Melissa Errico Reflects on the Pursuit of Pleasure in Column for THE PURIST Magazine

Tony Award nominee Melissa Errico has penned her second column in Cristina Cuomo's new magazine The Purist (in the current July issue). For her column "Stories" in the June issue of this glossy wellness publication, Melissa wrote a piece on mindfulness and second thoughts, in which she next tackles the pursuit of pleasure.

She writes: "While reading an old New Yorker magazine on the beach today, I came upon a Stephen Greenblatt piece about a 2,000-year-old ancient Roman poem by Lucretius called 'On the Nature of Things.' Professor Greenblatt summed it up as such: 'In Lucretius, [wonder] welled up out of a recognition that we are made of the same matter as the stars and the oceans and all things else. And this recognition was the basis for the way he thought we should live-not in fear of the gods but in pursuit of pleasure, in avoidance of pain.' It's a thought I might share with those who like to contemplate solid advice from the first century B.C.-and one I considered today while I sat on ancient sand lit by the Mayan sun, listening to nearby owls."

Read the full July column HERE. For her third column in August, Errico will address love and tennis (timed for the US Open which begins in NYC at the end of August).

Errico will also be offering two concerts later this month in Provincetown with Seth Rudetsky on July 28 & 29, and in August she will be starring in two free, outdoor concert performances of the beloved Broadway musical KISS ME, KATE in The Hamptons (August 25 & 26).

Tony Award-nominee Melissa Errico has established herself as a Broadway star, film/television actress, recording and concert artist. She has starred in the Broadway musicals Anna Karenina, My Fair Lady, High Society, Dracula, White Christmas and Amour; as well as the first national tour of Les Miserables.

At The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, she has starred in The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and Camelot. She has starred in plays by Shaw, Oscar Wilde and Wally Shawn.

Melissa has collaborated 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 most recently as Leona in the 2016 Encores! production of Do I Hear A Waltz? at City Center.

This season, she reprised the role of Sharon in a smash hit off-Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow at the Irish Repertory Theatre which was extended many times, received rave reviews and was filmed in January 2017 for The Lincoln Center Library.

Her solo CDs include Blue Like That (EMI/Capitol Records), Lullabies & Wildflowers (VMG/Universal), Legrand Affair (Ghostlight/Sony) and What About Today? Melissa Errico Live at 54 Below (Broadway Records; CD & DVD).

Television roles include the series Central Park West by Darren Star, recurring roles on Stephen Soderbergh's The Knick (Catherine) and Showtime's Billions (June).

Melissa has served on The National Endowment for the Arts and has published essays for various magazines, as well as The New York Times. She is married to tennis player and sports commentator Patrick McEnroe, and they have three young daughters and a Yorkie named Pepper. For more on Melissa Errico, visit www.MelissaErrico.com.

Photo by Chris Perino