Anna Bergman Premieres 'Wherever Love Takes Me' Oct.11-20

Acclaimed song stylist Anna Bergman premieres "Wherever Love Takes Me," her first solo show in New York in four years, at The Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd Street) in an exclusive two-week engagement from October 11 to 20.  Bergman, who contemporizes intimate salon performance in a new public television special, collaborates for the first time with a new creative team led by director Eric Michael Gillett (who is winning accolades for his innovative work with Karen Akers, KT Sullivan and Lari White) and music director Paul Greenwood.

In "Wherever Love Takes Me" she melds American and European sensibilities, in a wide variety of styles from pop to classical, and in four languages. Musical arrangements are by Paul Greenwood, Dennis Buck, and Alex Rybeck. Six shows only, on two consecutive Thursdays through Saturdays on October 11, 12, 13, 18, 19 & 20 at 7:30pm.  The cover charge is $25.

"Filled with songs about love and romance, 'Wherever Love Takes Me' marries Broadway (Sondheim, Porter and Guettel) with European favorites (Legrand, Leander and Weill) and contemporary composers like Friedman and Gold," explain press notes.

Born in Paris and raised in Europe and African capitals as the daughter of an American diplomat and an actress, Bergman was first exposed to the European-style salons hosted by her parents in their homes.  In 2001, after a performance in New York City just days after 9/11, she was inspired to experiment with a more personal and intimate approach to the cabaret medium.  Encouraged by Kitty Carlisle Hart, who hosted Bergman's first in a series of salons in her home in April 2006, Bergman has gone on to perform salons in cities across the country.  Her public television special was filmed a year later, on the night of Miss Hart's death in Manhattan on April 17.

As a singer and actress Bergman has performed in Lincoln Center's American Songbook Series, with Adam Guettel in concert, the Kennedy Center's landmark Sondheim celebration (A Little Night Music), as a soloist in Carnegie Hall's centennial tribute to Ira Gershwin, The Pasedena Pops, The White House, London's Lost Musicals, International Festival of Cardiff, the Manaus Opera House, Aspen Music Festival, the New York Festival of Song, "Lyrics & Lyricists," and Jonathan Sheffer's opera Blood on the Dining Room Floor.  Her New York club appearances have included The Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room, The Rainbow Room, and The Stanhope Hotel.  Out of town she has been presented at The Colony Hotel, Crest Theatre, Caramoor and Strathmore Music Centers, Guild Hall and Le Chat Noir in New Orleans.  Her recordings include the award-winning "Souvenir," and the newly released "Kurt Weill in America" (both on LML Music).  For more information visit www.annabergman.com.

The Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, is New York's most talked-about music venue.  The cozy Flatiron District club picked up a 2007 Nightlife Award and a Backstage Bistro Award before celebrating its first anniversary in May. For reservations call 212-206-0440. For more information visit www.metropolitanroom.com.  

Photo of Anna Bergman by Heather Sullivan