Trebella: From Sinatra to Lady Gaga

Take three knock out vocalists singing both solos and in harmony. Have them perform in both English and Italian. Add choreography. That's the winning formula for Trebella, a three women show coming into the Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center, 8 p.m., Thursday, 4 Boland Drive, West Orange.

This summer, the Manhattan-based Trebella has been touring nationally from Florida to California. The group is the creation of JoAnn Robertozzi who is also the artistic director and creative force behind Ti Piace, an Italian-American foundation for the arts.

JoAnn talked about how Trebella came about.

"I was invited to perform at a major Italian-American Washington, D.C., event honoring Geraldine Ferraro, the first female major party candidate for vice president. I asked two outstanding fellow Italian-American vocalists and actresses to come join me on a song," Robertozzi said. "It was an instant connection."

It was also an instant hit.

Robertozzi continued, "We have been described as the Italian-American Andrews Sisters or Italian-American Destiny's Child."

All of the women also have noteworthy careers as solo or lead vocalists and as stage, film and television actresses. Rosie DeSanctis comes out of the contemporary music world and musical theater. Her acting work can be seen on FX's Rescue Me.

Lorraine Ferro is a multi-platinum composer who has toured nationally heading her own rock band and internationally as a singer working with Leslie Gore or guitarist Richie Blackmore of Deep Purple.

"I'm more a pop and jazz singer," Robertozzi said. She has appeared in major television commercials and independent films.

Trebella celebrate the many contributions of Italians and Italian-Americans to American popular music. The trio performs  hit songs like "Gloria," which was first written in Italian, and "Io Che Non Vivo," made popular by Dusty Springfield as "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me."  

Their big crowd pleasers are tributes to Italian-American singers ranging from Frank Sinatra through Connie Francis to Madonna and Lady Gaga.

"We do a whole Rat Pack set — Sinatra, Dean Martin — complete with dance, fedoras and canes," Robertozzi said. "We do songs like 'I Got You Under My Skin' and 'The Best Is Yet to Come.' "

Trebella is engaging entertainment and it is an antidote to the "Jersey Shore" image of Italian-Americans.

"Both Trebella and Ti Piace, my foundation, honor Italian-Americans and the culture of Italy," Robertozzi said.

She has also co-composed the musical score to Five Thousand Miles from Home, a 2009 documentary about Italian-American World War Two veterans who fought as U.S. soldiers against Mussolini.

Robertozzi lamented that, like many second or third generation Americans, she was brought up without a strong sense of Italian heritage or learning the language: "I learned Italian through this music," Robertozzi said.