Karen Ziemba Leads Long Wharf Gala, 6/7

Karen Ziemba, a Tony Award-winner and star of Long Wharf Theatre's smash hit production of Sylvia, will be performing at the 2010 Gala: Take the Stage, held on Monday, June 7.

Long Wharf Theatre is continuing its tradition of new and inventive Gala events, serving both as a celebration of the previous season and yet another opportunity to immerse its audiences in theatrical magic. The 2010 Gala will prove to be no exception. This unique event will provide the excitement one comes to expect at Long Wharf galas, while allowing for a glimpse behind the scenes of the theatre's innovative brand of art with food provided by some of New Haven's finest restaurants. The 2010 Gala will prove to be one of the must attend events of the year. Tickets will go on sale April 12.

For up-to-the-minute information on the Gala, visit www.longwharf.org/gala2010.html. For sponsorship opportunities, contact gala@longwharf.org or call Development Coordinator Melissa Izzo at 203-772-8265 for details or to reserve your tickets in advance.

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. On and Off-Broadway, Karen 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). For more information about Karen's career, visit www.karenziemba.com.

Long Wharf Theatre (Gordon Edelstein, Artistic Director and Ray Cullom, Managing Director), entering its 45th 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 A Civil War Christmas by Paula Vogel and Coming Home 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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