (Kennedy Center), Moonshine (Dallas Theatre Center), Secondhand Lions (5th Ave), and more. www.harrismilgrim.com

Adam Monley (Swing): Broadway/New York: Les Misérables (2014 Revival; Javert, Bishop of Digne), Mamma Mia! (Original B'way Cast, Skye u/s), It's a Bird, It's...Superman! (Jim Morgan), and Paint Your Wagon (Edgar Crocker) for ENCORES! National Tours: Deaf West's Big River (Mark Twain, Voice of Huck), The Phantom of the Opera (Raoul). TV: "All My Children," "Medium," "Bluebloods." Training: CCM. Recently seen as Father in The Marriott Lincolnshire's production of Ragtime.

Shina Ann Morris (Ensemble): Broadway: Anastasia, Holiday Inn, Cinderella, Annie (Star to Be), Nice Work If You Can Get It, Anything Goes (u/s Erma), West Side Story (Consuela). Tour: Chicago. NY: Encores! The Most Happy Fella, Bells Are Ringing. BFA, University of Michigan.

James Moye (Ensemble): Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen, Aladdin, On The Twentieth Century, Bullets Over Broadway, Million Dollar Quartet, Ragtime, A Tale Of Two Cities, Urinetown, and The Full Monty. Off-Broadway credits include: Dogfight, Far From Heaven, Happiness, Closer Than Ever, and Silence! The Musical. Visit him at www.JamesMoye.com and @JimMoye74.

Katerina Papacostas (Ensemble): Most recently seen as Ms. Krumholtz in the Kennedy Center production of How To Succeed... Other credits include Nicola on the Broadway National Tour of Kinky Boots, Casey in First Date at the Blumenthal PAC, Featured Ensemble and Eva u/s in the Broadway National Tour of Evita, Wendy in Mousical directed by Julie Andrews, Polly in Crazy For You at Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, and Ethel Toffelmeir, Marian u/s in Music Man at Arena Stage.

Diana Vaden (Ensemble): Nevada native and a University of Southern California alumna. Most recently seen in How To Succeed... at the Kennedy Center. Other theatre credits include: The Sting (Paper Mill Playhouse), Hey, Look Me Over! (New York City Center Encores!), Showstoppers (Las Vegas), and West Side Story (San Diego Musical Theatre). TV: "The ERIC ANDRE Show," "So You Think You Can Dance."

Anthony Wayne (Ensemble): Originally from Norfolk, Virginia, Mr. Wayne has been seen on Broadway in Anything Goes, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Pippin, and, recently, the 2018 Tony-winning revival of Once on This Island. His touring credits include A Chorus Line (Richie), The Color Purple, and Fame - The Musical (Tyrone). Currently, he stars as 1970's disco legend Sylvester in the new show Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester Musical. For more information, go to www.awayne.com or www.anthonyken.com, and be sure to follow: @mrawayne.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos