Karen Ziemba To Headline Long Wharf Theatre's 2010 Gala 6/7
By: Charlie Piane Jun. 01, 2010
Over the past several years, Long Wharf Theatre has reinvented its Gala, bringing audiences backstage to see prosaic theatre spaces in exciting and innovative ways, while enjoying fine food and, of course, the sort of entertainment Long Wharf Theatre is known for.
This year, Tony Award-winning performer Karen Ziemba, better known to Long Wharf Theatre audiences for her turn in this season's hit production of Sylvia, will headline the evening's entertainment on Monday, June 7. Ziemba is one of Broadway's most versatile and beloved performers, receiving the Tony award-along with the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards-starring in Susan Stroman and John Weidman's hit musical, Contact, at Lincoln Center Theatre.However, the show isn't just on the Mainstage. All throughout the theatre's beautifully decorated rooms, rooms transformed from staid rehearsAl Halls and blank spaces to immersive theatrical experiences, performers will entertain patrons dining on the finest cuisine. Jeff Grow, an award-winning magician, will perform in Long Wharf Theatre's rehearsAl Hall. The scene shop, ordinarily dominated by tools and wood, will become a moody jazz club featuring Damian Wiseman on the guitar, Jared Gumaer on the bass and Sandy Stoddard on the piano. Later in the evening, the dueling pianists of New Haven's Keys to the City take over the scene shop, performing their crowd-pleasing show.
On and Off-Broadway, Karen Ziemba has played murderers and marathoners, a daughter of the West, to the daughter of an American President. She starred as Roxie Hart in Kander and Ebb's Chicago, and Rita Racine in their Steel Pier (for which she received her first Tony award nomination as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations), and starred in the "new Gershwin musical, " Crazy For You. The Michigan native paid her dues in Broadway companies of A Chorus Line and 42nd Street (her co-star Jerry Orbach gave her her first Broadway stage kiss), and appeared as Alice Roosevelt in Teddy And Alice, before she burst on the scene in Kander and Ebb's revue And The World Goes ‘Round, capturing the Drama Desk Award and the attention of the musical Theatre World. She won another Drama Desk nomination for I Do! I Do!, and her third Tony award nomination and the Outer Critic's Circle award for Never Gonna Dance. She starred at the New York City Opera as Lizzie Curry in 110 In The Shade, and Cleo in The Most Happy Fella-and at the New York City Center in Encores! concert revivals of The Pajama Game and Bye, Bye, Birdie, as well as Ziegfeld Follies Of 1936 and Allegro. On television, Karen has been featured in PBS telecasts including an "Evening at Pops" tribute to George Gershwin, and the Great Performances specials from Carnegie Hall-"Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall;" "Ira Gershwin at 100"; and "My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies." For President and Mrs. Clinton, Karen performed in the East Room of the White House in PBS's "Dance in America;" and was one of Broadway's leading ladies featured in the "Kennedy Center Honors" tributes to Angela Lansbury and Julie Harris, broadcast on CBS. Karen is represented on numerous original cast recordings and several studio releases of Broadway classics such as the complete versions of The Most Happy Fella and 110 In The Shade (both recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios).
RehearsAl Hall B: MAGIC!
Jeff Grow has been featured in award winning films, and national and international commercials. His stage shows Creating Illusion, Magicians, Wise Fools & Ordinary Magic, and A Story About Magic have been presented in venues throughout New York City and Europe. Jeff's most recent show, Creating Illusion, received two 2009 New York Innovative Theatre Awards (Outstanding Solo Performer & Outstanding Performance Art Production). He is a featured performer at New York City's top venues and events - a plethora of corporate and private clients have incorporated Jeff's magic into their principal events. He consults on film, commercials and theatre, including recent productions for Arena Stage and Long Wharf Theatre, where he was the magic consultant for this season's The Fantasticks.
Damian Wiseman (guitar): Damian has just finished his freshman year at the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, where he is studying recording, engineering, and producing. Damian plays with various ensembles in New York and Connecticut, where he graduated from Weston High School. Jared Gumaer (bass): Jared has just finished his freshman year at Hofstra University, where he is studying jazz performance, music theory, and composition. A graduate of Weston High School, Jared performs wherever and whenever he can, with groups at school, and with his old classmate, Damian Wiseman.Sandy Stoddard (piano): In addition to being a Long Wharf Theatre trustee, and co-chair of the gala, Sandy joins us tonight on the piano, accompanying Damian and Jared. Sandy's career has spanned more than 40 years playing all over the country and beyond, from the 1964 New York World's Fair to the Montreaux Jazz Festival. He's played with performers and groups including Gerry Mulligan, Clark Terry, Bill Watrous, The Belvedere Boys, Charles McPherson, and Dave Brubeck.Scene Shop: the dueling pianists of KEYS TO THE CITY
Bill Connors, the premier Elton John impersonator in the United States, is a mainstay at Keys to the City. Connors covers a wide repertoire of rock & roll favorites, and has the ability to engage any audience. A second pianist will be announced. For more information about Karen's career, visit www.karenziemba.com. ABOUT THE THEATRE
Long Wharf Theatre (Gordon Edelstein, Artistic Director and Ray Cullom, Managing Director), entering its 46th season, is recognized as a leader in American theatre, producing fresh and imaginative revivals of classics and modern plays, rediscoveries of neglected works and a variety of world and American premieres. More than 30 Long Wharf productions have transferred virtually intact to Broadway or Off-Broadway, some of which include Durango by Julia Cho, the Pulitzer Prize-winning plays Wit by Margaret Edson, The Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer and The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn. The theatre is an incubator of new works, including last season's Have You Seen Us? by Athol Fugard. Long Wharf Theatre has received New York Drama Critics Awards, Obie Awards, the Margo Jefferson Award for Production of New Works, a Special Citation from the Outer Critics Circle and the Tony® Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.
For more information, visit www.LongWharf.org.
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