Melissa Errico’s Legrand Adventure

Melissa Errico knows plenty about labor pains — having given birth to daughter Victoria in 2006 and twin daughters Diana and Juliette in 2008 — but, in some ways, she considers her newest CD, Legrand Affair (Ghostlight Records) to be the most difficult birth of all. Or at least the longest one.

Errico first conceived of the project devoted to composer Michel Legrand, with whom she worked on the Broadway musical Amour, six years ago. But her various pregnancies, other projects — including her Lullabies CD — and changes in mood resulted in the long gestation.

“Every time I sat down to finish it, I realized I had changed both as a person and in the way I felt about the music,” says Errico. “I was no longer this slim girl who flew over the Pyrenees just before my first pregnancy. I was someone who was now really aware of what makes a family, and I think the CD reflects that. When we finally recorded it, I was very calm, and we did most of the songs in one or two takes.”

Indeed, the finished product is even more wonderful than what she had in mind. “It went beyond any expectations I had,” she says. “The result is really a duet with me and Michel’s imagination. And I think you can hear that I’m a very different performer than I used to be. I’m not as careful as I once was, and that’s good. It’s been really exciting to be this creative.”

The CD’s 15 tracks include some of Legrand’s most well-known songs, including “The Summer Knows,” “I Will Wait For You,” “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life,” and his Oscar-winning “The Windmills of Your Mind,” in a rendition that Errico says was inspired by Alice in Wonderland. But it’s some of the lesser-known songs that Errico is most passionate about.

“There’s this song called ‘Celui-La,’ which Michel wrote when JFK was shot and he was heartbroken about the state of the world. You don’t think of him as this political guy, but he’s a real humanitarian,” she says. “I love this song, ‘Dis-Moi,’ which is about this woman who abandons herself to passion; she gives up her whole family for a lover, and sees herself drifting.”

Then there is “In Another Life,” which Legrand and his frequent collaborators, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, wrote specifically for Errico. “I was in rehearsals for this production of Finian’s Rainbow in Westport, and Michel really wanted to present the song to me in person, so I hopped on a plane to Toronto for a three-hour visit and to learn this song,” she recalls.

With the CD finally on the shelves, Errico is looking forward to performing the material live — with her first chance being at Joe’s Pub on Saturday, November 19. “I will always be able to sing these songs, even with just a pianist, but these orchestrations are amazing and made for symphonies, and we’re hoping some of them will be interested,” she notes. “My friend, Richard-Jay Alexander, is developing this concert for me of music, mostly from my theater career, and I am hoping we can fit in a tasty chunk of Michel’s music. And his 80th birthday is coming up soon, and I’d love there to be a concert with lots of guest stars and where Michel could conduct his own work.”

Her devotion to Legrand’s music aside, Errico is hardly turning her back on her acting career, having performed in the 2009 Broadway production of White Christmas. In the past two years, she also performed concert versions of Brigadoon and Camelot for the Irish Repertory Theatre, and is yearning for the chance to revisit those classic musicals.

“It was almost impossible for me to let Brigadoon go. I really committed to Fiona, and there was something about the plot that really touched me in a way other shows haven’t. I’ve got to do it again soon; I think I’m running out of time to be a young Scottish lass,” she says. “And I so loved doing Camelot this summer with Jeremy Irons, and he really wants to do it again. He’s looking into the rights. He wants it to really focus on the relationship between Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot.”

Should these productions never happen, Errico is sure there will be an exciting new musical to get her juices flowing. “There are so many younger musical theater writers I’d love to work with — Scott Frankel, Adam Guettel, Bobby Lopez,” she says. “I just know something fun will happen. My life is definitely moving forward.”