Melissa Errico | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1970-03-23)March 23, 1970 (age 54) Manhattan, New York City |
| Education | Yale University(BA) |
| Occupation(s) | Actress Singer Recording artist Writer |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | melissaerrico.com |
Melissa Errico (born March 23, 1970)[1] is an American actress, singer, recording artist and writer. She is known for herBroadway musical roles such asEliza Doolittle inMy Fair Lady and the title role inOne Touch of Venus, as well as her recordings of musical theater classics, including albums of songs byStephen Sondheim andMichel Legrand. In recent years she has become a contributing writer toThe New York Times and served on theNational Endowment for the Arts.[2]
Born in New York City,[1] Errico went to high school inManhasset, New York, while taking dance lessons inManhattan. Her father is an orthopedic surgeon and concert pianist. Her mother is a former teacher who now works as a sculptor.[3] She began her professional career at 12, appearing on the syndicated children's TV seriesThe Great Space Coaster.[4] Errico's maternal grandmother was an opera singer.[5][6]
Errico is a graduate ofYale University. During her freshman year, Errico was asked to audition for the role ofCosette while trying out for a different show, and was cast.[7][8] Errico took a leave of absence from Yale and performed in a tour ofLes Misérables, then returned to complete a degree in art history and philosophy.[7][9] Errico is also a graduate of theBritish American Drama Academy's 1991 Midsummer in Oxford Programme.[10]
Errico is a guest instructor atHB Studio.[11]
Errico played Cosette inLes Misérables on a national tour. She also played Eliza Doolittle inMy Fair Lady on Broadway, oppositeRichard Chamberlain andJulian Holloway, at the Virginia Theater.[12] She co-starred oppositeTyne Daly in theNew York City Center Encores production ofCall Me Madam.[13] In 2002, Errico played the role of Dot/Marie inSunday in the Park with George. The production ran at the Eisenhower Theater at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. from May 31 to June 28, and Errico's work was recognized with a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Leading Actress in a Musical.[14][15] In 2003 she co-starred in the revival of theWallace Shawn playAunt Dan and Lemon atThe New Group directed byScott Ellis.[16] In 2003 Errico also returned to the role of Eliza Doolittle, alongsideJohn Lithgow andRoger Daltrey, for a production ofMy Fair Lady at theHollywood Bowl in Los Angeles;[17] she also starred there inCamelot oppositeJeremy Irons[18] andThe Sound of Music withMarni Nixon as Mother Abbess.[19] Other Broadway starring roles includeHigh Society,Anna Karenina,Dracula The Musical,Amour,Oliver! andIrving Berlin's White Christmas. She is the recipient of aTony Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Michel Legrand'sAmour),[20] and aLucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress inOne Touch of Venus.[21] In 2013 she co-starred as Clara in theClassic Stage Company production ofStephen Sondheim'sPassion, earning aDrama Desk Award nomination for her performance.[22] In 2016, she returned to theNew York City Center stage for the Rodgers-Sondheim musicalDo I Hear a Waltz?, for which she won rave reviews.[23] She has also starred in several productions forIrish Repertory Theatre including the musicalFinian's Rainbow and herDrama Desk Award-nominated performances in the playsThe Importance of Being Earnest[24] andCandida.[25] At age 46, Errico returned to the ingenue role Sharon in the 2016Irish Repertory Theatre production ofFinian's Rainbow, an experience she chronicled inThe New York Times;[26] she also starred in their production ofOn a Clear Day You Can See Forever in 2018, which she also wrote about inThe New York Times.[27]
Errico has been recognized as an interpreter ofStephen Sondheim's work, with Terry Teachout ofThe Wall Street Journal calling her 2018 albumSondheim Sublime "the best all-Sondheim album ever recorded".[28] In 2022,The Wall Street Journal said her new albumOut Of The Dark: The Film Noir Project "gives us noir music the way we imagine it...melancholy, bittersweet tales of isolation and loneliness, beauty and betrayal—especially relevant at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic...Ms. Errico sings throughout with a tone at once wistful and probing, suggesting that romance and mystery are but different sides of the same coin...we are breathing along with her, seeing what she sees, feeling what she feels...she makes it "uncommonly clear" that we are all silent partners in our own destruction, and that the most we can hope for is a few brief moments of tenderness".[29]
Errico portrayed Alex Bartoli onCentral Park West,[30] and has had roles on episodes ofBillions[31] andThe Knick.[32]
Errico has also appeared onThe Jim Gaffigan Show,[33]Blue Bloods,[34]The Good Wife,[34]Law & Order,[35]A Gifted Man,[36]Ed,[35] andMiss Match oppositeAlicia Silverstone.[37]
