“If my voice was warm… If I could concentrate— I’d be in the Follies! I’d be in a cabaret!”Melissa Errico once sang those words of wishful imagination as Dot in a highly regarded production of Sunday in the Park with George. Yet, while Dot posed them as “ifs,” for Melissa, they are sparkling realities. From modern pop to the standards to jazz, her lyric soprano voice— by turns ethereal and earthy — has charmed audiences across the globe. And she has collaborated with the crème de la crème of songwriters from the worlds of both theater and film. Her résumé includes entire albums and concerts devoted to the legendary Michel Legrand—as well as Mr. Sondheim himself. She is equally at ease whether backed by a solo piano or by a 100-piece orchestra. You may have enjoyed her diverse performances on TV, in the movies, or on the Broadway stage. But Melissa loves the nightlife—so our conversation begins at the cabaret. Todd Sussman They say you never forget your first time. So, tell me about your first time… performing in a cabaret club. Melissa Errico My first time singing in a cabaret was in March 2002. Isn’t it funny how that word has overtaken “nightclub,” a word I find more glamorous, more Billie Holiday/ Sinatra, to describe what singers like me do? I’d be glad to be called a “nightclub singer.” It has a pleasingly seductive wink to it. My debut engagement of that kind of singing was at the Café Carlyle no less. At the time, I was told I was the youngest to sing there. It really was a very different place back then, not a place where a young lady appears!