“I needed to be successful the way that I needed air; nothing was going to deny me. Telling me ‘You can’t do it’ only strengthened my resolve.” Franc D’Ambrosio
1979 – Bronx, New York: His mother was in the kitchen when 17-year-old Franc D’Ambrosio finally summoned his courage. “Mamma, I don’t want to be a baker like Papa.” She responded, “Frankie, all D’Ambrosio men are bakers. It’s what they do.” She shrugged, “What do you want to do?” He looked down, “Mamma, I want to go to college to be a singer and an actor.” Then he begged her to tell his father about his plans.
Franc’s parents immigrated to New York from Sicily in the 1950s. His father, a seventh-generation Italian baker, eventually saved enough money to open his own shop. The family lived above the bakery, and Franc was expected to follow the family tradition.
At age 15, he started mimicking his older sister when she sang. She convinced him to join the high school chorus. The young baker-apprentice kept his singing secret to himself. The first time Franc’s parents ever heard him sing was when he sang the national anthem at his high school graduation. They were shocked and surprised by his beautiful tenor voice.
After Franc’s father overcame his disappointment, he insisted his son attend music school in Italy. He bragged to his friends, “My son will be the next great Italian tenor.” But learning didn’t come easy for Franc. He couldn’t sight-read music and struggled to read the lyrics. He had a gorgeous voice but was dyslexic and read at a third-grade level. It took great patience to teach him.
Voice instructors and music teachers grew frustrated with their young talent. Still, in 1981, Franc received a certificate from the Vocal Academy of Lucca in Lucca, Italy. He had figured out a way to compensate for his dyslexia. He had instructors read the lyrics to him several times. Then, they would play the piano and sing them over and over. Lastly, they recorded music tracks for Franc to memorize. Learning was a long, arduous, and tedious process.
Franc returned to New York City and waited tables in Broadway district restaurants while waiting for his opportunity. He stood in long lines to audition for off-Broadway musicals, occasionally landing small parts in choruses. “I realized how unlikely I was to be successful on Broadway,” recalled Franc, “but this just motivated me more.”
In 1988, Franc landed a key role in the long-running Broadway musical Sweeney Todd. By this time, the first two Godfather movies were box office smashes, and director Francis Ford Coppola was casting for Godfather III. Over 9 months, talent scouts auditioned almost 2,000 guys trying to fill the role of Anthony Corleone. They were unsuccessful until Coppola spotted Franc performing in Sweeney Todd.
Franc was called to Paramount Studios and cast for the part the following Monday morning. He was in Rome on Thursday to start filming. He took his mother and father to the movie premier showing in New York City. They watched in tears as Franc played the part of a young man who went against his father’s wishes to become an Italian opera singer.
After The Godfather, Franc was spotted at an audition by the casting director of Phantom of the Opera, the sensational Broadway musical that premiered two years earlier. His agent called Franc, “You’re not going to believe this. They want you to audition for the Phantom. It’s your dream role, Franc!”
Franc D’Ambrosio played the Phantom for six years in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony-Award-winning musical, performing the lead role more than 2,400 times for more than 5 million theatergoers. He held the record of ‘The World’s Longest-Running Phantom’ for a decade. It is the role in his long, successful career for which the ‘Iron Man of the Mask’ is best known.
Today, 62-year-old Franc devotes his time to teaching young artists his craft. He founded the Lorenzo Malfatti Accademia Vocale in Lucca, where he teaches each summer. He also works with the Cherubini Music Conservatory in Florence, Italy, the American University in Washington, D.C., and the famed Julliard School of Music in New York City.
I like the story. Thanks Pete