If you ask Faith Prince about her husband, Larry, she鈥檒l warn you that he鈥檚 shy鈥攑articularly compared to her own out-of-the-gate exuberance. But it鈥檚 only half true; Larry Lunetta is shy until he warms up and then his charm wraps you up cozier than a cashmere sweater.
The two are flip sides of a coin: Prince known for her bubbling, off-the-cuff interviews and big personality behind characters like her Tony-winning Miss Adelaide in the 1992 Guys and Dolls revival and Belle in Martin Short鈥檚 1998 Little Me; Larry the more pensieve, easy-going musician who works with greats like Billboard-topper Paul Anka.
鈥淗e makes me laugh all the time,鈥� says Prince. 鈥淚n our neighborhood, the neighbors know him more than they know me. People think I鈥檓 the warm and fuzzy one. And that鈥檚 what I mean: There鈥檚 inconsistencies. We go together, but we鈥檙e odd. We鈥檙e really odd.鈥�
鈥淢ost people look at us and they are like, 鈥楬mm I don鈥檛 see you together,鈥欌� says Prince. 鈥淭hen after they鈥檙e with us for awhile they go, 鈥極h my God. You鈥檙e perfect for each other.鈥欌� Both are passionate, loyal, and intensely intelligent at their chosen profession. Lunetta still serves as musical coordinator at Sacremento鈥檚 Music Circus, California Musical Theatre鈥檚 intensive summer season, where he and Prince first met.
The first person to recognize that this odd couple might just be a match made in musical theatre heaven was their mutual friend, Leland Ball. He directed the Music Circus鈥� 1987 production of On a Clear Day . Prince starred as Melinda Wells and Lunetta played in the orchestra. Naturally, Prince had sworn off men after dating a professional pilot鈥攚ho she dubs 鈥淢r. Oh So Wrong鈥� in her cabaret act鈥攂ut at Ball鈥檚 urging, she peeked down into the pit one day and spotted a handsome trumpet player. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥極oh he鈥檚 cute. I wonder if that鈥檚 Larry Lunetta.鈥欌� She asked him out to lunch. The Music Circus shows were a ten-day gig (including rehearesals), but that was enough time for them to know something was there. 鈥淎ll I remember is that we stayed up talking that whole week,鈥� says Lunetta. 鈥淲e just had a lot in common even though we were very different,鈥� says Prince.
But as so many industry romances, the two weren鈥檛 in the same place for long. Lunetta called L.A. home base, but often toured with Anka. Prince lived in New York. Still, at the same time they were falling for each other, Prince was falling for Sacramento.
Lunetta was born in the California capital, and his family鈥攈is father Stanley Lunetta, a well-known avant garde drummer and Music Circus musical coordinator鈥攚as still there. 鈥淚 met his parents at the same time I met [Larry],鈥� remembers Prince, 鈥渨hich I think is why I just felt safe. They鈥檙e really cool, good people. They鈥檙e just authentic.鈥�
The two wed in 1992, ironically the same year that Prince 鈥渁rrived鈥� on Broadway as the theatre鈥檚 most 鈥渨ell-known fianc茅e.鈥� Before she won her Tony Award for Guys and Dolls, The New York Times ran a story on the comedian which addressed her recent marriage to Lunetta with skepticism. 鈥淭he rigors, perils and hard choices of stardom are yet to come,鈥� wrote David Richards. But even when thrown against the rocky coast of fame, Prince and Lunetta stayed firmly intact. 鈥淚 had always found Larry very grounding,鈥� says Prince. 鈥淢y marriage has been the most grounding thing in my life.鈥�
鈥�Guys and Dolls was such a huge hit at that time,鈥� says Lunetta, who continues to do musical consulting for Broadway shows and has recently worked with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. 鈥淓verybody wanted to do something with [Faith], but her life didn鈥檛 change. She鈥檇 already been working up to that point, so a lot of the things that you deal with in this career were there before then. The media looks at it like everything鈥檚 going to change in your life, and it changes, but not that much. She was already working that kind of schedule and getting a lot of attention from Jerome Robbins and things like that.鈥�
鈥淚 was older too. I was like 34 when people were [asking], 鈥榃here have you been?鈥欌� adds Prince. 鈥淎nd I was like, 鈥楬oney I鈥檝e been here.鈥欌�
Almost 25 years later and she鈥檚 still here, as is her marriage. The couple keeps a part-time home in Sacramento, where their son, Henry, follows in his father and grandfather鈥檚 footsteps by playing in the Music Circus pit each summer, but Prince often jets off to L.A. or New York for the right part. This weekend Prince stars as Ruth Sherwood in the L.A. Opera鈥檚 concert version of Wonderful Town, and this summer she and Larry join 半岛体育鈥檚 Broadway on the Rhine River cruise. 鈥淲e certainly don鈥檛 have a life where we wake up every day and it鈥檚 exactly the same thing,鈥� says Lunetta. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 good for a couple to have a lot of changes鈥攖o feel the come and go and always have something different going on.鈥�
