The Life and Loves of a Broadway Baby: An Evening with Melissa Errico
“Any chance to hear Melissa Errico sing is a chance worth taking.”
— The New York Times
“Broadway Baby / walking off my tired feet/ pounding Forty Second street/to be in a show!”
So begins Stephen Sondheim’s anthemic song of a show girl’s search for stage stardom. In her new show “The Life and Loves of a Broadway Baby,” Melissa Errico sets her own life to the Broadway songs that she has sung and owned — and offers both a sensational set of beloved standards and a series of witty and sometimes wicked stories about a life passed on the Great White Way. Rapidly becoming just as well-known as a New York Times’ author as an actress, Melissa combines her two gifts to offer a show that is full of fierce song and funny stories, making the evening, as one critic has said, like experiencing the “Nora Ephron rom-com version of Sex In the City.”
A classy, sublime study of American songs, ranging from Cole Porter to Harold Arlen to Joni Mitchell and beyond…. Come hear why Broadway World says “The way Melissa Errico immerses herself in every moment, the technical brilliance of her vocal abilities, and the sheer star power that the lady exudes, makes her a take-no-prisoners performer, offering a leave-it-all-on-the-floor show.”
First Performance: Doors open at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m.
Second Performance: Doors open at 8:15 p.m., show at 8:45 p.m.
Details
Venue
More About Melissa Errico
“The Maria Callas of American musical theater,” as Opera News has called her, referencing both her crystalline voice and dramatic, expressive intensity, Melissa Errico is a Tony Award-nominated Broadway star — an actress, singer and author who contributes regularly to The New York Times. The Wall Street Journal recently referred to her as a “nonpareil cabaret singer.” First known for her starring roles on Broadway, including My Fair Lady, High Society and Les Misérables, her recent album, Sondheim Sublime, was called by The Wall Street Journal “The best all-Sondheim album ever recorded.” Errico’s history with Sondheim began when he selected her to star as Dot in Sunday In The Park With George at The Kennedy Center, and she has since co-starred as Clara in Passion at Classic Stage Company and in the NY City Center Encores! production of the Sondheim/Rodgers musical Do I Hear A Waltz? In April 2020, she appeared in the much-talked about Sondheim 90th Birthday Concert with Broadway.com and in May, was featured on the PBS Poetry in America episode about Sondheim which featured Melissa singing “Finishing the Hat.” In addition to Sondheim, nothing in her work has been more constant than her association with composer Michel Legrand. Having starred in his sole Broadway show, Amour, she went on to collaborate with him on the iconic album Legrand Affair. After his death in 2019, she was asked to write his eulogy by The New York Times and was then invited to be the sole American performer in the extraordinary two-day memorial to Legrand held in April, 2019 at Paris’ Le Grand Rex Theatre. Warner Music/Ghostlight Records recently reissued her symphonic album, which Legrand arranged & conducted, as Legrand Affair (Deluxe Edition). Even at the height of the pandemic, she managed to keep her voice and presence alive to her audience. Not only offering multiple live-streams and conversations — teaching master classes for students across the country and producing a delicious at-home cooking show “The Honest Cook” on Instagram—she has also been amazingly busy with concert and on-line cabaret, including an often-singled-out appearance on the Sondheim birthday special, and a holiday program for the Bay Street Theater that the Wall Street Journal called “a fetching performance in which her radiant singing and impeccable diction were shown off to ideal effect.” Her plans for the coming year include an expanded collection of her Times series, “Scenes From An Acting Life”, a series of concerts and a film festival for New York’s Alliance Française, and the development of her own dramatic one woman show for NYC’s Irish Rep.