We chatted to the singer and actress about her upcoming concerts at the Crazy Coqs.
Hi Melissa, how does it feel to be back in London? I love London with a passion and have since I was a teenager studying theater – er, sorry, theatre – here. My annual visit to Crazy Coqs has become part of my joy, and I delight in the audiences, the beautiful Deco room, and the slightly secretive vibe of the place. I love a real night club, where it seems that every mysterious assignation might happen. I did my Noir show here last year, and very much got that vibe here.
What can audiences expect from The Life & Loves of a Broadway Baby? The usual Melissa mix of smart talk and (I hope) sweet and even sublime singing. I’ll review some favorites, throw in some surprises, and detail how my own musical psyche has evolved, from first exposure to Eliza to later exposure to Joni Mitchell through my encounters with my two greatest (Platonic!) theatre loves, Michel Legrand and Stephen Sondheim.
What do you love the most about performing? Every performer will tell you that it’s the process, not the performance, the journey, not the arrival…but in truth, it IS the performance! It’s the response of the audience – the applause, in plain English, and who am I to pretend otherwise? I did a dynamite set in Montreal last week with the George Benson band and shook my hips and smiled my smile and sang my heart out – sufficiently so that I got a standing ovation from eight thousand people! It was one of the happiest nights of my life, and it wasn’t just the appreciation – it was the overwhelming feeling of connection. “Only connect!” said E.M Forster as the goal of life. Performers do.
You have been able to perform as some amazing characters – will any of the songs that you got to sing in these roles feature in the show? Oh, of course: I’ll be flitting in and out of Eliza and Guinevere and who knows who else. But my favorite task is inventing characters of my own who inhabit the songs I sing: the girl who sings Sondheim’s “Sooner Or Later” is very different from the woman who sings “Losing My Mind.”
What are you most looking forward to about performing at Crazy Coqs? The old friends who always come back! The new friends who always appear! The sense of being snug in the West End, which I love. The exhilaration of winning and wooing (or wooing and winning!) a London audience – they start off cool but warm up so beautifully!
By Emma Clarendon
The Life and Loves of a Broadway Baby: An Evening with Melissa Errico, Crazy Coqs, London, Monday 10 July. To book tickets visit: https://www.brasseriezedel.com/events/the-life-and-loves-of-a-broadway-baby-an-evening-with-melissa-errico/?instance_id=676806