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Broadway leading lady and recording artist Melissa Errico (My Fair Lady, High Society, Amour, Dracula The Musical) will perform her latest solo cabaret act, LULLABYES N' BROADWAY as part of the Birdland's "Broadway at Birdland" series May 21 and 28. Note: All photos in this article were generously provided by Melissa Errico and Susan Schulman Publicity.
Let get to the REALLY important stuff first _ your daughter, Victoria Penny McEnroe, just celebrated her first birthday (Happy Birthday, Victoria)! Give us about your take on the ups and downs of first-year motherhood. Victoria is amazing. I can't really think of anything that isn't an "UP" about this.I just didn't expect to make a really great mother-- I wasn't one of those baby-obsessed types! And then when I had her, BHAM! I was a great mother and I loved her intensely and I had such a deep love when I looked at her. I would do anything for her, walk in front a car! Anything! I swear, you have these fears that something could happen to them when they are just born -- you can barely sleep because all you want to know is that they are ok. you keep waking up just to LOOK at them! I guess I never expected I could also do pretty well on so little sleep. I have never seen a baby up close like this -- the vulnerability, the beauty of it. Victoria has been the greatest miracle of my life. Now I definitely sound like everyone else- but you just can't imagine it until its happening to you. I am so happy.
Another thing Victoria did for me was to connect me to other women. I met so many new moms in my area (the Lower East Side, Little Italy and Soho), we all met at prenatal yoga. And since we shared our pregnancies, we started to email each other as we gave birth -- these incredibly diverse stories, triumphs and frustrations-- but everyone ultimately did have a healthy baby. The emails were so touching, and we were relative strangers then! Then, I started a website and connected us officially online and now I am the founder of a Mothers Support Group called BOWERY BABES and I have a limit of 60 families. It’s all I can handle! I organize classes and playgroups and we have an online forum about food and chatter...its wonderful! Lots of artists and freelancers, and many perspectives on how to live a green life with babies and organic eating and new ways to see being a parent and a woman. It’s been enlightening and fun. I thank Victoria for helping me meet such a new diverse group of friends. You come from a very musical family, including a great-aunt who was a Ziegfeld girl. For those unfamiliar with your background, could you tell us about your family? My family is a little crazy and a little wonderful and little inspiring and little frustrating because they are so gifted and passionate it’s hard to describe them!! My father is an orthopedic surgeon and also a very accomplished concert pianist. My mother is a sculptor and a painter and a real eccentric, deeply in love with theater and make-believe and also very glamorous and very hip. She loves other women, and talking and making them laugh. She can connect with ANYONE. She has a lot to do with my love of theater because she was so fascinated always by the stories and the characters and what makes people tick. She can RELATE to everyone. She is just not a snob in any way. A real PEOPLE person. Her mother was an opera singer and a pianist, and my best friend -- a warm and very thoughtful woman. She was religious and philosophical but also often wore dresses with deep cleavage and was very sensual. She always had a pretty face on and perfume and a nice hair-do; she had a nice garden and loved children. She was very classy, and had a presence of a woman with great dignity. Her sister was a flashy sexy Ziegfeld girl, had many husbands and wore lots of fur and heels and red lipstick. I feel I am a combo of them both sometimes -- a little serious, very romantic and a little naughty. My brother is a guitarist and a writer. He has rock albums and a huge career story, full of frustration and enormous triumphs. He has had such a rich musical history and has such divine records to document it. He has been the opening act for some amazing big-league bands, and he has toured the US alone in a car many times. He knows both sides of the music business and has grown into a major artist with an indie label of his own, and a real understanding of how to avoid the major record companies and take matters into his own hands. He has legions of fans who love him (and I am the BIGGEST!) look him up www.mikeerrico.com or www.myspacemusic.com/mikeerrico My little sister Melanie is a fashion designer and living in NYC. She is 25 years old. She is the true glamour queen of our family -- always with the coolest earrings or a whole look. She is such a light-hearted spirit. She is everyone's little doll. When she was born, I was almost 11 years old and I was obsessed with dressing her up in fancy theater outfits...before she could WALK I had her in big hats and fur wraps! We have the photos! They say it’s my fault she is into fashion! When did the performance bug bite? When I saw ON YOUR TOES on Broadway on my 12th birthday. I was already into dress-up and dance class but when I saw this musical, I was sobbing uncontrollably in my seat. I wanted to be in a show, I wanted to know WHO those PEOPLE ARE UP THERE!!?? I begged my mom "who are they and how did they get there??" I have never looked back. I fell in love. Do you read all your reviews? How do you approach negative criticism about your work, be it from a reviewer, a director or even other actors?
I admit I do ultimately read the reviews, but often after a few months have passed. If a show I am in has been really badly reviewed, it’s hard to not know as people call you and say OH I AM SO SORRY. Then I feel I must read them and see what the heck happened. It is sometimes the only way you can learn what people think of the show, and perhaps try to help it get better. I haven't read too many bad reviews about me, but the ones I have read I remember them word for word. That's hard! But you don't remember the details of the good ones!! How depressing! Anyway, lets just say I really hope someday to be in a hit show that everyone loves, and that every time I have been on stage, I have always worked my hardest to have fun and do the job well. If I can learn from criticism, I will. I just want to get to the point where I am free and expressing myself without fear and without second-guessing. It’s hard to be free if the vehicle you are in is an iffy project. You don't always know which way to go to make it better. It really is true what they say "if it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage" you can TRY to make something great, but if its not a great script its really challenging. I just try to learn from my husband (who was a professional ATP tennis player, yes Patrick is John McEnroe's younger brother and was a champion in his own right for sure)...tennis players lose matches all the time. They try to learn from it, but most importantly they look forward to the NEXT match. Your first major lead in a Broadway musical was the 1993 revival of MY FAIR LADY opposite Richard Chamberlain. What is it about Eliza Doolittle that makes her such an unforgettable character? Her spirit. Eliza wants to change and wants to better herself. She is not afraid to do the work, to take the challenge, to do something that scares her -- to show up at this man's house and offer her money for lessons. She doesn't want charity, she isn't using her sexuality. She wants an honest exchange -- "I will pay you to teach me" what I love is that she isn't manipulative. She is straight-forward. She is funny and passionate, but she is coming from such a strong place of self-esteem. She wants to get on with her life. One of the first shows I saw you in was HIGH SOCIETY, based on the MGM musical of the same name. So many musicals nowadays are based on movies. Is this a good or bad thing in your opinion?
