Leading a double life typically doesn’t end well for many.
But one TCU student who wears a suit by day and costume by night said he thinks he balances his two passions well.
His professors and mentors agree.
Anthony Fortino is a senior theater and accounting double major. He plans to pursue careers in both accounting and theater after he graduates next May. Fortino does not plan to do one and then fall back on the other; but rather, he said he always intends to be involved in both professions in some capacity.
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Fortino said missing the tryouts for his high school’s soccer team is what capitulated him to discover his two “gifts.”
“It was an accident; I forgot the tryout date,” Fortino said.
With this unexpected free time on his hands, Fortino said he figured he’d audition for his high school’s musical—“The Fantasticks.” Having no prior acting experience but an inherent ear for music, Fortino said he was surprised to land the lead in the musical as a freshman.
Fast forward seven years and Fortino has been cast in every TCU musical he has auditioned for. That’s seven musicals.
But Fortino will not be getting the role in next semester’s musical.
That’s because he will be living in New York City, interning for a “Big 4” accounting firm and getting one step closer to becoming a Certified Public Accountant.
The Discovery
It was a vote of confidence.
Someone at the Kansas City Starlight Theatre believed a high school sophomore who had performed in just two musicals prior was capable of commanding the stage as the lead in its 7,958 seat professional production of “High School Musical.”
The production follows a high school heartthrob, Troy Bolton, who is torn between investing his time in his scholarship basketball abilities and pursuing his newfound talent for musical theater. In playing this role, Fortino said he came to a defining realization.
“Maybe I can actually do theater,” Fortino said.
In the television movie turned musical, Bolton wanted to do both basketball and theater but ran into complications trying to integrate the two worlds.
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But Fortino said he thinks he juggles majoring in theater and accounting well.
With a 3.8 cumulative GPA, a resumé inked with lead roles in both professional and TCU theatrical productions and a spot in TCU’s Master of Accounting program—Fortino appears to be juggling both well on paper too.
But in order to arrive at the success he’s basking in now, Fortino said he did not walk an unblemished or straightforward path. Rather, he said sacrifice and hard work have characterized his college years.
Not impossible, but difficult
Dr. Patricia Walters, associate professor of professional practice in the Neeley School of Business, said being an accountant is a time-consuming profession that requires one to have a hard-work ethic.
“It’s not a nine to five kind of job,” Walters said. “Accounting firms really expect you to put in the hours, particularly in the early stages of your career.”
Walter’s tone shifted when she began talking about Fortino’s other major. She said that she, like Fortino’s other business professors, are excited and interested to see how Fortino combines his “two very different majors.”
“He has a fabulous singing voice and he really is a very good accounting student,” Walters said. “It’s a difficult double major to do because the demands on your time for those two majors are intense.”
Walters can attest to Fortino’s theatrical abilities because she, along with Dr. Renee Olvera, associate professor of professional practice in the Neeley School of Business, made the more than hour-long drive from TCU to Addison in October to see Fortino play Ted Hinton in WaterTower Theatre’s production of “Bonnie & Clyde.”
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Fortino said he was surprised to look into the audience and see Olvera and Walters.
“With the business school and its professors being super hardcore, these two parts of my life usually don’t mix,” Fortino said. “I was really surprised to see that they actually cared and came.”
In describing Fortino’s performance, Walters’s tone shifted even higher.
“We may be prejudiced, but Dr. Olvera and I thought he had the best voice in the musical,” Walters said.
Moreover, those who know Fortino strictly from a theater perspective hold similar opinions about Fortino’s theatrical abilities.
Terry Martin, producing artistic director at WaterTower Theatre, said a career in theater is not for everyone.
“It takes a combination of commitment, concentration and skill level,” Martin said. “There’s even more involved than that, though, because you must have an incredible drive and an even thicker skin.”
Martin, who has more than 30 years of experience in the business, followed up his warning by saying that he believes Fortino possesses these qualities.
Professionals in their respective fields think Fortino has the ability and resources to be successful at both theater and accounting, but can Fortino actually be successful at both simultaneously in the real world?
