Melissa Errico: Broadway Baby-From Manhasset to Manhattan & Beyond
Melissa Errico, dressed to the shimmering nines, erupts into “Watch What Happens” (Michel Legrand) like a thoroughbred tearing through the gate. How she manages to fit vibrato at this tempo is a wonder. The firework performer reaches, bounces, pumps an arm, dips, and dances directly into “Come Rain or Come Shine” (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer) riding Mark McLean’s irresistible percussion.
Loosely connecting mostly Broadway songs to growing up on Manhasset (Long Island) “an old Indian name for Exit 36,” Errico exudes warmth and humor. She talks of parents, a Follies Girl grandmother, and later her daughters in a loosey goosey train of thought manner. “I started as an ingénue. Am I disappointed? A bit. Am I disillusioned? Never.” We feel like friends.
The story of finally signing up for Flamenco lessons – a long time aspiration – is charming. Errico’s arms and hands are immensely graceful. Her teacher says things will come together in about two years. She invites us back. “Take Me to The World” (Stephen Sondheim) is, however, an awkward song with which to demonstrate that kind of footwork.
Melissa Errico and JC Maillard
George and Ira Gershwin’s “The Man I Love” emerges backed by lace piano, circling brushes, and barely touched bass. Both its quiet and cadence bask in constraint. “Night Ride Home” (Joni Mitchell) is country/pop featuring guitarist JC Maillard whose quick, graceful fingers pluck and slide like skating. Stephen Sondheim’s “Move On” finds Errico’s body, heart and mind so enmeshed, so swept away, it’s evangelical. A rollicking excerpt from a Taylor Swift song (to show daughter Victoria she can) punctuates the air with mischief. The artist’s signature “How Are Things in Glocca Mora?” is luminous.
Guest Charles Busch duets “If It Takes Forever” (I Will Wait for You), setting up the two-hander with a plausible story of two lovers waiting separately for the same man. Vocals poignantly overlap and braid. (Norman Gimbel/ Jacques Demy) Busch then performs Joni Mitchell’s iconic “Both Sides Now” in such a personal, heartbreaking way, you’d think he wrote it. The performer, who climbs inside material, inadvertently shines a spotlight on Errico’s lack of focus elsewhere.
This is an actress. We’ve seen it tonight, yet most other songs, though technically superb, have no meaning, no intention. Even the title song doesn’t ring true. Virtuosity alone can keep listeners at a distance. A heads up.
To hear the best of Melissa Errico, listen to her recent noir recording Out of the Dark.
Photos by David Kenas
Melissa Errico: Broadway Baby-From Manhasset to Manhattan & Beyond
Special Guest-Charles Busch
MD/Piano: Tedd Firth
JC Maillard-Guitar; David Finck-Bass; Mark McLean-Drums
54Below
254 West 54th Street
