Review: When You're in the Presence of a Legend, You Know It - Melissa Manchester at 54 Below

Last night, June 12, 2025, there was a special but familiar buzz in the room during the hour before Melissa Manchester’s opening night of her three-night engagement at 54 Below, which ends tomorrow night on Saturday June 14. Special, because you could feel the excitement and anxious anticipation in the pre-show air.  The ordering and consuming of the chef’s wonderful food seemed to be a chore one had to complete to reach the “Welcome to 54 announcement” and the start of the show.  Familiar, because “Broadway’s Living Room”  had the same excited atmosphere that a venue has before a Barry Manilow, Johnny Mathis, or Barbra Streisand concert filled with an audience that grew up with the artist’s music. And then it began.. readers, the word legend is used to describe many, but when you are in the presence of a legitimate one you know it, and last night we all were for a performance by a true legend, Melissa Manchester!

L.A. is a long way from Manhattan but those two cites are coupled together by the timeless music and career of Melissa Manchester, a superstar of both coasts. The Bronx-born singer/pianist/actress/composer’s musical roots were planted in our town and then her talents elevated her to music aristocracy in Los Angeles.  For a brief moment as I read the title of her show, Fifty Threads: An Artist’s Journey, (and because of my familiarity with NYC’s Garment Center) I thought maybe the show was a nod to her mother, one of the first women to design and found her own clothing firm (Ruth Manchester Ltd). That quip aside, the evening was an fascinating musical stroll through Melissa Manchester’s five-decade career.   Can it get any better than this? An electrifying vocalist, a proficient pianist, an award-winning composer, and wonderful actress with a creative output that has been so enormously consequential, telling you about it in story, and song, with a voice that sends chills down your spine.  Every one of her magnificent notes, harmonies tales and video remembrances were thrillingly communicated by Melissa as she sewed the threads of a life in music for us all to revel in. Yes, she studied at The Manhattan School of Music and music was in the home, her father being an oboist with the New York Opera for three decades, but you can’t learn “genius” and the ability to create unforgettable melodies.  We were showered with it all last night, from an icon who is a significant part of “the Soundtrack of Our Lives”…. Melissa Manchester’s music is rightfully in “the book” and will be celebrated and performed into perpetuity…..

Susan Holder and Tedd Firth accompanied Melissa, who was elegantly dressed in a David Josef creation. 

Here is just a snippet of her exceptional career and some photos to take you to a momentous evening at 54 Below.

Melissa holds the distinction of being the first singer ever to have two Academy Award-nominated songs in the same year (“Through The Eyes of Love” from Ice Castles and “I’ll Never Say Goodbye” from The Promise) and to perform them both in the same Oscar telecast.

Melissa was most recently seen in the national tour of Funny Girl as Mrs. Brice, has also starred int he national tours of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Music of The Night and Song And Dance, and created the role of Maddy, the title character’s mother, on the NBC hit TV series “Blossom”. Nominated for a Grammy in 1980 for Don’t Cry Out Loud,” she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Vocalist in 1982 singing “You Should Hear How She Talks About You.”

Melissa has composed music for the animated features The Great Mouse Detective and Lady And The Tramp II, the sequel to the Disney classic. In addition to composing the scores for the theatrical musical I Sent A Letter To My Love and Sweet Potato Queens,Melissa also co-wrote the radio mainstays “Midnight Blue,” “Come In From The Rain,” and “Whenever I Call You Friend.” In November 2021, Melissa was inducted into the Great American Songbook Foundation’s Hall of Fame.” 

Get tickets to the remaining two performances tonight Friday June 13 and Saturday June 14 on 54 Below's website here.

Learn more about Melissa Manchester on her website at melissamanchester.com

Melissa Manchester

Melissa Manchester

Melissa Manchester

Melissa Manchester

Melissa Manchester

Melissa Manchester

Barry Manilow & Melissa Manchester

Melissa Manchester

Melissa Manchester

Melissa Manchester & Tedd Firth

Soledad O'Brien & Melissa Manchester

Soledad O'Brien & David Joseph