Christine Andreas Headlines WCC Benefit

Singer Christine Andreas is pulled by that musical spark that ignites when just the right singer and just the right songwriter collide. 

She's taking the raving success of "Bemused," her cabaret show this winter and putting it onto CD—her first solo disc in 10 years.

And she's bringing that show that left The New York Time "thunderstruck," to Abigail Kirsch at Tappan Hill on April 17 to benefit the Westchester Community College scholarship fund. 

Why are you doing this benefit for Westchester Community College?

I am doing the benefit for WCC because i was asked to by two of the loveliest people in Westchester, Bob & Abigail Kirsch....I am also doing it because giving scholarships to young people who would not otherwise have a chance of a higher education is  the solution to what's wrong in our world.....ignorance.

And finally i'm doing it because i have loved living in Westchester. My special needs son, Mac, is in a beautiful home in Buchanan under the auspices of a wonderful agency in Mount Kisco, Ability Beyond Disability. He works in a great program out of Elmsford, Another Step. This county has been very, very good to my boy and to me.

You recently moved to Westchester from Rockland. What do you see as the difference between the two counties?

Rockland has more rocks? I don't know. But I loved that county. 

How do you juggle the challenges you face?

I've had to do the parent-career balancing act for years because I have a special kid. I have to shift gears early on. I put my hands up and I looked up at heaven and I said, "well what am I supposed to do?" I knew I was supposed to be a parent. I knew I was supposed to be a singer. 

I don't put those things in opposition. In my mind I put them all into "this is my life."

When I was in the revival of My Fair Lady the New York Times had a piece that juxtaposed a picture of Julie Andrews with a photo of me. Well, I didn't think of myself as battling with Julie Andrews, just of finding Eliza Doolittle. 

What will you be performing for the guests at WCC's gala?

It's pretty much the whole show. It's a conversation except I'm singing it. It's quite an exchange. When I musically connect with you I get you out of the craziness of your day. 

Here's the official description of the CD, titled be-Mused:

Christine celebrates some of the greatest collaborations of the Great American Songbook : between Harold Arlen and Ethel Waters ("Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe"), Bacharach/David and Dionne Warwick ("What the World Needs Now"), Larry Hart and Vivienne Segal ("Bewitched"), Jimmy Van Heusen and Frank Sinatra ("Come Fly With Me") and Marguerite Monnot and Edith Piaf ("La Vie en Rose") -- plus many, many more.  In a show that left The New York Times "thunderstruck," Christine takes songs that are already incendiary and makes them shine that much brighter. 

Purchase a ticket to the Spring for Scholarships event for $300, and you'll be contributing to the scholarship program at Westchester Community College. For more information on Spring for Scholarships, please phone 914-606-6558.