”A Poem Is Never Finished, Only Abandoned” Melissa Errico on Legrand Affair Deluxe Edition and much more!

Melissa (IG: @melissa_errico_fairymom) is best known for her starring roles on Broadway, but her career is characterized by diverse interests in many creative corners of show business. She has had a steady career in television, appeared in feature films, and performed in non-musical roles in Off-Broadway plays by Shaw, Wilde, and others. She has also explored music as both a recording artist and concert singer, releasing several music albums and working with some of the world’s best symphonies and jazz and cabaret spaces. More recently, she established herself as a writer, publishing essays in The New York Times and beyond. As a musical theater actress, she starred in the Broadway musicals Anna Karenina, My Fair Lady, High Society, Dracula, White Christmas, and Amour which won her a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and began a longtime association with its composer Michel Legrand. Melissa was recently honored with a caricature at Sardi’s in celebration of her Broadway starring theatrical performances, her concerts as well as her engaging essays for The New York Times on the actor’s art.

 

Her latest album Sondheim Sublime was released to critical acclaim, with The Wall Street Journal calling it, “The best all-Sondheim album ever recorded.” And throughout 2017, 2018, and 2019, Melissa performed successful and extended runs at Feinstein’s/54 Below of her solo concert “Melissa Sings Sondheim” celebrating the music of Stephen Sondheim and won raves when she brought it to London’s Live at Zédel for her sold-out UK concert debut co-written with Adam Gopnik in 2018. She also brought her Sondheim program to The Ravinia Festival in the fall of 2018 and appeared again at Feinstein’s/54 Below in for the new Sondheim CD release in November 2018. Her 2019 Sondheim performances include playing The Baker’s Wife in three concert performances of Into the Woods with Tony Award-winner Alice Ripley in March, the run of “Wordplay” at Lyrics & Lyricists produced by Ted Chapin for the 92nd Street Y in April, and being a featured performer on the forthcoming PBS Poetry in America portrait of Stephen Sondheim. Melissa also returned to London in May 2019 to Live at Zédel with her Sondheim concert after her sold-out run in 2018.

Melissa’s professional debut at age 18 was as Cosette in the premiere national tour of Les Misérables. Her Broadway credits include Anna Karenina, the revival of My Fair Lady in which she played Eliza Doolittle (The New York Times called her “beguiling”). She went on to star on Broadway in High Society, Amour (Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical), Dracula the Musical, and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. At The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, she starred in The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady (with John Lithgow), and Camelot (with Jeremy Irons). She has worked with Stephen Sondheim on the revival of Sunday In the Park with George (Dot/Marie at The Kennedy Center), followed by John Doyle’s production of Passion (Clara) for which she was nominated for a sixth Drama Desk Award, and most recently as Leona in the 2016 Encores! production of Do I Hear A Waltz? at City Center. In 2016 she also reprised the role of Sharon in the smash hit Off-Broadway revival of Finian’s Rainbow at Irish Repertory Theatre, which was extended three times, received rave reviews and was filmed in January 2017 for The Lincoln Center Library. She has also starred in plays by Shaw, Oscar Wilde and Wally Shawn and last year starred in another acclaimed Irish Repertory production of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.

Her solo CDs include Blue Like That (EMI/Capitol Records), Lullabies & Wildflowers (Universal), Legrand Affair (Ghostlight/Sony), and What About Today? Melissa Errico Live at 54 Below (Broadway Records; CD & DVD). In December 2017, Melissa had a new single release (Ghostlight/Warner Music Group) “Hurry Home” written by multiple Oscar-winner Michel Legrand, made an accompanying music video with filmmaker Gary Gardner, and proudly sings it on the title credits of the film Max Rose.

Television roles include the series Central Park West by Darren Star, recurring roles on Steven Soderbergh’s The Knick (Catherine), and Showtime’s Billions (June). Melissa also recently finished shooting a role in The Magnificent Meyersons, an Eric Oppenheimer film with Kate Mulgrew (2019 release). Her other feature films include Frequency with Dennis Quaid and Life or Something Like It as Angelina Jolie’s character’s best friend.

Melissa has also served on The National Endowment for the Arts and has published essays for The New York Times and is a contributing essayist in Cristina Cuomo’s The Purist and other magazines. She is married to tennis player and sports commentator Patrick McEnroe and they have three young daughters and a Yorkie named Pepper.