A few moments with Melissa Errico
By: Craig Brockman Oct. 01, 2003
I had a few minutes to chat with Melissa Errico about her role on Miss Match, her concerts and more. To learn more about Melissa, there are a few links below.
Craig: Hey Melissa, so you are currently on Miss Match - how did you get that gig?
Melissa: I auditioned for it last pilot season and it was an audition I almost didn't make. I had a total crisis that morning over my album cover. The sample came to my house just as I was leaving for the audition, and that was the LAST day we had to make changes-- and trust me, it was HILARIOUSLY bad. Like something out of that movie "A Mighty Wind"...truly kitsch and embarrassing! I got on the subway, and ran to the record label and begged the designer to change it and cancel the printing. We worked for three hours to get a new plan, and I knew Darren Star (the writer of MISS MATCH) had very limiited time to hold the auditions... and I knew I was so so so late that I might not make it. It was pouring rain, like a hurricane... and I got to the audition all wet, sat in front of the camera, and just did the scenes. I was in that kind of mood "well, what do I have to lose!"-- and I was kinda zany and I guess it worked! That's the perfect case of not letting a bad day get you down. While I was running to get to the audition, I just thought "this is probably such a waste of time, I am all sweaty and late, why the heck did I ever choose to be an actress?...."
Craig: Now that's a story...Can you tell us a little bit more about your character?
Melissa: Laurel needs a date. She is the woman who convinces Alicia Silverstone to become a matchmaker. She is a producer at the Food Network, and has risen up the ranks, and is doing great as a professional. She has to work really hard to keep her job, and its not really a hip or stylish place-- its not MTV. She deals with chefs and food and desserts and some interesting people, but they aren't show-biz types. So, she is pretty earthy and fun, but also gives the place a little edge-- its her job to make the network and food shows as hip as possible, modern and cool for television.But her personal life stinks. She doesn't know how to choose guys, or find them. In the first episode, she is just desperate, and has some awful dates. You see that when she is around men, her whole demeanor changes-- she gets neurotic and can't settle down and enjoy herself. She isn't "together." The men are boring or vain, and its just terrible. The second episode, she gets luckier... Because she has been on a few dates, she is starting to get the hang of it again, and she is flirting up a storm with men she meets. And Alicia sets her up twice. Laurel secretly dates them both, having fun dinners with one smart guy and sleeping with another super-hottie. Laurel starts having such great sex with the hottie that she is the happiest she has ever been-- like she's coming to life. She juggles both guys for a week, and gets caught by Alicia. Alicia says "I am not running an escort service!"
Craig: Can you share any interesting stories about taping the episodes?
Melissa: Alicia is a vegan, so if you want to eat meat/fish, you have to do it before you sit down at the table with her. She doesn't stare at your food, but you know she really thinks you are killing yourself and the planet. She is amazing, and so nice, but she is truly a food activist. I am susceptible to it, so if I stay on the series I will probably start eating tempeh. In the pilot episode, my character had to eat a hotdog during the scene, and she told me all about what is in hotdogs, and I almost started to throw up while we were working.
Craig: Nice image! You've been quite busy both on "stage" and off this summer. Catch us up first on your recent stage endeavors.
Melissa: I was in THREEPENNY OPERA at Williamstown and MY FAIR LADY at the (enormous!) Hollywood Bowl. THREEPENNY was a thrill because of the cast (I fell in love with Betty Buckley, we might sing together at Feinsteins this fall in her concerts). Jesse Martin is an angel, and was a great and sexy Maceath, and add Karen Ziemba and Randy Graff...I found the play to be so intriguing, and kinky. I had never played a role that was allowed to be so ugly at times, and erotic...that was scary! Goodbye to innocence! Also, I just loved being in Massachusetts, up in the woods, relaxed, and with all those great hiking trails nearby where I could clear my mind, and take walks with friends. You forget about nature when you live in the city as long as I have. As for the play, I had never done anything Brechtian, and I just love working in that style. You are always giving the audience two things: the character and your self/the presence of the actor. MY FAIR LADY was also a fantastic time-- John Lithgow and Roger Daltry are two of the greatest men I know. To revisit Eliza was a gift and I hope it won't be my last time. John Lithgow brought Higgins to life for me, and we found more comedy than I remembered. And the "battle of the sexes" themes were really cracking. Roger Daltry was wild, he made Doolittle a total rebel.