I think it’s a good thing if the story is wonderful. I really don't think it matters where the material comes from. HIGH SOCIETY was a musicalized film of the PHILADELPHIA STORY, a play first. Then Grace Kelly did the role as a musical, and Cole Porter was in love with the play and the story. He wanted to write a great love song - and he did! "True Love". As Cole Porter was a Yale man, he knew those ivy-league types and he was a great composer for the job -- he knew the wit and the culture and the style. There weren't ENOUGH songs for Broadway, so we used some of his other songs too. I think HIGH SOCIETY would have been a hit show, like it was at A.C.T. when we toured it beforehand. I think there were too many changes made in NYC leading up to the opening night. It was a FRENZY of changes. I was rehearsing new material at intermission -- on the night the critics were there! It was almost too much to bear. I was so young and didn't argue. Sometimes I wonder if I have been too nice, too much of a team-player. I have let some really hard days come upon me, by not saying STOP I CANT TAKE ANYMORE CHANGES! I just came from the position that it was my job to listen to the director and work with the team. In retrospect, perhaps I was too nice. Anyway, I am extremely proud of HIGH SOCIETY. It had so many beautiful performances and I was honored to meet Daniel McDonald, my co-star who has recently passed away. He was an angel. You’ve taken on some rather off-beat roles in both TV and indie movies. What are some of your particular favorites? My favorite role was recently on NBC. I played a housewife on MONY -- a new TV pilot directed by Spike Lee. She was so cranky! I guess since I became a mom myself, I know a bit about multi-tasking and dealing with men and how much you have to juggle. I thought it was fun to play someone who is a little obnoxious. I am very proud of my work in LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT with Angelina Jolie -- I did a ridiculous prat-fall that they kept on film. I played a newscaster who would do anything to please. She was a parody of every woman who wants to be liked. Of course, Angelina was the opposite -- her character went against the grain all the time and was a total rebel. I am very proud also of MOCKINGBIRD DONT SING -- where I played the teacher to a child who was abused severely. It’s based on a true story and I was honored to do it. It was a 1970s version of "The Miracle Worker" in a way, but without the miracle, as the story had small miracles but the child wasn't really ever able to have a full life. She is still alive -- I recommend the novel GENIE that tells her true story. As a successful actor and musician, you must be offered lots of different projects. What are some of your criteria for selecting projects?
I have a philosophy -- I choose WHAT IS AVAILABLE THAT INTERESTS ME. It may sound odd, but the dream role isn't always available. But many things do come up and I think about it and if there is something in it that fascinates me or draws me, I say yes. If I can work with Raul Esparza or Malcolm Gets, I say yes. If it’s FINIAN’S RAINBOW off-Broadway or the Kennedy Center Sondheim or a little benefit where we make no money. I have another philosophy lately -- IF THEY ASK ME TO SING, I SAY YES. I want to use my voice and I love to sing. If it can't be Broadway right now, then so be it. If it’s a great (or a young) composer who is having a party and he wants me to sing for his friends, I say yes. If it’s the Hollywood Bowl where I will have to slave away for 3 nights of work (or less! CAMELOT with Jeremy Irons was only ONE PERFORMANCE!!), I say yes. I would love to have the luxury of a real rehearsal process and a perfect vehicle, but for now I am happy to rally and do anything that inspires me in some way. I am also applying this to auditions: I will put my soul into it or I am not showing up. I must care always. Your debut CD (BLUE LIKE THAT) features a rather eclectic mix of songs. You’re known primarily as a Broadway actress. Was there any pressure to do a purely showtune-based recording?
There was actually pressure NOT to do a showtune album. I was signed to Capitol Records and the head of the company, Bruce Lundvall, didn't want a Jerome Kern CD or something like that. He wanted to explore the "lullabye" side of my voice. Funny, he used to use that word, "lullabye". Because now I am making a CD of lullabyes. I have also since made a CD with Michel Legrand of very sensual slow soft and elegant songs. It is almost finished. My pregnancy and my first year with baby made it really hard to finish the vocals and the final touches but it is really a unique album and I can't wait to share it with the world. I will sing songs from it at Birdland in May 2007. Tell us about your upcoming show at Birdland. I will share the songs I feel most deeply about -- and I am going to tell a story about seeing everything in a new light. I will sing mostly show music with an arrangement style that is very much my own -- with percussion and jazz piano, you'll see! I hope you like it! I have worked for many years now on this kind of stuff. What’s next on your schedule? A lullabye CD, more Bowery Babes events, dates with the Utah Symphony May 24, 25, 26 singing RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN, and releasing the Legrand CD. Also we have to see if the TV pilot I did gets picked up--I hope so, it’s wonderful. Thanks so much for joining us this month. Anything else you’d like to add? Nothing else I guess. What is meant to be will happen. And eat your spinach. :) Tickets to Melissa's Birdland concerts are available at Birdland Jazz.com
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