ISN’T IT BLISS?
Striding onto the CVRep stage last night, Broadway star Melissa Errico, in a black dress draped in silver sequins, dazzled the eyes looking as if she had just stepped off of the steps of a recent Met Gala in New York. Over the next 90 minutes, she dazzled the ears as well.
Melissa Errico & Ted Firth
Having already released the glorious album, Sondheim Sublime, she showed the sold-out crowd at CVRep’s Summer Cabaret Series‘ opening night why she is considered among the best Sondheim interpreters of our generation. Her emotional, authentic, stirring, gracious, sophisticated interpretations of Sondheim tunes were delivered with her delicate, dulcet, relaxed, pleasant, unpretentious, murmuring warble of a vibrato. Refinement, subtlety, and shadings are ever-present here, even in songs that are not always thought of as ballads, such as the evening’s opener, a beautiful rendition of “Broadway Baby” from Follies, a tribute to both Sondheim and her “Ziegfeld Follies-grandmother.”
Ms. Errico told me in an exclusive interview that she feels close to Sondheim’s work because “it’s so close to my emotional center,” and that it is “an actor’s dream.” And it shows. Demonstrating why all great singers are also great actresses, she gave a short history of Sondheim, including stories of his pushy Mom, and his close mentorship with the great Oscar Hammerstein, a lead-in to her lovely version of “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music. And what would Sondheim’s version of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “I Cain’t Say No” sound like? With arranger Ted Firth, one of the most receptive and perceptive pianists on the scene, underscoring with strains of “Anyone Can Whistle,” she turned a comedic song into one of regret.
Melissa Errico
Clearly, Errico’s goal is to tell each song as a story, which may be why she avoids Sondheim’s songs with complex, tongue-twisting lyrics, offering an introspective glance into his most-covered tunes, “Send in the Clowns” (A Little Night Music), “Small World” (Gypsy) and “Loving You” (Passion) among them. The show didn’t lack in tongue-twisters (“Getting Married Today” from Company) and hilarity (self-accompanying herself with self-acknowledged “Third Grade-level” ukulele on “Sooner or Later” from Dick Tracy).
The wistful “Not While I’m Around” from Sweeney Todd (now enjoying a hearty Broadway run with Josh Groban): and the show’s affective closer “No One Is Alone” from Into the Woods (now on National Tour) were luminous.
Errico is carrying the “cabaret torch,” handed down to her by the likes of Blossom Dearie and Barbara Cook. And I must say, her pianissimos were so well done that I was reminded of the great Montserrat Caballé.
A special thanks for this wonderful evening, both to Errico and Adam Karsten, Artistic Director of the CV Rep. No One Is Alone is the first of 11 weekly concerts, which include Alan H. Green (May 11) Steve Ross (May 18), Alix Korey & Teri Ralston (June 8), and Christiane Noll (June 22).
photos courtesy of CVRep
Coachella Valley Repertory
CVRep Playhouse, 68510 E. Palm Canyon Drive in Cathedral City
played May 4, 2023
for future shows, call 760.296.2966 or visit CVR
for more info, visit Melissa Errico
Sondheim Sublime
Melissa Errico
Ghostlight Records
released November 2, 2018 | 15 tracks | 59:02
available at Amazon and iTunes
