By Andrew Gans
27 Nov 2009
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| Melissa Errico |
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| Photo by Joan Marcus |
MELISSA ERRICO
Melissa Errico, who possesses one of the great sopranos in today's musical theatre, recently returned to the Broadway stage in the second annual New York run of the family-friendly holiday classic, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, which is based on the film of the same name and is playing the Marquis Theatre though Jan. 3, 2010. The limited run marks the first time that the singing actress, a Tony nominee for her work in the Michel Legrand musical Amour, has performed on The Great White Way since the birth of her three daughters: three-year-old Victoria and ten-month-old twins Diana and Juliette. Prior to rehearsals, Errico — whose Broadway credits also include My Fair Lady, High Society and Dracula as well as stellar turns in the City Center Encores! productions of Call Me Madam and One Touch of Venus — spoke about her return to the Broadway stage, motherhood, and a long-in-the-works solo recording spotlighting the songs of composer Legrand; that interview follows.
Question: How do you feel about returning to Broadway?
Melissa Errico: I'm on a cloud. This is unexpected. I'm happier than I can really say. I didn't expect this. I've been auditioning, and I've been singing since the babies were all born and through all the pregnancies. I've stayed in shape but, in all honesty, I didn't know when. It's like the Shel Silverstein [poem] "The Missing Piece." It's not quite the only missing piece. I felt I had other missing pieces… but the showbiz thing, I really missed that and wanted that in my life. In all of my happiness with the kids, I have really missed… not just the singing. I've sung. I miss being in a costume, I miss being in a story. It's really weird because now I'm older and you really have to ask yourself what matters in life. You would think maybe that plays would fall by the wayside at some point, but it's not gonna happen. It's not gonna fall by the wayside here.
Question: That's interesting. Why do you think that is?
Errico: I don't know. It's like a gene or something. It's the musical theatre gene. Haven't you heard of that? [Laughs.]
Question: Yes, I think I've got two of those. How did the role come about?
Errico: The old-fashioned way. The actual day was Wednesday about two weeks ago. I was at the hair parlor. I hadn't had my auburn locks colored in awhile. I just sort of accent my brown hair and make it a little more auburn brown. With the babies, I have zero time to take care of myself, so for a year I've been doing my color with $7.99 Clairol stuff from the drugstore. All summer I really did a number on myself because of the chlorine and the sun and hanging out with the kids. I was a total ragamuffin mom. So I finally make an appointment on a Wednesday. I'm sitting there, and the guy says it's gonna take three hours to fix this mess. Then I get an email that I have an audition tomorrow. I'm stuck with stuff on my hair, and I'm like, "I gotta get home!" And that night was my sister's engagement party. So I was literally gonna have no time to even print [the audition material] or read it.
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| Melissa Errico |
| photo by Joan Marcus |
Errico: Yeah, I had to audition in the morning with Jay Binder. But I had to fix the hair though! [Laughs.] It's bad though, and it wouldn't do me any good to not solve that. So I'm sitting there, and I forward the information to [husband] Patrick [McEnroe], who is at the Tennis Center where he has an office. I say, "Do you have a printer?" He says, "No, but I'll get home early." So he goes home early to print it, so at least I have it. There's no time, so we go to the engagement party, and I have to do the whole thing with my sister. I love my sister, and I'm not gonna be like, "[I have] an audition tomorrow." I just have a good time with her, then I read the first act and I go to bed. The next day I get up really early with the twins at six. Victoria's gotta leave at 8:15 in order to get to school. She's three. I take her to her pre-school, and then I just sit hardcore at the pre-school working on the script. The head of the school comes up to me and says, "What are you doing? You have papers everywhere!" I don't have a good technique for discarding papers. I'll put them upside down on the couch. So I'm making this big mess. I said, "I'm trying to read the second act. In two hours I have an audition for a Broadway show. I'm still learning the story." Anyway, the whole school is coming to White Christmas. [Laughs.] It's a boring story, I know, but it's my life. It's a very ordinary problem. I've gotta get a three-year-old out the door every morning, then be a showgirl later. It's gonna be interesting.
Question: What songs do you get to do in the show?
Errico: I get to do "Count Your Blessings," "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me," "Sisters," of course, which is so great because I have three girls. Every summer I do a tribute at Guild Hall to a composer. Last summer was Arlen, and the year before was Irving Berlin. So I've sung this whole score and gotten to know the family of Irving Berlin. They all came to Guild Hall. So "Sisters" is in my brain already. So when I'm giving birth to all these girls — not that I'm singing "Sisters" — but it's on my mind that they're gonna have to learn that song. I also sing "How Deep Is the Ocean" and that wonderful song "Falling Out of Love." And there's a hidden gem, which is the opening song, "Love and the Weather." It's a real swingy song. It's wonderful.
Question: Were you familiar with the movie?
Errico: No, that was the problem with getting the audition and having the stuff in my hair and the engagement party and all the kids in the morning and the pre-school! In auditions you don't know how much to push your life aside and say, "I've got a real chance with this one!" I've been going in for things. I don't want to sound totally "aw shucks," but I'm so happy. I'm so thrilled. All I did was just try to have my life and do my homework and give it as many minutes as I could. It happened so fast. I guess that's how it was for everyone. I auditioned Thursday, and I had two callbacks on Friday. Continued...
