(HOLMDEL, NJ) -- Holmdel Theatre Company continues their 2021 Broadway Outside the Barn series with MELISSA ERRICO: Sondheim by the Shore on Saturday, July 17th at 8:00pm ET.
“No concert in which the irresistible Melissa Errico appears could ever be anything but worth seeing, “ declares The Wall Street Journal, and now, after multiple sold-out engagements on stages from London, Paris, and coast-to-coast in the USA, Tony Award-nominated singer, actress, and writer Melissa Errico will dazzle with a special concert SONDHEIM BY THE SHORE to mark her Holmdel debut.
She brings her gorgeous voice, and a unique and unpredictable intelligence, wit, and mischief to a set list focusing on the music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim, but peppered with some of her other musical “passions” and obsessions including Rodgers & Hart, Stephen Schwartz, Randy Newman, Joni Mitchell and Michel Legrand.
Come and experience this “matchless cabaret singer “ with a “beautiful voice and impeccable diction” (Wall Street Journal) as she shares classics and curios from Into the Woods, Follies, Sweeney Todd, Anyone Can Whistle, Company, and A Little Night Music. This concert is one no Sondheim or Broadway fan should miss! Accompanied by the great jazz pianist Tedd Firth, Melissa will soar and delight with such Sondheim classics as "Send In The Clowns", "Children and Art", and "Goodbye, For Now".
Tony nominee Melissa Erico made her Broadway debut as Princess Kitty Scherbatsky in the 1992 production of Anna Karenina. Over the course of her acclaimed career, Errico has returned to Broadway in My Fair Lady, High Society, Amour (Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical), Dracula The Musical, and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. In addition to Broadway, Errico has performed at the Kennedy Center, where her history with Sondheim began when he selected her to star as Dot in Sunday In The Park With George. Additional Sondheim projects include starring roles in acclaimed New York productions of Passions (Clara) and Do I Hear a Waltz? (Leona).
Tedd Firth is a NYC based musical director, pianist and arranger who has worked with the upper echelon of talent from the worlds of Broadway and Jazz. Appearances include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Blue Note, Birdland, the Iridium, the Algonquin, the Cafe Carlyle and Feinstein's at the Regency and the White House.
“I am ecstatic to welcome Melissa and Tedd to Holmdel, '' said Holmdel Theatre Company Executive Director Colleen Cook. “Our audiences love Sondheim and to be able to bring such gifted and versatile performers to Holmdel is a dream come true.”
In order to provide the safest environment for its patrons, the wildly popular and award-winning series Broadway at the Barn has been temporarily renamed as Broadway Outside the Barn, taking place outside the intimate Duncan Smith Theater, a 125-year old renovated barn that has been transformed into a charming 99-seat theater. The set up will include socially distanced clearly marked out pods on the lawn and attendees will bring their own lawn chairs.
Tickets are $40 and now on sale online. Should the event be cancelled due to inclement weather, patrons will be issued full refunds. Sound and lighting design by HTC Technical Director Chris Szczerbienski. This installment of Broadway at the Barn is sponsored by Doreen DeMarco and Kimberly Ardise of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices - Fox & Roach Realtors, Joe and Keri Todisco, JGS Insurance Gluck & Allen, LLC, WilkinGuttenplan CPAs & Advisors.
“The Maria Callas of American musical theater,” as Opera News has called her, referencing both her crystalline voice and dramatic, expressive intensity, Melissa Errico is a Tony Award-nominated Broadway star -- an actress, singer and author who contributes regularly to The New York Times. The Wall Street Journal recently referred to her as a "nonpareil cabaret singer".
First known for her starring roles on Broadway (My Fair Lady, High Society and Les Miserables), her recent album, Sondheim Sublime, was called by The Wall Street Journal “The best all-Sondheim album ever recorded.” Errico’s history with Sondheim began when he selected her to star as Dot in Sunday In The Park With George at The Kennedy Center, and she has since co-starred as Clara in Passion at Classic Stage Company and in the NY City Center Encores! production of the Sondheim/Rodgers musical Do I Hear A Waltz? In April 2020, she appeared in the Sondheim 90th Birthday Concert with Broadway.com and in May, was featured on the PBS Poetry in America episode about Sondheim which featured Melissa singing “Finishing the Hat.” In addition to Sondheim, she’s had a longtime association with composer Michel Legrand (Broadway show Amour and album Legrand Affair).
Since the pandemic Errico has offered multiple live-stream and conversations -- teaching master classes for students across the country and producing a delicious at-home cooking show "The Honest Cook" on Instagram as well as acclaimed concerts and virtual cabarets. Upcoming plans include an expanded collection of her TIMES series, “Scenes From An Acting Life”, as well as a series of concerts for New York’s Alliance Francaise, and the development of her own dramatic one woman show for The Irish Rep in Manhattan.
TEDD FIRTH is a New York City based musical director, pianist and arranger. As musical director and accompanist he has worked with Bernadette Peters, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Barbara Cook, Michael Feinstein, MaureenMcGovern, Marilyn Maye, Elaine Paige, Tom Wopat, Leslie Uggams, Joshua Bell, Tony DeSare, Linda Lavin, Christine Ebersole, Lucie Arnaz, Lee Ann Womack, Faith Prince, John Schneider, Betty Buckley, Karen Akers, Mary Cleere Haran, Margaret Whiting, Carol Sloane, and Melissa Errico.
Among the jazz musicians he has performed or recorded with are John Pizzarelli, Houston Person, Frank Wess, Mark Whitfield, Red Holloway, Benny Golson and Joe Morello.
Recent highlights include being the musical director for the reunion of the original Broadway cast of "Into The Woods" at the Segerstrom Center For The Arts in Costa Mesa, CA as well as serving as musical director for Michael Feinstein's “Jazz and Popular Song” concert series at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
New York appearances include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Blue Note, Birdland, the Iridium, the Algonquin, the Cafe Carlyle and Feinstein's at the Regency. Numerous national appearances include a performance at the White House.
As an arranger and orchestrator, Tedd's work has been performed by all major American symphony orchestras as well as Liza Minnelli. In 2013, Tedd was commissioned by the New York Pops to create new orchestrations for “A Charlie Brown Christmas” which has had numerous performances across the country in subsequent years.
Television appearances include "The Today Show," "Live From Lincoln Center” and "All My Children.”
Holmdel Theatre Company at the Duncan Smith Theater (HTC) is a non-profit, semi-professional theatre company dedicated to presenting fresh interpretations of classic plays as well as rarely presented modern dramas and comedies. HTC is dedicated to providing opportunities for students and non-professionals to work with professional theatre artists in a collaborative, artistic and educational exchange. Making this sophisticated informality possible is The Duncan Smith Theater. Congenial and warm, this historic, 125-year-old barn has been transformed into a modern black box theatre, making a fully accessible space for actors and patrons to enjoy incredible theatre and connect with the performing artists.
