Cabaret & Concert NewsOriginal Nine Star Karen Akers Makes Solo Birdland Debut April 25 With Water Under the Bridge
Expect songs by Craig Carnelia, Maury Yeston, Edith Piaf, and Stephen Sondheim.
By
Andrew Gans
April 25, 2022
Karen Akers
Tony nominee Karen Akers makes her solo Birdland Jazz Club debut April 25 at 7 PM with a new show titled Water Under the Bridge.
The stage and screen star will look back at some of the songs that first brought her accolades in cabaret and on Broadway, including works by Craig Carnelia, Maury Yeston, Edith Piaf, and Stephen Sondheim, among others. The show features musical direction by Alex Rybeck.
Akers received a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut as Luisa Contini in the original Tommy Tune-directed production of Nine and returned to Broadway in another Tune musical, Grand Hotel. Her film roles include Mike Nichols’ Heartburn, opposite Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep; Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo; and Vibes, while her TV credits include Cheers, Hart to Hart, Presenting Karen Akers, and On Stage at Wolf Trap.
It's been the concert and cabaret stage where Akers has been most acclaimed. Her numerous solo recordings include Like It Was, Presenting Karen Akers, In a Very Unusual Way, Simply Styne, and If We Only Have Love. Akers is the recipient of the 2005 New York Nightlife Award for Outstanding Female Cabaret Vocalist in a Major Engagement and the 2009 Nightlife Legend Award.
Proceeds from the event support Self Help Africa's work to alleviate hunger, poverty, social inequality, and the impact of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa.
Blackhurst is offering several concerts at the NYC venue in the coming months, including tributes to Ethel Merman, Jerry Herman, Hoagy Carmichael, and more.
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