Melissa Errico: New Standards

After making an initial splash in show business at the age of 18 in the national tour of Les Miserables, Melissa Errico landed a major role on Broadway in Anna Karenina. She would soon receive acclaim as Eliza, in the Broadway revival of My Fair Lady (with Richard Chamberlain) and in High Society. But it was as the eternal goddess in One Touch of Venus for the City Center "Encores!" series that probably assured her a place among the best new leading ladies. At the ripe old age of 30 (well, she admits seeing On Your Toes when she was 11), Errico is making her cabaret debut at the Cafe Carlyle, "in the neighborhood where I grew up," she says.

Despite some obvious opening night jitters, Errico is proving she has the talent -- lovely voice and solid acting ability -- the spunk and the sophistication a cabaret artist needs. I use the word sophistication advisedly, since Errico also conveys a naivete and wholesomeness that is as disarming as it is refreshing. If Errico's appearance -- her petite features and curly hair -- calls to mind Bernadette Peters, her style is very much her own.

Her program of "New Standards" cleverly comprises songs that haven't been sung to death. Although she is not yet an instinctive jazz singer, as demonstrated with a revved-up Porter's "It's All Right With Me," Errico nicely embellishes the Kern/Hammerstein "The Song is You" with a touch of octave-scanning scat. If warmth and sweetness propel such lovely tunes as the Legrand/Bergman "This Quite Room" and Randy Newman's "When She Loved Me," Errico brings intensely-felt emotion to Oleta Adams' "You've Got To Give Me Room," and Sondheim's "Move On" from Sunday in the Park with George (she will play Dot in the musical this spring at the Kennedy Center in Washington).

While "There's a Small Hotel from On Your Toes (the show that she says "changed my life"), and "I've Grown Accustomed to His Face" are the show tunes most genially considered, it is the sensual rhythms of the Jobim/Gilbert "Fotographia," and Caymmi's "Photograph" that spark another side of her, with the help of musical director Lee Musiker, at the piano and Jay Leonhart, on the bass.

Sensuality is given a light and beguiling touch as Errico, perched (and more) on the piano, exercises the Weill/Nash "Speak Low" and the comical "That's Him." That Errico can take on the vibes of folksy Americana, as with Joni Mitchell's "Night Ride Home," as well as the witty layers of Frishberg's "Do You Miss New York," gives us a taste of her growing savvy and versatility. Most poignant moment is her glittering singing of "I Could Have Danced All Night," and the touching "Never Never Land," as accompanied by her Dad, whom she invites to the piano (only first-nighters will presumably get that treat).

If the audience showers Errico with deserved applause, no audience member could have been prouder than her husband, tennis ace Patrick McEnroe, who could be seen beaming throughout the entrancing hour.