Peter Felicia (36:17)
Yes, and I'm glad you mentioned that because that was one of her earlier successes that really put her on the map. But then as I said, there were those flops and then she also, she was married and having children and raising them so she wasn't that active for a while. But we would see her in, you know, some one night things and she did eventually, I think of her comeback in a way as when she did Finian's Rainbow at the Irish Rep. That was a wonderful little production. And then she did Passion Off Broadway which again there was some issues there with vocal problems. But somewhere in the middle of all this she also, she started writing for the New York Times really, really well, really, really interesting articles. And then she began maybe what you could look at as a third act of being very, very successful in cabaret and concert venues throughout the city and the country and really all over the world. She's mentioned that she's headed to London very soon and I didn't check it out but she said, she didn't say the venue but she said it's a very large venue and we're sold out. So just really doing really, really well. So it was wonderful to see her again on Saturday. Last night at 7pm she did a show called Melissa Erico Sinks Sondheim. She has a very good history with Sondheim. She worked with him several times, most notably in Sunday in the park with george where she played.in the wonderful production that was part of that Sondheim festival that was done at the Kennedy Center. Gosh, wow. I didn't look up the year. It was quite, quite a few years ago. But that was an amazing thing of the type of which we can only dream and hope of seeing again at the Kennedy center in the future. So she was amazing in that in Sunday in the park with George opposite Raul Esparza. And then she later did Do I Hear a Waltz at Encores and those are only two of her, her Sondheim credits. So she really knew him quite well and worked with him and is eminently qualified to do a Sondheim show this evening included song such songs as Everybody says Don't another hundred people can that boy Foxtrot, which had been cut from Follies and eventually replaced with I'm Still Here, Nothing's going to harm you from Sweeney Todd. Good thing going. Then somewhere around there in the program, an absolutely amazing thing happened. She brought Len Cariou on stage. He is quite old now, walking with a cane, quite frail, but absolutely 100% there in terms of being able to deliver a. A major, committed, beautifully acted performances of several songs and despite his obviously diminished vocal capacity. So he sang as a solo. He sang Anyone Can Whistle. And then he did, after he told the story of how he first met Steve, went over to Steve's home at the beginning of. Before the beginning of rehearsals of Sweeney Todd, because Len was going to be away on another project. And so he asked to get some. At least some of the music as early as possible. So Sondheim invited him over and he played for him and sang There Was a Barber and His Wife. That beautiful, beautiful section at the beginning of Sweeney Todd. And Len said he just thought it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard. And he knew then that this was going to be something really, really special. So it was great to hear him, to hear Len Cariou sing Sweeney Todd again. I wasn't sure I was ever going to hear that again. And then with Melissa, he sang. They did you Must Meet My Wife from Little Night Music, another Sondheim role that Len Cariou created. And then they did. This was really. They did the version of Send in the Clowns that we all know, with those lyrics as sung by Glynis Johns and so many other people. But they did it as a duet because the original thought was that it was going to be Frederick's song, Len Cariou's song. And then he told this again, a fascinating story about how about how the scene. That scene was rewritten by Hugh Wheeler and everyone felt that it now should be Desiree's song. So she, as it turned out, she does wind up singing the. The whole song herself. And then there is later, several scenes later, there is a brief dual duet reprise of Sending the Clowns. But the original statement of the song, as we all know it, is a solo for Desiree. But here, after explaining all of that, after Len explained all of that, he and Melissa sang it as a duet. And it, you know, it does work as a duet. Also. She sang Isn't It Rich? He sang Are We a Pair? She sang. She sang Me Here At Last on the Ground, and he sang Me in midair and etc. And they kind of switch back and forth throughout. So. So this is. This is an example of sheer brilliance because it would have worked fine as a duet. And I imagine they must have considered that. But. But someone probably realized, no, it's better if it's all her. And he's just sitting there listening to her, and it Is. So I just think that's. That's a really great example of people who absolutely know what they're doing and how to achieve it. So after that, Len exited the stage to a tremendous ovation, and Melissa ended the show with Uptown, Downtown being alive, Move on, and a song that Sondheim wrote at age 18 that she somehow managed to get her paws on. And it's called Nice Town, but. And it's about New York, very much in the vein of, well, once I hated this city, now it can't get me, you know, what more do I need? Right, right. And also, oh, by the way, I hadn't mentioned one delightful thing in the show was that Melissa started to sing that song that we hear just a tiny bit of in Merrily We Roll Along. Who wants to live in New York? Who wants to worry? The noise, the dirt, the. And then she went from that into what More Do I Need? Which starts with Once I hated this city, now it can't get me down. So I said to her and Ted Firth, her musical director afterwards, I said, I don't think I've ever heard anyone do that before, but obviously that was perfect. And I said, whose idea was that? And they said. And they both claimed to not remember whose idea it was, so that was sweet of them. Anyway, I. A really great show. And my guest for the show was Ben Jones, the wonderful singer who it looks like is going to be appearing in my upcoming show at 54 below, on September 9th, the tribute to Jones and Schmidt. So he was my guest for that and I invited him because I knew he was going to sing in the 9:30 show show last night, which was 54 sings, Broadway's greatest hits, one of Scott Siegel's, actually the 161st show in that series that he's presented there. So that was another great evening. And Ben sang three songs. He did all of I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face, just like you hear it on the cast album, with all of those extended middle section and all of that. And it's a really great acting piece when it's done complete like that. And he. He played it to the hilt. Then he sang Kiss her now from Dear World and a real crowd pleaser for him and many other singers. You'll be back from Hamilton. So. But we also had the amazing John Easterlin with his. His incredible operatic voicing without a song, and he did that unplugged. Michael Winther, who has appeared in many shows For Scott at 54 below, did who Can I Turn to? And almost like being in love. A wonderful young woman who Scott had introduced before. Alison Megan Joyce sang and danced Anything Goes. And the audience really appreciated when she started tapping. It was. It was really fun. And then. And then I will remember this night forever because two very young, unbelievably talented people were introduced by Scott. I'm talking people who are just around college age. And one of them is named Damaya Latrice, who did an incredible job with Be Aligned from the Wiz. And then I got Love from Pearly and the other fellow named Christopher Scanlon, who started out with a little ditty called Gethsemane from Jesus Christ Superstar. And then. Are you ready for this? He sang I am Changing from Dreamgirls in the original key, which means when a man does that, it's either going to be very low baritone or very high tenor. Very, very high tenor. And he chose the latter option. And he was absolutely stupendous. The audience was after Gethsemane. He got an ovation that. I think he was very moved. I thought I saw tears in his eyes. It was really amaz. And Scott Siegel deserves all the credit in the world for bringing people like this to the public's attention and giving them that kind of a showcase. So a great, great, great night with Ron Abel, the wonderful Ron Abel at the piano. Just superb.
