Essay: on Happiness and Yip Harburg
In this essay, Errico reflects on Harburg’s legacy as she celebrates the release of the new single “Happiness is Just A Thing Called Joe,” a collaboration with pianist Lara Downes I consider myself an acolyte in the church of Yip. By Yip, of course I mean E.Y. “Yip” Harburg, one of the lyricists in The […]
Just Me and the Music and the Green Screen
As the pandemic wore on, the new technology became a theatrical force, allowing, among other things, actors to reunite for shows they’d done earlier.
Column: The Purist
I was weeping. Not just crying, or quietly tearful—but full out shoulder-shaking and wracked with sobs, alone in my seat in a suburban movie theater. My three young daughters—the oldest, 13, the twins, 11—and I had just seen Greta Gerwig’s wonderful adaptation of Little Women, and they were surprised—maybe even alarmed—by my reaction. Oh, I […]
Column: Variety Magazine’s Corona Chronicles
When coronavirus hit the news, I was flying from NY to Ft. Lauderdale on 3/9 to begin a six-month concert tour of my new album (Legrand Affair: Deluxe Edition) singing the music of my mentor Michel Legrand. Next stop was Palm Springs, London, Vegas, LA, Paris, and more. 3/12 at Lincoln Center was to be […]
Column: The Purist
Those who know me best may say that I am more than a singer, that I am a multitasker, a mom, a writer, an actor, someone who rarely misses your birthday, makes time for family and friends—and sometimes my closest loved ones think I simply am doing too much. When, with a 2-year old already […]
Column: The Purist
Standing behind a large movie screen this summer, I watched The Thomas Crown Affair in reverse. I was the curator of The Summer of Michel Legrand, a film festival at the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) in New York City devoted to the great French film composer. I made welcome speeches and then slipped backstage to regroup […]
Get Out of My Light, Honey. I’m Auditioning Here.
Get Out of My Light, Honey. I’m Auditioning Here.
Melissa in France
Original expanded essay (originally published on Playbill.com) We were in the middle of a six-course epicurean dinner and I had just had been served my main course, which looked shockingly spare to my American eye. Two scallops, three shrimp, and little else on the large, white plate. It didn’t take me three minutes to disappear […]
The Extravagance and Genius of Michel Legrand (An Expanded Memoir)
English Edition, expanded from her New York Times memoir published in January 2019 As first published in La Regle Du Jeu I can still hear Michel Legrand’s voice in my head: “Melissa! Hurry! Come!” This was morning at the Music Box Theatre, an early rehearsal during the first previews of the Broadway musical Amour which […]
Column: The Purist
Transcendental Meditation is a demanding companion. I started TM just a year ago because, outwardly, enough people told me I should; and inwardly, because I knew I needed something deep within to slow down the speed of my mind and the pace of my days, and even find some comfort and pleasure far inside myself. […]
Playbill: Melissa Errico Trips the Light Fantastic With Stephen Sondheim—Or Is It the Light Fandango?
Mr. Stephen Sondheim recently came backstage after the final performance at the 92 Street Y Lyrics & Lyricists production of Wordplay, written and hosted by Ted Chapin, gracing us all with warmth and positivity. With due reverence and never taking his presence for granted, I greeted him with (and this is something of a running joke between us), “You […]
Swept Up in the Whirlwind Known as Michel Legrand
I still hear Michel Legrand’s voice in my head: “Melissa! Hurry! Come!” It was morning at the Music Box Theater, an early rehearsal during the first previews of his 2002 Broadway musical “Amour.” It was 10:01 a.m., and we were all moving slowly, nursing coffee cups in the palms of our hands. We had performed […]