Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
#1Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:08pm
So she says in her blog.
http://melissaerrico.com/blog-4/
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
#2Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:13pmWas she trying to write a one woman show? That thing was looooong and meandering.
"Pardon my prior Mcfee slip. I know how to spell her name. I just don't know how to type it." -Talulah
Rainbowhigh23
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/29/12
#2Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:22pm
She never signed and returned her contracts or even submitted a W-2?! Never heard of a company letting someone start work without returning those documents.
And the direct deposit for that $555 a week - how was this woman able to feed her three kids?! Bet they held her checks back.
#3Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:23pmI was confused about the unsigned documents, too. How was she allowed to start working?
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
MusicalMo
Stand-by Joined: 5/22/06
#4Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:28pmIt's not uncommon to start rehearsals without contracts signed. They are usually given out the first day. But indeed, some stage manager or employee from CSC should have reminded her, no question. As for the money, I am sure she was fine. Her husband is Patrick McEnroe, tennis sportscaster (and brother of John McEnroe). Not insinuating they are uber rich, but I think they are fine. It's all very unfortunate, really. I thought the three leads in PASSION were really great. No doubt there are probably two sides to this story, so we'll never really know.
#5Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:29pmIt says to wait till blog 5 for the rest of the story, but I tried getting there the old-fashioned way (i.e., replace "4" in the linked URL with "5") and it's password-protected. Does this mean we don't get to see the other half, or it's not ready yet, or what?
Formerly gvendo2005
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Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky
philly03
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/07
#6Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:30pm
I think Errico has a lovely voice (and is actually a great actress), but CSC HAD to expect this from her when they signed her on.
My Fair Lady, DRACULA, and I believe even High Society she had vocal problems that I think have plagued her career.
I'm curious to read the fifth part as well.
Updated On: 6/11/13 at 10:30 PM
#7Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:35pmI'm confused what the issue is. They replaced her because she couldn't perform?
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#8Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:35pmI gave up after a couple of sentences, and she's added another part. Fark me!
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
#9Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:44pmI feel for her as it seems this production was very important to her but I think it is silly for her to play the victim here. There were TWO WEEKS left in the run.
#10Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:45pmI cracked up at the photo caption stating she doesn't understand a direct deposit form. If she never filled out a W-4 I'd imagine she never actually got paid as they wouldn't know how to tax her.
#11Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:48pmShe didn't fill out a W4 or I9? That's illegal. How does she file taxes? There is definitely actions that were taken without her knowledge or understanding. It's impossible to pay someone with their tax documents, so she must have signed them at some point.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#12Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:48pmThey can't not pay her. I believe that they have to take out the maximum taxes out of the check, however.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#13Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:50pmErrico was clearly paid as she states how much she earned every week after agent commissions early in the blog post. As others have said, they probably just deducted the maximum possible deductions from her check.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Updated On: 6/11/13 at 10:50 PM
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
#14Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:52pm^You're right, it's just processed as if they claimed no exemptions. I just find it weird that nobody in Payroll thought to investigate further. OR They went to her with another set of forms and she just kept the original blank forms.
#15Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:55pm
I cracked up at the photo caption stating she doesn't understand a direct deposit form. If she never filled out a W-4 I'd imagine she never actually got paid as they wouldn't know how to tax her.
I always have to ask someone for help whenever I fill out a W-4, but a direct deposit form is the easiest pre-employment form to complete.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#16Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 11:05pm
I'm sure the fact of her being paid isn't the main thrust of her blog.
It's kind of worth reading the whole thing-- incredibly honest and naked tale of that one terrible day when she got the news. I think it's immaterial that there were only 2 weeks left in the run. (There was also the cast recording to consider, which would be the permanent record of the show for posterity.) I feel for her, particularly since I saw her shine in that early press performance that was posted on BWW, but missed seeing her full onstage performance when I went to the show. No disrespect to Amy Justman, but in the show I saw, the part of Clara was a marked weakness in the dynamic of the show's triangle. I hope one day I get to hear Melissa Errico have another shot at the part.
Updated On: 6/11/13 at 11:05 PM
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#17Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 11:11pm
"Now that I’ve told you where I live, please don’t come visit me."
This is why people shouldn't write.
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#18Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 11:15pmI'm confused. If she was fired and let go from the company, what was all of that nonsense of pushing back the cast recording for HER? Did they intend for her to record the part after firing her??/
#19Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 11:22pm
ljay, if you read her earlier blogs, she says the initial postponement of the cast recording happened prior to her firing. Since she claims she was well enough vocally to go back into the show before the end of the run, it's clear now that the decision to ultimately replace her for the recording with Rebecca Luker later on was made due to the circumstances surrounding Errico's "departure" from the show, not her vocal health.
I can almost guarantee that her anger over being left off the recording is what has spurned her to out this whole story publicly, since she could have otherwise let people continue to believe that her not going back into the show was entirely medically related.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Updated On: 6/12/13 at 11:22 PM
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
bigbelterbaby
Broadway Star Joined: 7/5/10
#20Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 11:22pmMelissa is cursed . She has had so much bad luck in her career. I really feel for her.
Hesione Hushabye thinks it tastes like ashes.
#21Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 11:24pm
I, too, just read the rest of her blog. When I made my earlier comment I did not realize that the cast recording was still a factor.
Her understanding of Clara was truly remarkable and her dedication to the piece really shows through in her writing. It's a shame that she didn't get to record it but you have to look at it objectively. In any other workplace, if someone is out of the job for an extended period of time, you have to promote someone to get the job done. Amy stepped in when Melissa couldn't and that's life.
#22Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 11:38pmOh my God. I read the first paragraph and quit. Jesus Christ. Comparing herself to a "good little deaf girl" was a bit much. I stopped there.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#23Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 11:41pm
As for the money, I am sure she was fine.
Her blog says she was paying $950 a week for strobes. If that's what I think they are (meaning I searched the internet and I think it has something to do with reiki - but it's different from "heart-healing" whatever that is). So yeah, it sounds like money's not a problem.
I feel for her on one hand, but one the other I laughed at her for seemingly being flummoxed by a direct deposit form, but if I read all that and the seemingly GOOD stuff is on an enrypted page, then I can't say I have too many f*cks to give.
Also,I have to confess, after that Aaron Tveit thread fracas, I'm not sure what performers are considered acceptable to speak of in nothing but glowing terms.
Updated On: 6/11/13 at 11:41 PM
#24Melissa Errico Fired From PASSION?
Posted: 6/11/13 at 11:51pm
This is why people shouldn't write.
This is why people should hire press agents.
