Birdland Will Present The Return Of Karen Akers This September

BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB will present award-winning vocalist Karen Akers in the return of her acclaimed new concert "Water Under the Bridge" on Monday, September 12 at 7:00 PM. Returning to Birdland after the sold-out debut of this show in April, Akers once again takes a look back at some of the songs that first brought her attention in cabaret as well as on Broadway, television, and recordings: works by Craig Carnelia, Maury Yeston, Edith Piaf, and Stephen Sondheim, among other treasures. The show features musical director Alex Rybeck. There is a $40 music charge. Birdland is located at 315 West 44th Street in New York.

Karen Akers, one of America's more arresting and successful concert and cabaret stars, is the recipient of the 2005 New York Nightlife Award for Outstanding Female Cabaret Vocalist in a Major Engagement, as well as the 2009 Nightlife Legend Award. Ms. Akers has appeared in venues worldwide, including Carnegie Hall and The Hollywood Bowl, as well as New York's premiere nightspots, the Cafe Carlyle and The Oak Room at The Algonquin Hotel. She has taken her music to the south of France, Russia, Barcelona's Liceu Opera House and more recently, to The Crazy Coqs in London.

Concert performances are only a part of Ms. Akers multifaceted career, which encompasses theatre, television, film, and recordings. She appeared at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway as one of the original stars of the Tony Award-winning musical Grand Hotel, directed by Tommy Tune. She made her Broadway debut in the original production of Nine, also directed by Tommy Tune, receiving a Tony nomination. Ms. Akers television appearances include "Cheers," "The Tonight Show," "Hart to Hart," "The Merv Griffin Show" and the PBS Specials: "Ellington: The Music Lives On" and "Ira Gershwin at 100: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall." In addition, her own PBS specials are "Presenting Karen Akers" and "On Stage at Wolf Trap." Her film roles include the femme fatale in Mike Nichols' Heartburn, opposite Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep; Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo; and Vibes.