This just in: Metea Valley teachers lead lives outside of school. Metea’s very own Mr. Fontanetta hit a home run with the role of die-hard Cubs fan Greg in “Bleacher Bums”, a play about a group of friends watching the Chicago Cubs play ball.  The show runs to Mar. 30, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 3pm, at BrightSide Theatre.

“I have been a Cubs fan all my life so it’s fun to work through my frustrations,” said Fontanetta about the play. “The format of the show is different… it’s unique in that you don’t only have to memorize your lines and your movements, but you have to memorize an entire baseball game.” According to Fontanetta, director Greg Kolack was very specific about the memorization. He spent entire rehearsals memorizing the baseball game and coordinating the actors’ reactions to the game. Kolack is not only thorough, but a friend. “The director of the production is an old friend of mine, and we’ve worked together several times in the past and we really work well together.”

Fontanetta doesn’t just have “Bleacher Bums” on his resume; he has also directed and performed in many plays. “I directed a play called ‘Aven’u Boys’, which was the Midwest premiere of the play. It was really good. I was really proud of the work we did on that one,” he said of his professional jobs. He was happy with Metea’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, directed by Fontanetta of course. “I thought that everyone involved did the show justice. If Shakespeare were alive, he would have approved of that performance.”

As any theatre buff, Fontanetta dreams of the big leagues: Shakespeare. When asked about his dream role, Fontanetta replied with the Gravedigger from “Hamlet”. “He’s the sole source of comedy in an otherwise depressing yet complicated play,” he explained.

Fontanetta’s love of theatre isn’t lost on his students either. “It’s inspiring as a theatre student to see him do what he loves on the stage, and not just behind the scenes directing, like we normally get to see,” said theatre student Jordyne Pippenger.

However, choosing between school life and recreational life proves to be difficult for Fontanetta. “While I love the MV theatre department, it’s nice to work with adults every once in a while,” said Fontanetta. “A teacher’s ability to ‘have a life’ is actually a very small amount of time compared to the amount of time our school responsibilities take.”

He went further to add that attempting to achieve a life outside of school is like watching and waiting on a S’mores Pop Tart to pop out of the toaster –  the second you look away it pops up and you miss it.

By Jenna Keeney

Photo courtesy of Naperville Sun