With John Bell, Barry McNabb, and Charlotte Moore
In Conversation with Melissa Errico
Music director John Bell, choreographer Barry McNabb and director Charlotte Moore, the team behind countless musical revivals at Irish Rep, including Finian’s Rainbow and On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, in conversation with leading lady Melissa Errico (Sharon in Finian’s Rainbow; Daisy/Melinda in On A Clear Day).
During this interview, How Are Things in Gloccamora is performed by Melissa Errico with recorded accompaniment from pianist Tedd Firth.
BARRY MCNABB
New York Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Connecticut Critic Circle Award Nominee- Barry McNabb’s productions have been seen throughout the world. He began his professional theater career as a featured soloist for the national/international company of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, for which he also served as Mr. Fosse’s dance captain. He then worked with/for Juliet Prowse, Agnes DeMille, Peter Gennaro, Michael Peters, Michael Bennett, Mike Ockrent, Gillian Lynne and Harold Prince, amongst others. While educating himself through working with the aforementioned masters, further NY studies included training with Sanford Meisner, William Alderson, Edward Morehouse, Sandy Dennis and others. Prior to this he worked with major ballet and modern companies as a company member and guest artist on both the West and East Coasts. As a member of the original Broadway cast of The Phantom of the Opera he directed/choreographed/produced and wrote Broadway’s Annual Easter Bonnet Competitions, which has remained Broadway Cares’ chief fundraiser for well over a decade. It is at this time he started choreographing work that ranges from ballet for the Grande Prixe de Lausanne Competition to “Saturday Night Live’s” Sprockets, and includes most of the classic musical theatre repertory. His stage work has been seen both on and off Broadway, as well as internationally from Bangkok to Barcelona and worldwide through his media work on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”, “Saturday Night Live”, and various films and commercials.
JOHN BELL
On Broadway, John has conducted Fiddler on the Roof, On the Town, and An American in Paris. At Irish Repertory Theatre, John has been the music director/supervisor for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Finian’s Rainbow, Donnybrook, New Girl in Town, Meet Me in St. Louis, Transport, A Child’s Christmas in Wales, and their gala concerts since 2014. For City Center Encores: Brigadoon, Hey Look Me Over, Me and My Girl, The New Yorkers, Cabin in the Sky, Do I Hear A Waltz, Zorba, Lady Be Good, Irma La Douce (Associate Music Director). Other New York credits: Sondheim’s Marry Me A Little (Keen Company, New Cast Recording); Radio City Christmas Spectacular; Candide (with John Lithgow) at Carnegie Hall. John has also worked with orchestras and regional theatres around the country. He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Ithaca College, an MA in Music from CUNY, and has studied at the Manhattan School of Music.
MELISSA ERRICO
Melissa’s Broadway credits include Anna Karenina, the revival of My Fair Lady, High Society, Amour (Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical), Dracula the Musical, and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. At The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, she starred in The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady (with John Lithgow), and Camelot (with Jeremy Irons). She has worked with Stephen Sondheim on the revival of Sunday In the Park with George (Dot/Marie at The Kennedy Center), followed by John Doyle’s production of Passion (Clara) for which she was nominated for a sixth Drama Desk Award, and as Leona in the 2016 Encores! production of Do I Hear A Waltz? at City Center. In 2016 she also reprised the role of Sharon in the smash hit Off-Broadway revival of Finian’s Rainbow at Irish Repertory Theatre, which was extended three times, received rave reviews and was filmed in January 2017 for The Lincoln Center Library. She has also starred in plays by Shaw, Oscar Wilde and Wally Shawn and last year starred in another acclaimed Irish Repertory production of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever. Melissa was recently honored with a caricature at Sardi’s. Her latest album Sondheim Sublime was released to critical acclaim, with The Wall Street Journal calling it, “The best all-Sondheim album ever recorded.”.
CHARLOTTE MOORE
Recent directing credits include: London Assurance, Love, Noël, The Plough and the Stars as part of The O’Casey Cycle, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Three Small Irish Masterpieces by William Butler Yeats, Lady Gregory and J.M. Synge, New York premiere of Brian Friel’s The Home Place, World premiere of Larry Kirwan’s Rebel in the Soul, Finian’s Rainbow, The Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative gala, Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory, Juno and the Paycock, and Dancing at Lughnasa. New York stage appearances include A Perfect Ganesh, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Perfect Party, Morning’s at Seven, Private Lives (with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton), and many performances with the New York Shakespeare Festival. Ms. Moore has received two Tony Award nominations, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Drama League Award, the Irish America Top 100 Irish Award, The Eugene O’Neill Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2008 Irish Women Of The Year Award. She is the recipient of the St. Patrick’s Committee in Holyoke’s John F. Kennedy National Award, and has thrice been listed as one of the “Top 50 Power Women”in Irish America Magazine. Charlotte was named “Director of the Year” by The Wall Street Journal in 2011. Charlotte has recently been inducted in to the Irish America Hall of Fame and been awarded the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad, 2019 by President Michael D. Higgins.