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There is a $ 20 cover charge
and dinner will be available in the Dining Room from 6 PM
on. Reservations are suggested by calling Grotta Azzurra,
177 Mulberry Street,
in historic Little Italy
at 212-975-8775.
The “voice of
Domino’s Pizza” on their current national radio commercial,
Ms. Fontaneli has performed at the White House for President
Clinton and at the Inauguration for President George W.
Bush. She received the “Lifetime Achievement Award in the
Arts” from the O.S.I.A. (previous honoree Luciano
Pavarotti). She was the PBS/Channel 13 Host for “Andrea
Bocelli in Central Park” which aired in December 2011 and
was the opening act for Jimmy Kimmel’s first-annual national
charity telethon in Hollywood CA which aired on September
25, 2011.
In 2010, she
performed at the opening ceremonies of the prestigious
Hamptons Classic Horseshow, sang the National Anthem on
Capital Hill in Washington D.C. for the testimony to
fashion-icon Giorgio Gucci, sang Happy Birthday to Mickey
Rooney at his 90th birthday celebration at Feinsteins with
Donald Trump, Regis Philbin and Tony Bennett in attendance
and performed her seventh Annual “Christmas in Italy”
concert at Lincoln Center. She was the voice of “Nonna” on
the beloved TV Chef Lidia Bastianich’s 2010 PBS Christmas
special (seen on over 300 PBS outlets across the U.S.) and
she closed the year with an interview/performance/co-hosting
with Tony Tantillo on CBS Weekend New York seen by
15,000,000 viewers. Cristina has been named one of the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts 100 most notable alumni
(along with Robert Redford, Danny DeVito, Edward G.
Robinson, etc.).
A listing of
the popular “giants” she has appeared with include Tony
Bennett, Joel Grey, Vic Damone and many others. Ms.
Fontanelli is a favorite guest artist with many prestigious
orchestras including the Boston Pops and the St. Louis
Symphony, performing in major concert halls throughout the
U.S. and the world, including the Lincoln and Kennedy
Centers, the Philadelphia Academy of Music, and major
concert halls throughout the Far East and Canada.
She has completed
three world-tours with the Mantovani Orchestra. Her
beautiful soprano voice has taken her to the White House as
part of President Clinton’s holiday celebration, to Gracie
Mansion at the invitation of Mayor Rudy Giuliani, to the
Governor’s mansion in Princeton, N.J., to Washington, D.C.
for the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), to
Lincoln Center with stars from the Metropolitan Opera, to
the Waldorf-Astoria for the Columbus Citizens Foundation
honoring Franco Zeffirelli, to a special function honoring
Maestro Riccardo Muti and to the prestigious National Arts
Club in NYC. She has appeared annually at the world-famous,
Feinstein’s at the Regency Hotel, in NYC, and has received
rave reviews for her nightclub entertainment abilities, in
addition to her classical concert and operatic appearances.
Ms. Fontanelli
has performed with opera companies throughout the United
States and abroad including the Palm Beach Opera, the New
York Grand Opera, the Opera of Hong Kong and the Cairo
Opera. She has also performed at the Italian Embassy in
Washington D.C., the Rainbow Room for the National
Organization of Italian American Women and the Waldorf
Astoria for the Order Sons of Italy in America.
She has toured the Middle East extensively as an “Ambassador
of Opera”. Her operatic repertoire includes such heroines as
Mimi, Musetta, Violetta and the title role of “Madame
Butterfly”. Ms. Fontanelli has also toured as a solo concert
artist in major concert halls throughout Japan, Korea,
Italy, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United States. She sings
and entertains in Japanese, Korean, Italian, Neopolitan,
French, German, Spanish and Yiddish.
Many major publications, including The New York Times,
have praised Ms. Fontanelli’s singing as having “technical
ease” and “flaunting bravura”, but perhaps this quote taken
from a recent review best sums up the artistry of this
versatile soprano - she is a “show stopper”.
Ms. Fontanelli was born in Brooklyn, New York of Italian
heritage and is a graduate of the American Academy of
Dramatic Arts. She has also attended the Juilliard School in
New York.
The ENRICO
CARUSO ROOM is located downstairs at Grotta Azurra
where the world famous Naples-born tenor Enrico Caruso would
often dine with friends – and then sing – while he lived in
New York City as the greatest tenor of his time with the
Metropolitan Opera in the first two decades of the 20th
century. The new venue is decorated with memorabilia of the
world famous tenor donated by Cav. Uff. Aldo Mancusi,
founder and curator of the Enrico Caruso Museum which
is located at 1942 East 19th Street in Brooklyn
The Museum celebrated its 25th anniversary
earlier this year.
The Enrico Caruso
Room opened in April of this year as a new venue to showcase
established and up-and-coming opera singers. Performances in
the venue are produced by Mort Berkowitz and Les Schecter.
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