Deux Grandes Dames with Melissa Errico & Isabelle Georges | Q&A with Melissa Errico

Amrat

Jul 9, 20244 min read

Updated: Jul 10, 2024

The very talented American actress, singer, and writer Melissa Errico is known for her work in musical theatre. A New York City native, Melissa Errico graduated from Yale University and made her Broadway debut in "My Fair Lady" in 1993. Her versatile vocal talent of has been showcased in several solo albums, and she has also performed in numerous acclaimed shows, including "Les Misérables," "Dracula," and "Passion." Additionally, she writes for publications such as The New York Times.

Alongside the amazing French performer Isabelle Georges, Melissa Errico brings Deux Grandes Dames to the Crazy Coqs, London.

This collaboration which has dazzled audiences three times in Paris including a complete national broadcast on Radio France (also filmed and available on Youtube) brings rich, classic compositions to life. Melissa and Isabelle's high-hearted adventure brings to mind the good-time duo of Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes"

Before Melissa's first show, we were lucky enough to get a Q&A with her, including some fun quick fire questions (a la Vogue's famous 73 questions).

AK: You’re an actress, singer, writer, recording artist… and I’m sure the list goes on. In all this diverse talent you hold, what is your favourite and what could you not live without doing?

ME: I love to do them all but I have to sing. I’ve been singing since I was six years old, and my family would knock on strangers’ doors and barge in to do a holiday concert! Really. I love the demanding art of singing – there’s no other form where you have to take a tight text and turn it into a complete emotional story, while hitting all the sharps and flats. A combination of art and athleticism.

AK: I recently attended the Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year, which was incredible. You are very familiar with this since you have performed Stephen Sondheim's songs. What is your favourite song to sing and perform?

ME: I love so many Sondheims that I’m reluctant to pick one. So, I’ll pick two. “Children & Art” which I sang from my guest bedroom at the height of the pandemic for his 90th birthday celebration – my daughters were downstairs waiting for dinner, so life really was all children and art – and “Good Thing Going”, which is the video ‘single’ from my new album, “Sondheim in The City.” It’s a heart-breaking but beautifully melodic song about a wonderful relationship in which one of the pair wants more for their future than the other one can handle.

AK: If Deux Grandes Dames couldn’t happen, what would you have liked to create (or would create in future)?

ME: So many ideas bounce around. But, apart from revisiting my Noir album, I’d love someday to do a concert/cabaret devoted to Yip Harburg’s songs, and another devoted – this will surprise you! – to Stevie Wonder. “From Steve (Sondheim) to Stevie (Wonder)” That’s an audacious show, but it’s all of my life. And I’d love to do it with George Benson and his band, with whom I performed last summer for 8,000 people in Montreal. They have such a powerful groove. I feel lifted up and completely released. A nice change from all those Sondheim syllables!

AK: I’ve seen some rather fun Insta reels of you and Isabelle Georges rehearsing. What have you enjoyed most working with Isabelle?

ME: Just what you see in those reels – she’s crazy fun. She’s completely uninhibited and open to experiment, and, where I plan ahead and organise the charts and all that, she’s just…. free. Her love of freedom and my taste for order make for a beautiful duet. (I love freedom, too! – but I tend to oscillate crazily between passion and practicality.)

Quick fire 10 questions:

1. What do you like about London?

I actually like getting wet! I always have to find an umbrella, and a raincoat – I love the melee of what the rain does. And it’s wonderful for my hair! You think you’re going to be all proper and British and then, boom! your hair is all kinky. It’s actually fun. Plus, I’m always seeing the spectre of my old boyfriends, so I feel young again. (If any of them is reading this-- you’re all invited to the show!)

2. Tea or Coffee?

Tea! I love high tea with the whole tower of sandwiches. I did that with my now teenage daughters recently at the Crosby hotel in Manhattan – perfect symbolic mother to daughter ritual.

3. Favourite food/cuisine?

I like a big fish swimming over the plate – the kind of thing you get on the Greek Islands.

4. Favourite film?

Maybe “Umbrellas of Cherbourg”, Michel Legrand and Jacques Demy’s great romantic musical.

5. First thing you do after a performance.

Try to find my shoes – I always end up singing barefoot - and freshen my lipstick.

6. Favourite book?

Anais Nin’s Diaries.

7. If you could spend the day with anyone in the world, who would that be?

...

8. And what would you do?

None of your business!