Melissa Errico, the Tony-nominated Broadway actress and singer, will celebrate the release of her latest album, “Sondheim in the City,” next week at 54 Below, the New York City supper club.
Melissa Errico in concert with jazz trumpeter Bruce Harris
Released in February, the album, 54 Below said, “is the Sondheim of smart, sophisticated New York, the Sondheim of the fast-paced, witty, sardonic, love-struck, sex-driven city in which he recorded and worked for his long life.”
Accompanied by her musical director, Tedd Firth, and four other musicians, Errico will perform on May 7, 8 and 9 at 7 p.m.; the concert on May 9 will also be broadcast live.
In a recent email interview with Forbes, Errico discussed the difference between his two Sondheim albums, “Sondheim Sublime,” released in 2018, and “Sondheim in the City.”
“They're different rooms in the Sondheim house, so to speak. 'Sondheim Sublime' was about the inner, enchanted, bewitching side of Sondheim. I wanted people, myself included, to know his gifts as a kind of of a fascinating mystical mind, rather than a keen social commentator.
“'Sondheim In the City' is about the windows looking outside — it's a (mostly) celebratory record with a carnival twist, full of the sounds and characters and noise of New York,” he said.
When asked why Sondheim's music is especially important today, Errico said, “Everybody always knew that Sondheim was witty, of course, from the first time he wrote a lyric. Beautiful, witty and brilliant, as he wrote (in a letter to West Side Story They told me he didn't like it later). But right now, Steve seems to wise. Do you want to know what marriage often feels like? Hear “Sorry, thanks.” Want to know what it feels like to be an artist while trying to be a connected person? Listen to 'Finishing The Hat'.
“Want advice on staying an artist in the face of adversity? Listen to, or better yet, sing along to 'Move On.' You never run out of life's knowledge that he somehow crafted into beautiful Broadway songs.”
Errico is known for making her performances local.
“I always try to make sure that wherever I go, I don't just do the same setlist, but adapt it to the tastes and history of the local audience. So if I'm singing in Bucks County, I make sure I sing songs that came out of all the Broadway people that were in Bucks, and I even read passages from playwrights, like SJ Perelman, who he lived
“Or if I'm in Paris, I make sure I sing in French, even if I need a bit of study. But we have fun doing it!”
Singer Melissa Errico in Central Park
On making his upcoming 54 Below shows local, Errico said, “When I sing in New York I always try to tell stories from New York, about my family's background in the Ziegfeld Follies, or about racing in New York as a teenager to changing clothes.or about my first apartment.fun stories that everyone can relate to.and i try to bring in unexpected guests, a very new york thing. There will be surprising visitors at 54 Below, people knocking on the door and borrowing a music mug, so to speak.”
She also said she loves “the great women of New York, my local saints, Nora Ephron, Laura Nyro, Judy Collins, Joan Didion, Dorothy Parker. They fill my head, so they fill my show. I love having the right quote from the right writer to get a song going.”
In response to a recent survey by the Recording Industry Association of America that found that Americans would buy 43 million vinyl records by 2023, six million more than purchased CDs, Errico suggested that “the sound of vinyl is warmer and somehow more human, and we're all desperate.” right now for a nice human touch. That's why people still go to clubs.”
Finally, asked about her outlook on New York today, she said, “There are so many signs of the same thing that led me to make this album in the first place: the vibe and ecstatic potential of Manhattan. Watch Marilyn Maye celebrate her 96th birthday, the beautiful flowers of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the new Eric Fischl sculpture exhibit, and a variety of new musicals on Broadway. I see hope everywhere!”
A versatile performer, Errico is a specialist in the music of Sondheim and Michel Legrand. First known for his starring roles on Broadway, incl My Fair Lady, High Society, Anna Karenina, White Christmas, Dracula i The miserable onesErrico has also starred in “Central Park West” and appeared in “Blue Bloods” and “The Knick.”
He is also an essayist of The New York Times and is currently working on expanding her essays about a singer's strange life on stage and on the road into a book.
