Former Teen Singing Phenomenon Karen Wyman Comes to the Metropolitan Room, Now thru 3/26

The former teen singing phenomenon Karen Wyman continues her exciting and decisive return to the live stage in her first major engagement in 25 years when the Metropolitan Room brings her back for four shows in March -- tonight, March 5, 12, 19 and 26, all at 7pm.

This one-time national sensation from the Bronx was just 16 (now those two numbers are reversed) when she astonished Dean Martin and his national television audience in 1969. In short order she made appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and on shows hosted by Carol Burnett, Jim Nabors, Glen Campbell, Dick Cavett, David Frost, Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas. She performed in nightclubs and recorded two albums and several singles for Decca Records, and had another on the way. Then circumstances changed. A different kind of non-belty female singer was coming up, and Wyman also opted to start a family. Her last full show was a one-off in Atlantic City in 1989.

In three sneak-peek performances at the Metropolitan Room -- in October and December -- Wyman has been making it amply clear that she still possesses her signature rocket-fueled voice, but that now the life-wisdom she admits she lacked as a teenager, is making a significant difference in how she approaches a song.

Her new show, "The Second Time Around," features music director John Oddo on piano, Jay Leonhart on bass, and Eddie Caccavale on drums. Dennis Deal is her stage director.

Says Wyman, "It feels different than when I broke in. I was a kid, I was intuitive, but now I know what the songs are really about. I've lived. I'm not a kid, I'm a woman!"

Karen Wyman's second coming with her new show "The Second Time Around" takes place at The Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, on Wednesdays March 5, 12, 19, 26, all at 7pm. The music charge is $25 with a two-drink minimum. For reservations call 212-206-0440. For more information or to order online, visit www.metropolitanroom.com.

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