Review: ROBBIE ROZELLE: CITATION NEEDED Charms at 54 Below

Robbie Rozelle is a popular fellow in the cabaret community, best known for his formidable graphic artist skills with a long list of album art credits. He’s also an actor and performer who has dreamed of being in Broadway shows since childhood. His new show at 54 Below on May 23rd, Citation Needed, takes the fun premise of creating, at last, a Wikipedia entry for Rozelle, with fine song selections interspersed with warm, amusing anecdotes that often drew howls of laughter, yet were quite touching.

Dressed in a black tee, black slacks and a powder-blue jacket, Rozelle was backed by a dynamic sextet. The band consisted of pianist/musical director Yashuhiko Fukuoka, bassist Wesley Bourland, guitarist David Cinquegrana, drummer Steve Picataggio, violinist Johnny Weizenecker and cellist Bobbie Lee Crow III. Backup vocalists Michael Paul Smith and Sam Foti were also on hand for many tunes.

The evening was off to a rousing start with a medley of songs that musically answered the question, Who is this guy, anyway? He asked, “Am I the face of the future? Am I the face of the poet? Who am I?” With that, the beginnings of a Robbie Rozelle Wikipedia page magically appeared on the club’s monitors, along with a prerecorded narration by Nikka Graff Lanzarone, as if it were being written on the spot. This was quite funny, and most of the crowd seemed to be in on the joke. He quipped about other performers, “They have the gift. I have what I lovingly call the re-gift.”

An adorable video showed Rozelle back in the second grade, warbling “Getting to Know You” (from The King and I). He mouthed the lyrics and occasionally sang along with himself, which was hysterical.

Guest Samantha Rotella, Rozelle’s “first emotional support belter” he sang with in high school, came up from the audience to duet with him on “Suddenly Seymour” (Alan Menken/Howard Ashman). Though the pair had not seen one another in 32 years, until their rehearsal, it was “like no time had passed at all.” It was rather electrifying, and garnered a standing ovation.

Rozelle is a fabulous storyteller. He spoke of some of the odd jobs he took in support of his Broadway cast album buying habit, including one as a “fudge packer” (which is definitely not what you’re thinking!), and another where CDs were the compensation. “Being paid in CDs is like being paid in exposure … people die of exposure.” The best part of the story involved obtaining electricity from a downstairs neighbor so he could moderate Megan Mullaly on an AOL chat.

In a lovely, touching performance of “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables (Claude-Michel Schönberg/Alain Boublil) after a funny/heartbreaking story, Rozelle sung with a great deal of heart. Though his vocal abilities are somewhat limited, he more than compensated here with dramatic skill, and in other songs with fine comedic timing and a charming, self-deprecating humor.

Rozelle’s finest moment came with Jason Robert Brown’s ballad, “Hope.” With a spare, piano-only arrangement, Rozelle’s delivery was poignant and emotional, and rather vulnerable.

In describing his brief 54 Below variety show that was canceled just before the pandemic shutdown, Rozelle noted that the audience was really a “who’s who/who cares” of that show. He then performed Sondheim’s “Good Thing Going” as a faux “In Memoriam” award-show segment, with brief clips of performers from the series, many of whom were present.

An especially charming and clever segment involved the beginnings of his career as an album designer, originally for a Hugh Martin collection. (Martin, with lyricist Ralph Blaine, composed the music for such Judy Garland gems as “The Trolley Song” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”) Stills of the best of these album covers - many of which were quite familiar to this reviewer - were displayed onscreen as Rozelle sang “The Trolley Song.”

When Seth Rudetsky asked Rozelle to assist with a “We Are the World”-like recording of “What the World Needs Now” for the Trevor Project, it was lifechanging for Rozelle. His delicious backstory made for a very sweet medley of “Happiness” (Clark Gesner, from You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown) and “What the World Needs Now.”

Rozelle sang “Sleepy Man” (Robert Waldman/Alfred Uhry) in homage to his husband’s “superpower” of falling asleep anywhere. After his finale of “My Days” (Ingrid Michaelson) earned another standing ovation, Rozelle encored with the very funny “I Coulda Been a Golden Girl” (Addison O’Donnell), included Rozelle’s Liza Minnelli impression.

This show was a quite personal and revealing evening. Rozelle’s act is well-written and reasonably tight, though at least passing knowledge of gay cultural references is helpful to fully appreciate it. While his act, filled with such references, mainly drew a crowd that might have arrived directly from the Fire Island ferry, Rozelle has a certain charm and appeal that works for the straight audience, too. (Though I had to Google “twink.”) An evening with Robbie Rozelle is an evening well-spent.

Follow Robbie Rozelle on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/divarobbie. For more great shows at 54 Below, visit https://54below.org.