For Melissa Errico, the songs of the Great American Songbook are more than classics. They are a language she uses to tell stories about love, longing, identity, and the complicated inner lives of adults.
The Manhasset native, now in her mid-50s and based in northern New York City, has built a career spanning Broadway, jazz and the standards. A Tony Award-nominated actress, singer and writer, Errico has starred in Broadway productions including My Fair Lady, High Society and Les Misérables, performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and earned international acclaim for her concert work.
On Oct. 9, she returns to Long Island for a performance at Landmark on Main Street in Port Washington, bringing I Can Dream, Can’t I? to the stage with pianist Tedd Firth, bass and drums. Following sold-out performances in London, including her debut at the legendary Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, Errico said the Landmark show will be more than a concert — it will be an intimate, theatrical evening of music and storytelling that brings together the songs she loves and the life she has lived.
“Manhasset is really where everything began for me,” Errico said. “I was singing and acting constantly as a girl, and I had teachers and a community that took those interests seriously long before I had any idea they might become a life. New York City was close enough to feel possible, but I was still growing up in a real town, with people who knew me before Broadway, before albums, before any of it.”
She grew up on Brookside Drive, in a house beside a brook, where her mother would call her home as darkness fell. Errico described herself as a quieter child who was not necessarily “the loudest singer.” The Triborough Bridge became her personal “yellow brick road” to New York City and the career that awaited her.
“Performing at Landmark has a wonderful circular feeling,” she said. “I’m coming home but bringing back all the music and experience I’ve gathered since I left.”
Her musical roots run deep. Errico’s father is an orthopedic surgeon and concert pianist, while her mother is a former teacher who became a sculptor. Her maternal grandmother was an opera singer, and her great-aunt Rose performed with the Ziegfeld Follies.
Her connection to Manhasset also led to one of the most important relationships in her life. Errico met her husband, former professional tennis player and ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe, in kindergarten while attending elementary school in Roslyn. The couple has been married for nearly three decades.
Errico said they have learned to protect each other’s ability to continue pursuing their work, even through the inevitable ups and downs of their careers. McEnroe will join Errico at Landmark for a special appearance and Q&A.
While Errico is known for Broadway, she does not view her concert career as simply an extension of acting. Stephen Sondheim once described her as an “actress and girl singer,” a phrase that helped her understand the space she occupies between theater and music.
“I use music as a language to speak my life,” she said. “When you come to my concert, you don’t just hear the songs; you hear the ideas and the songs.”
That philosophy shapes I Can Dream, Can’t I?, her latest album, which reimagines songs by Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Jerome Kern, Joni Mitchell and others. Rather than treating the standards as museum pieces, Errico searches for the story and emotional circumstances inside each lyric.
“My Broadway background probably means I can never sing a lyric simply because it sounds beautiful,” she said. “I need to know who is speaking and why.”
Her interpretation has found an audience well beyond Long Island. After her sold-out Ronnie Scott’s performance in London, her music carried her to Paris, where Radio France devoted an hour to her music and featured her in an interview. She said the experience reinforced a lesson she has heard from musicians she admires, including Tony Bennett: “just sing the good songs.”
At Landmark, Errico hopes to create something that feels less like a formal recital and more like a conversation with the audience — a chance to step away from everyday reality and enter the world of songs about dreaming, love, escape, reinvention and memory.
And there may be one more hometown surprise. Her father, who still plays piano, is expected to attend and may join her for the encore.
“Manhasset is going to see the adult version of the girl they raised,” Errico said.
Melissa Errico: I Can Dream, Can’t I? will be presented at 8 p.m. Oct. 9 at Landmark on Main Street, 232 Main St., Port Washington. Tickets and event information are available through Landmark on Main Street.