All tagged Robbie Rozelle
Mark my words, Jessica Vosk has transcended from Broadway star to Broadway superstar, launching herself across the precipice between the two with her debut album Wild and Free. The current Elphaba of Broadway’s Wicked has been tiptoeing up to the edge of greatness, teasing us with her promises, but with this new album (produced by Michael Croiter and Robbie Rozelle and released by Broadway Records), Ms. Vosk makes good with a refreshing plunge into artistry that surpasses our greatest expectations.
Today, I am sitting down to interview Robbie Rozelle, who is about to make his sophomore outing at Feinstein’s/54 Below with his show Bustin’ Out. After a successful debut effort titled Songs From Inside My Locker, Robbie was asked to be the venue’s Pride headliner. Mr. Rozelle, who is a busy guy with his work at Broadway Records, directing acts for the likes of Jessica Vosk, Kate Baldwin, and Melissa Errico, as well as having the dubious distinction of managing my website and social media, found a few minutes for me to pick his brain about the upcoming show.
If you had the pleasure of growing up in the 80s, then you know that things were big, colorful, and full of the “cheese” factor. This was a good thing. Anything worth doing was worth over-doing. Made-for-TV movies were often epic and star-studded events, offering a parade of popular performers (past and present) in sprawling entertainments that amazed and delighted. Among these was the deliciously campy and endlessly melodic two-part television musical of Alice in Wonderland (1985) produced by Irwin Allen.
Musical theatre scholars know that the introduction of a character's dreams, wishes, hopes and goals are summed up in the "I Am" song, a character number that appears early in the show as a way of eliciting empathy for the story's catalyst. There are many fine examples of "I Am" songs including "Some People" in Gypsy, "Chief Cook and Bottle Washer" from The Rink, and "Corner of the Sky" from Pippin.
