Those who know her, who’ve heard her, who’ve seen her perform, whether in My Fair Lady and Dracula on Broadway or on national television, fully understand that Melissa Errico’s the real deal. She’s graced large concert halls like the Kennedy Center and intimate night clubs like Joe’s Pub and is no doubt destined to take her deserved place in the pantheon of truly top-notch American actresses and singers who can do it all.

When we caught up with her recently, Errico had just finished filming an episode of CBS’ The Good Wife, playing an attorney vigorously objecting to Juliana Margulies in the courtroom—no easy task. The episode will air at the end of January, but that is only one of her long list of upcoming appearances.

Errico will also guest-star on CBS’s Blue Bloods with Tom Selleck, while she simultaneously readies for her performance in Passion, one of acclaimed composer Stephen Sondheim’s most challenging works. Errico sings two to four hours a day, several days a week, to prepare for the Classic Stage Company production opening Feb. 7.

Musically, she’s also worked closely with Marvin Hamlisch and even Randy Newman, whose “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2 ranks as one of her favorite songs. She recently released her third album, Legrand Affair, produced by Phil Ramone, in which she performs the songs of French composer Michel Legrand with a 100-piece orchestra.

Her next album “isn’t clear to me yet,” she says, but it may include material by Rosemary Clooney, because she loves “keeping that stuff alive.”

As for her acting, she’s done a TV pilot for Spike Lee, starred opposite Angelina Jolie in the film “Life or Something Like It,” and performed Camelot with Jeremy Irons, who used to pick her up on his motorcycle in SoHo, where she and her family live, and take her to rehearsals uptown, much to the amazement of her kids.

She’s the mother of three girls—including 4-year-old twins—and just celebrated her 14th wedding anniversary to Patrick McEnroe, former tennis pro, TV commentator and U.S. Davis Cup team captain. Her oldest, Victoria, now 6, has been playing “since she could stand,” says Errico with a laugh, adding that she has her taking piano lessons “to temper her passion for tennis.”

Errico says that she played tennis with her future husband while they were dating, but likes to point out that they first met at Buckley Country Day School in Roslyn when she was 5 and he was in second grade. Later she went to Friends Academy in Locust Valley, before graduating from Yale, where she studied theater and launched her career.

Long Islanders will get a chance to appreciate Errico’s wide-ranging repertoire on Oct. 18, when she comes to the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post. Until then, stay tuned. Or catch her on Broadway. She’s a star and she’s in her prime.

Print Friendly

Other posts of interest

• 

  Northport’s Engeman Theater: Where Broadway Hits Main Street
  Northport’s Engeman Theater: Where Broadway Hits Main Street
• 

  From Great Neck to Great Gatsby: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s L.I. Journey
  From Great Neck to Great Gatsby: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s L.I. Journey
• 

  Breakfast of Champions: LI’s Go-to Morning Spots Serve Sunrise Delights, with Unique Twists
  Breakfast of Champions: LI’s Go-to Morning Spots Serve Sunrise Delights, with Unique Twists
• 

  Debbie Gibson: Eternally Electric
  Debbie Gibson: Eternally Electric