By Scott Penn, Host of Lush Life, WOMR 92.1 FM on Cape Cod

[This review is published exclusively by Theater Pizzazz with the permission of Scott Penn]

It was a thrill to attend Melissa Errico’s performance of The Streisand Effect at Provincetown Town Hall this past Sunday. As a longtime admirer, I was not surprised by how magnificent the show was, or by how completely Melissa charmed her audience. And yet, the evening exceeded even those expectations.

Melissa told us that the show was an homage, not a tribute. She traced the paths Streisand pioneered for singing actors. Melissa moved freely between Broadway, pop, film music, jazz, and great storytelling. She drew on Barbra’s own autobiography, My Name is Barbra, for the evening’s context. In one of the night’s most charming moments, Melissa revealed that her pianist and musical director, Billy Stritch, had found his own name in the book. She invited him to read the passage aloud to the audience. It was a small, perfect thing, and it captured the spirit of the entire evening: witty, personal, and completely at ease.

Stritch, who is as much a collaborator as an accompanist, was joined by Andy Ezrin on keyboards, David Finck on bass, and Eric Halvorson on drums. The rhythm section gave the program a warmth and fullness, especially on the ballads.

Although Provincetown Town Hall is a considerably larger space than the traditional cabaret room, it felt like Melissa was having a conversation with friends. The ovations came in waves.  The audience rose repeatedly: a standing ovation after an exquisite “A Sleeping Bee,” followed by joyful cheering through a Streisand disco medley, “Papa, Can You Hear Me?,” “People,” and “Happy Days Are Here Again.”

Then, after all that heat, Melissa brought the room back to stillness with Michel Legrand’s “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” She sang it sweetly and clearly, with nothing to prove. It was a cherished evening with an old musical friend, heard anew.

Scott Penn hosts Lush Life, a vocal jazz program on WOMR 92.1 FM in Provincetown, Massachusetts. lushlife@womr.org

Performances of The Streisand Effect are scheduled for February 12-14, 2027 at Birdland Jazz Club. For more information about Melissa Errico, visit https://melissaerrico.com.

Photos by Brad Fowler