A couple years ago in her hometown of Westfield, N.J., Rosanne Christie met the television advertising research executive, and current Lamb member Lisa DeFelice at 16 Prospect Wine Bar and Bistro. 16 Prospect hosts live music every night including two Cabaret nights with pianist Joe Regan. Through Lisa, she also met actor and singer Tony Mowatt, who became her Lamb co-sponsor. This chance meeting blossomed into great friendships, singing and eventual an introduction to The Lambs.
“Lisa took me to The Lambs to show me what a wonderful club it is and its respect for theatrical arts and music. To see Low Jinx is extremely inspiring. It’s a singular experience,” said Rosanne. At Low Jinx, Rosanne has sung “When You’re Good to Mama” from the show Chicago and “Broadway Baby” from Follies. In the last week of July, Rosanne sung the title song from Cabaret there.
Rosanne has a B.A. in Theater Arts from Hartwick College and apprenticed at Williamstown Theater Festival. She studied both classical acting techniques and improv, but she was not a vocalist then. “Singing is a new experience for me. Lisa and her husband Robert encouraged me to get up and Joe Regan has been generously supporting my efforts.” She said, “Joe has pushed me harder than anybody and I trust him. He taught me that mistakes are going to happen. If you are making mistakes, you’re trying new things.” Joe was instrumental in encouraging me do cabaret at Don’t Tell Mama. She loves the place: “You won’t hear better music anywhere. The piano players are very high caliber and still it’s relaxed.”
Rosanne is presently taking voice lessons in Manhattan with Patrick DeGennarro. Rosanne resides in Westfield, N.J., and works in Manhattan in healthcare advertising, where she is senior vice-president of brand strategy at Concentric Health Experience. There she works on creative campaigns. Does advertising have similarities to theater? Rosanne says emphatically yes: “It all comes down to finding the human truth. If your story is true to the human experience, people will be willing to listen and want to listen.”
–written by Gary Shapir
