THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
As we emerge from the pandemic, many aren’t ready for bundling crowds and humanity en masse and are seeking more intimate, sincere and meaningful performances. Live theater and music were dearly missed as we hibernated, and now smaller venues and cabarets are in full swing again. My great friend, who happened to know American singer Melissa Errico from her Manhattan days, proposed we go to see her perform at Crazy Coqs cabaret at Brasserie Zedel, Piccadilly. After assuring me that the intimate space had good acoustics, so we could hear one another’s critical judgments, and desirable lighting (my inner diva is out and staying out) I agreed to go.
I was only vaguely familiar with Melissa Errico’s work and was hopeful to be engaged and drawn in with immediacy - the first three minutes must be mesmeric. Devoted congregants and fans of mixed ages and orientations offered zealous applause as Melissa moved through the room to the stage joining piano accompanist James Pearson, the respected musical director at Ronnie Scott's. His intuition and precision added layers to the evening giving a feeling of an old married couple. She opened with, 'The Windmills of Your Mind' written by the late Michel Legrand, as featured in the 1968 movie, The Thomas Crown Affair, well chosen and one of my favorites. Errico spoke between songs and shared engaging stories paying homage to Michel Legrand then singing along with him in French via a recording.
Indeed the seduction was underway, who is this siren enchantress? Melissa Errico is poly-talented; she sings, acts on TV and film and notably smashed the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady on Broadway. She has recorded many albums, has written for the New York Times and is mother to three girls. She harks from an Italian performance background and her father was a classically trained pianist. Her grandmother was an opera singer and Melissa cleverly used an original tape recording of Nonna to sing along with her. Errico talked about fate and fortuitousness and described how her Aunt Rose was a hat check girl in New York and was discovered by Ziegfeld himself to become a Follies Girl. She certainly has the family magnanimity and also apparent is the unyielding work ethic and hours of practice she puts in to generate a high standard of performance.
She reminded me a bit of the singer Bernadette Peters, effervescent and in possession of a clever wit. Errico plays nicely with others and has worked with Marvin Hamlisch, Stephen Sondheim, Richard Chamberlain, John Lithgow, Tyne Daly, Phil Ramone, Kevin Bacon, and at Yale University she performed with actor Ed Norton in a production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, just to name a few.
Will I go and see her when she returns to London? For certain! After the show I continued to think about Errico, wondering “Is this normal?” She is bewitching and has that something. The evening’s performance was soul lifting and turned out to be as good if not better than six months worth of therapy.