The Process
For theater, it’s an indiscernible “it” quality. In accounting, it’s precision to not make any mathematical mistakes. How does one combine these two very different skill sets?
Fortino said he is sure of wanting to do both accounting and theater as a career. He said he is on a trajectory to do both — and to do both well.
“Realistically, me making it on Broadway may not happen, so I know that I need to keep pursuing accounting more intensely than I do theater,” Fortino said.
Consequently, Fortino said he has known since his sophomore year of high school that he’d follow in his father’s footsteps and major in accounting in college.
“I’d like to think I am a logical and reasonable person,” Fortino said. “I knew that majoring in accounting would be an incredibly reasonable and logical thing to do, so I was very set on it.”
Ultimately wanting to have a family and being able to handle the financial responsibility that it entails is what Fortino said motivates him to work hard in accounting.
“It’s one of the best day jobs I could imagine in reference to the salary and the versatility in the work,” Fortino said.
But Fortino’s theatrical resume, which includes a lengthy nominations and awards section, provides further indication that Fortino could have a successful career solely in theater if he desired.
“I certainly think he has the talent and skill level to be on Broadway. If he’s willing to work hard, I don’t see why he couldn’t make it,” Martin said.
Martin said although Fortino is a relatively young actor, Fortino has the necessary skills to make it on Broadway because he has an extremely strong presence on stage.
“There’s something magnetic about him that makes you want to watch him,” Martin said. “He has the ability and bravery to express vulnerability and emotion on a level that gives him the ability to tell a story very well.”
Additionally, Fortino’s friend sees Fortino’s goal-oriented work ethic as what will propel Fortino onto the “big stage” in New York.
Tyler Bonilla, senior strategic communication major and Fortino’s friend and former roommate, said Fortino’s innate drive to work hard and attain the goals he sets for himself is what makes Fortino successful.
“From a young age he has had dreams to be on Broadway, and he’s always set little goals for himself so that he can be able to do that,” Bonilla said. “He definitely has the talent, everyone can see that. He has the means to do whatever he wants in terms of his theater career.”
But Fortino’s accounting career appears just as promising.
From January to March, New York City will be Fortino’s home.
He will be performing his duties as an accounting intern at Ernst & Young by day, and seeking an agent and Broadway auditioning by night.
Fortino will stay at TCU after he graduates to obtain his Master of Accounting (MAc) degree. The Neeley program has a 93 percent overall job placement rate and consistently ranks in the top five programs in Texas for its graduates passing the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) exam, according to the program’s website.
Life-long decisions
Having handled both disciplines in college, Fortino said he is confident that he can do both in the real world.
“College has been the best and really the only possible representation of what the real world could be like for me,” Fortino said.
As for advice from professionals who have had successful careers in both fields, they are unsure as to whether Fortino can integrate both careers.
Walters said it is hard to advise Fortino because she has never had a student or seen a professional accountant who wants to give so much of their time to something else.
“I think it’s going to be a challenge for Anthony,” Walters said. “He definitely has talent in both areas, so trying to balance it and figure out which one to dedicate the majority of his time to will be an interesting thing to see.”
Martin said he did not know that Fortino was also pursuing a career in accounting.
“Wow, good for him! That’s great that he has something to fall back on because this is a really difficult business we are in,” Martin said.
Similarly, Martin said it’s Fortino’s hard work ethic that will make it possible for him to be successful at whatever he does.
Bonilla also said Fortino’s diligence provides him with great opportunities.
“He loves the grind, he loves the satisfaction he gets from working hard,” Bonilla said. “Whether that’s working out in the gym, doing accounting homework, or driving on school nights and weekends to do plays in Dallas, Anthony is wholeheartedly committed to whatever he does.”
Fortino said he plans on always doing theater and accounting in some manner.
“Whether that’s being an accountant for a professional theater or being involved enough in the business world to advise investors to financially support theaters,” Fortino said. “I love both too much to let one go.”
Fortino said when he gets overwhelmed about his future, he leans on an adage that his dad taught him to keep things in perspective.
“Do your best and the Lord will do the rest.”