Charleene Closshey (born January 15, 1981) is an American stage and screen actress, musician, composer, and producer. She is known for her starring roles in the romantic-comedy feature No Postage Necessary (2018)[1] and the holiday film An Evergreen Christmas (2014). Closshey made her Broadway debut in the musical Once.[2] Closshey has also produced No Postage Necessary, the first film released via blockchain technology, with writer-director Jeremy Culver.[3]
Closshey has released music albums including Christmas Time is Here, An Evergreen Christmas: Music from the Motion Picture, Talk About Love: Music from the Motion Picture “No Postage Necessary”, Smile, Glimpse and Aligned: A Planetary Mantra and Gong Shower.
Early life
Closshey was raised in Plant City, Florida, and started playing piano and reading music at age 2. She spent much of her childhood learning to play various instruments, including the flute, clarinet, harp, and viola.[4]
Closshey competed in the Miss Florida America pageants, winning Miss Orlando,[7] Miss Tampa and Miss Tampa Bay.[8] She won preliminary talent and was top ten at Miss Florida, receiving multiple academic and community service awards.
Business
Following her 2002 graduation from Florida Southern College, Closshey cofounded Ideas & Innovations, a strategic consulting and marketing management firm.[9]
Career
Acting
In 2014, Closshey joined the cast of the Broadway musical Once, understudying the roles of Reza and Ex-Girlfriend.[10] She made her debut on April 8, 2014 onstage at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, the same stage where Madonna, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, and Julia Roberts all made their Broadway debuts (1988, 2004, and 2006 respectively).[11]
In 2012, Closshey starred in and executive produced the short film "Walking with Francis", written and directed by Jeremy Culver, recounting the last days of the man who would become St. Francis of Assisi.[14]
Closshey trained classically, studying her primary instruments of violin (beginning at age 12), piano (age 2), and voice (age 24). She played violin with artists including Josh Groban, Charlie Daniels, Mannheim Steamroller, Frank Sinatra, Jr., and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra among others.[6] After Closshey began classical vocal training, she soon thereafter sang in Rome, Italy with the Operafestival di Roma[18] and with the St. Petersburg Opera in productions of La bohème and Die Fledermaus (Sally).[19]
In 2011, Closshey released the jazz cabaret album Smile. Her first instrumental album, Glimpse was released in 2012, was commissioned for yoga sessions at the 13th Annual Association of Comprehensive Energy Psychology conference.[14]
In 2022, Closshey released her album Aligned: A Planetary Mantra and Gong Shower. In this album, she has combined NASA-recorded space sounds with ambient compositions music tuned to the mathematically-calculated frequencies of the planets, planetary gongs, and Sanskrit mantras.[21]
Her album Aligned: A Planetary Mantra & Gong Shower won Best Ambient/New Age song at the 2022 Hollywood Music in Media Awards [21] and received two gold medals and one silver medal at the 2023 COVR Awards.[24]
Philanthropy and activism
Closshey supports animal-rescue organizations and other charitable causes. She frequently supports the Spring of Tampa Bay,[13] and has sponsored a golden Labrador puppy throughout her training to become a seeing eye dog through Southeastern Guide Dogs.[25]
