Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Treat with Melissa Errico

Ever the storyteller, a recent recording project casts Broadway veteran and cabaret' s sublime chanteuse Melissa Errico into the shadowy world of Film Noir. Called "The Film Noir Project," it is a mix of classic titles drawn from Hollywood's golden age, along with four new titles composed by Michel Legrand, David Shire, and Peter Foley. For more on  the recording, which includes how to purchase a limited edition in vinyl, click here.

And in what can be a seasonal 180-degree turn from Noir's dark world, Errico will perform a pair of holiday concerts, "Melissa Errico: Evergreen Holiday," at Feinstein's at Vitello's in Studio City (LA) on December 21 and 22. For more information, follow this link.

Errico has been called one of the most acclaimed interpreters of the late Stephen Sondheim, most notably in her album "Sondheim Sublime," which received high praise from the Wall Street Journal. "Sondheim Sublime" is the best all-Sondheim album ever recorded, a program of 15 songs in which radiantly warm singing and sensitive, intelligent interpretation are tightly and inseparably entwined."

Melissa Errico talks with EDGE about her upcoming holiday concerts, her long-standing love of Film Noir, Sondheim, as well as recent & upcoming projects

EDGE: What's the mood & environment you're hoping to create with these two holiday concerts?

Melissa Errico: Two moods I suppose, the two basic Christmas (and holiday) ones —one about family and connection, the other about light in darkness. We all come together in December — sometimes awkwardly, sometimes furiously, often happily — and the comedy of all that is part of my concert. (Including some Sondheim parodies that emphasize the losing-my-mind side of the holidays, like being up all-night assembling toys from Ikea for your kids.) But all winter festivals are about trying to keep the light alive when the sun dims and the cold comes, and I'm singing that mood too — even using "Evergreen", Streisand's beautiful song, as a kind of carol.

EDGE: It's great to see you expand your concert reach from New York to London & Los Angeles. The last time we talked, you were also writing more as well. How is your writing changing your approach to structuring your concerts?

Melissa Errico: I've written now, what? eight or nine essays for The New York Times about the hidden side of an actor-singer's life. Writing so much makes me aware of the narrative side of these things, and I work hard now to make sure that all my concerts are like musical essays, with themes, A-plots and B-plots, self-deprecating (I'm Italian, remember) humor and a real climax (I'm Italian, remember). It's always interesting to care so much for the shape of a script but then to know that each song is an emotional one-act play of its own. The Christmas show starts off giddy, gets a little crazy, then goes sexy and romantic, and finally clinches with what really matters to me most — shared warmth. Some dear old friends are supposed to be with us, too, and I'll salute them — including, I hear, the great Alan Bergman, whose writing with his now sadly late wife Marilyn I've sung truly innumerable times. "You Must Believe In Spring" is a perfect song for winter.

EDGE: Your film noir project, "Out Of The Dark — The Film Noir Project," is such a great collection of songs. And talk about setting a mood! Any chance for a noir Christmas crossover? Your versions of "Angel Eyes" or perhaps "Shadows and Light" could work terrifically with the right framing. To be honest, some of the lyrics of "It Was Written in the Stars" could work well in a holiday setting.

Melissa Errico: So pleased you liked it!  Talk about a passion project — I've been contemplating making that record since I was in college studying film history.  You know, I'll be honest — we didn't really think about using those songs when we planned the Christmas show. They sort of live on an island — or is it in a smoky basement? — of their own, where I guard them jealously, and take them out with secret relish, as I wrote once, like black lingerie you save for a special lover...

But you're right! They could belong in a not-too-wholesome holiday show. Hmmnn.  Tedd? You listening.? ( I may sing some Sondheim noir — a sexy song called "Sooner Or Later", for instance. And in another way, exactly as you say, the theme of that record, light in darkness, is also the theme of the holiday show.)

 EDGE: The classic Christmas stand songs can be such a pleasurable refuge each year. They bring to mind such different specific moments for each of us. What are your favorite contemporary Christmas or Hannukah songs?

Melissa Errico: Oh, so many! But I love "Hard Candy Christmas" from "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" — such a sad but liltingly resilient song — and I never get tired of singing "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". On the Hanukkah side, I love Tom Lehrer's song about spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica, and also a less known — well, less known to a Catholic girl like me -- but haunting song called "Ner Li." Another candle in darkness song.

Jon Lovitz, my special guest, has a very funny appearance brewing also, and a special song he has been practicing in the shower.

EDGE: And if you've answered that question too frequently which favorite Christmas standard did you have to drop from these concerts?

Melissa Errico: Well, it's more like which songs we've decided to treat as Christmas songs. I don't think anybody thinks of "Sweeney Todd" as the place to look for holiday cheer — who serves human pies with holly? Though come to think of it, isn't mincemeat a thing? — but anyway, what more embracing song is there than his "Not While I'm Around"?  And I've put in one of Sondheim's favorite songs by someone else, Cy Coleman's "Best Is Yet To Come" — what could be more cheering a sentiment than that, and what's more swinging a tune?

EDGE: Looking at your upcoming projects, a second Sondheim record will whet your fans' appetite for which songs you've selected. Is there a theme or thread to connect your choices on this new collection or are you still in the process of selecting and recording?

Melissa Errico: Hmmnn...How much should I give away before another Sondheim obsessive grabs it? Well, in the spirit of Christmas giving...our dream is, after making "Sondheim Sublime," which was all the romantic, passionate side of his music, to make a record of Sondheim in New York, the best of his many songs about the city. We're choosing material now, doing a deep dive into some obscure early ones, as well as the can't-miss ones like "Uptown/Downtown." Stay tuned!

EDGE: And calling back to your film noir collection, singing at Birdland Jazz sounds perfect for you! Does singing at that iconic music venue call back any specific performers dear or special to you? Your fans will be excited to see, hear and feel the mood you'll create!

Melissa Errico: Oh, my God, I'm so thrilled to be doing it. February 10-14, 2023 for eight performances. My favorite essayist-lyricist, Adam Gopnik, is working on a ballad about...well, I won't give it away. But I'll try to give the Birdland version even more dramatic verve than the previous shows, which were pretty  damn dramatic! Any specific performer?  Well, I'm bananas for Sarah Vaughn and would kill for Peggy Lee, and both of them sang at Birdland!  I feel like I'm falling into a reverie of 1948 and W. 52^nd  Street when I'm there. 

EDGE: Will you be working with your long-time collaborator Tedd Firth at Birdland. He's quite the jazz pianist virtuoso, as is Randy Waldman! Or perhaps planning a larger ensemble?

Melissa Errico: Tedd is a jazz poet, and he's indispensable — except when I'm with Randy, who is a different kind of poet, and also indispensable. A girl singer has pianists the way other women have husbands: each one is irreplaceable, until the next one. Seriously, I love them all. Each brings some new color to my life, and also some useful resistance. Just like a husband, come to think of it.

For more information about "Melissa Errico: Evergreen Holiday," at Feinstein's at Vitello's, 4349 Tujunga Ave Studio City, CA on December 21 and 22. follow this link.

For more information about Melissa Errico's albums, performances and projects, visit her website>.

Watch Melissa Errico perform a parody of "The Christmas Song"