Errico has had roles in a number of films, includingMockingbird Don't Sing,Frequency, andLife or Something Like It. In 2013, Errico recorded the theme song for the movieMax Rose. The soundtrack features an original score byMichel Legrand, and Errico sang the main title track, "Hurry Home".[38] In 2019, Errico curated a film festival for French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) in New York City celebrating movies featuring the music of composer Michel Legrand.[39] In 2021 at the height of the pandemic, The New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik and Melissa Errico curated FIAF's new CinéSalon series Out of the Dark: The Mystery of Film Noir. Incorporating both French and American examples—and some that involve French filmmakers who immigrated to America—the series explored the many sides of the 'noir' vision in cinema with special attention paid to the Franco-American dialogue at its core.[40] The series was co-presented by The Cultural Services, a division of the French Embassy in the United States. The Cultural Services were first imagined in the 1930's by Paul Claudel. In 1945 General de Gaulle appointed Claude Lévi-Strauss as the first Cultural Counselor, with the mission of providing Americans (individuals and organizations) with access and resources to engage with French culture and promote it in their own communities.[41]
Errico's recording of a song fromDavid Shire's new musicalTable was aired in April 2015 on NPR radio on The Jonathan Schwartz show for WYNC.[42]
She reprised her performance as Venus at City Center Encores! Broadway Bash! in November 2001.[43] Errico made her London debut in May 2008 singing inJerry Herman's Broadway at theLondon Palladium.[44] In November 2015, she debuted her new one-woman show atJoe's Pub, New York City, co-written with close collaboratorAdam Gopnik.[45] Errico has toured with conductorMarvin Hamlisch.[46] In 2016 she appeared at the David Rubenstein Atrium,Lincoln Center, in a talk by Adam Gopnik aboutJudy Garland.[47] She also performed atLincoln Center for their American Songbook Series[48] and atJazz at Lincoln Center withMichael Feinstein.[49] She has also performed with Feinstein atCarnegie Hall.[50] In 2017 and 2018 she performed runs of her concert of the music ofStephen Sondheim throughout the U.S. and in London[51] and in 2019, she starred as The Baker's Wife in a concert production of Sondheim'sInto the Woods in Long Island.[52] In 2019 she performed concerts featuring the music ofMichel Legrand at theFairmont San Francisco[53] and in NYC atFeinstein's/54 Below.[54] She was the sole American performer at the two-day memorial concert for Legrand in April, 2019 at Paris'Grand Rex[55] and she also performed at London's Legrand memorial concert in September, 2019 atRoyal Festival Hall.[56] In 2019 she also performed the National Anthem atArthur Ashe Stadium at theUS Open.[57] On March 22, 2020, to celebrate his 90th birthday,Guild Hall of East Hampton premiered herStephen Sondheim concert onYouTube with an exclusive livestream.[58]
On November 18, 2022 Errico made her debut atCarnegie Hall, performing/co-starring with the New York Pops in their concert Broadway Blockbusters.[59]
In June 2023 Errico opened forGeorge Benson at theMontreal International Jazz Festival at theSalle Wilfrid-Pelletier before a sold-out crowd of 3,000 people, singing a set of music by her mentor the lateMichel Legrand. Of the performance, London Jazz News wrote “Errico was energized, making sure with every breath that she would get the audience in the 3000-seater Pelletier really on her side. Every high note was heroically held, and she got a standing ovation from this audience. Montreal audiences always want to show their warmth and this one made her deservedly welcome.”[60] Added the Quebec Journal, in its review, "It was the Italian-American chanteuse Melissa Errico who was responsible for energizing the concert hall, and that she did, expressing herself as fluently in French as in English, and offering a memorable reprise of Legrand's "Valse des Lilas/Once Upon A Summertime."[61]
She has two siblings –Mike Errico and Melanie Errico. She met her husband, former tennis professional and ESPN sports commentatorPatrick McEnroe, when they were in grade school together.[62] They married on December 19, 1998, at the Holy Trinity Church on W. 82nd Street.[63] She lives in New York with their three daughters.[64]
She has penned several columns inThe New York Times since 2016 providing wry and illuminating takes on the performers' life. These include columns which discuss returning to ingenue roles later in life,[26] her experience as a headliner performer on a themed cruise,[65] gender politics,[27] her time with composer Michel Legrand,[66] the recent trend of home-taping for auditions,[67] the process of digitally rehearsing and producing a full musical production ofMeet Me in St. Louis during the COVID-19 pandemic,[68] a costume fitting for her first live concert since the pandemic began,[69] an essay about being on the road examining a performer's life, before and after the pandemic,[70] and a profile piece on cabaret icon Marilyn Maye ahead of her 95th birthday and long-awaited Carnegie Hall debut.[71]
She wrote an expanded article on her experiences with Legrand, which was published in the French magazineLa Règle du Jeu [fr].[72]
She has also written several essays for the wellness/lifestyle magazineThe Purist.[73][74][75][76][77][78][79]
Errico was a principal speaker at the Annual Broadway Blessing in 2013.[80][81]
Errico founded the Bowery Babes in 2005, and continues to serve in an advisory capacity.[82] She performed at Merkin Concert Hall in June 2015 to support theAli Forney Center, which assists homeless LGBT youth.[83] She has supported the non-profit arts organizationSing For Hope[84] and non-profit camp SAY, for children who stutter.[85] Errico appeared inTake Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration, a fundraiser for Artists Striving To End Poverty (ASTEP) in April 2020.[86]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