Craig: And what about your concert gigs?
Melissa: I have played at Joe's Pub a lot, and The Cutting Room, outdoors in the Madison Square Park Summer Series, The Barns of Wolf Trap in Washington (we return there November 8th), and Feinsteins in LA. Its been a great summer for that. I especially loved being a part of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, sitting in the green room with Billy Joel, Pink, Van Morrison, Queen, Wynonna Judd, Phil Collins, Patti LaBelle, Tony Bennett and Gavin Degraw was bizarre. I felt like I was in a strange deep sleep, or a Hopper painting. Other stuff? I sang a Comden and Green tribute at Guild Hall, and a Finian's Rainbow concert with Denis O'Hare and John Cullum. But mostly I have been rehearsing with my band, and performing with them-- we are working on a new cd.
Craig: What can people expect when they go hear Melissa sing at Joe's Pub, for example?
Melissa: What can they expect? Expect nothing. Its totally new. Well at least to me it is. I am trying to make my own sound. I have a band, and the guys are jazz players with rock and singer-songwriter experience. Some have played with the likes of Dido, Angelique Kidjo and Dar Williams. Jonatha Brooke is going to guest star on October 6th. She is one of the most amazing folk-rockers of our time. I am drawn to certain harmonies and grooves, and I am bringing it to songs that I think are modern-day standards. I am including more theater music in the set this October, and have arrangements my Rob Mathes, who has done most of Vanessa Williams' albums. My rocker brother contributes original songs and plays guitar and sings with me. I love the brother/sister thing. His own solo music is really rock, but for me he writes softer, groovy, understated tunes with really cool stories and lyrics. I hope people will give it a try and come listen. Most of my live repertoire is from "Blue Like That" but that is changing as new songs come in.
Craig: How does performing the various songs during your concert differ from performing in a show? Which do you prefer?
Melissa: I love them both. There is nothing as thrilling as a perfect musical, though. SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE was the highlight of my life. It went right through my soul. Doing my own concerts, I try to make songs personal, find my own character since I am not in a role. I go looking for a new form. I don't like singing musical theater songs outside of shows unless I am free to re-invent them, play with them, while still knowing where they come from. So I don't mean that I will forget what they are saying, their esssence ...I just want to re-phrase, re-harmonize, find a rhythm. My drummer is very important to me. I don't think that my job as a singer is to recreate shows in a cabaret space. I want to create my own vibe. Its been a real learning experience this, and I am just at the start. With all the musicians in my family (Mike and my concert pianist Dad), its like I have been waiting my whole life to begin this exploration of my musical taste. Musical theater is the thing that has given me my love of songs and my approach to them. What I do next with those instincts is sort of up in the air.
Craig: Your brother (often) accompanies you at your gigs. What's it like working with
him? Was that always in the plan? And feel free to "plug" away...
Melissa: Mike and I had no plan, this all just unfolded naturally. But now that we are on a roll, I have found that Mike is my musical soulmate. We won't necessarily always work together, but when we do, its so easy and so much fun. We sing together and its strange, I know exactly what he is doing. I won't plug away, but I will mention his new cd called SKIMMING, and his website: www.errico.com. Mike will be at the show on October 27th and I hope people will enjoy his music, and his hilarious sense of humor.
Craig: Ok, so what's in store for you over the next few months?
Melissa: Joes Pub on October 6th and 27th, Wolf Trap on November 8th. Next week, I am doing a closed doors reading of CYRANO with Doug Sills by Frank Wildhorn, playing Roxanne. I will be on wnyc radio on October 23rd at 2pm singing live. I don't know what else, I might go white water rafting in Chile with my best friend from college. Thank you so much for this interview. I send all your readers a smile. Bye!To purchase Melissa's "Blue Like That" click hereTo learn more about Melissa and her career, check out this comprehensive interview
To visit Melissa online, go to her official website at http://melissaerrico.comAnd for more information on "Miss Match" click here
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