Karen Ziemba Appreciation - Update — Page 3

I want that skirt....

*GASP*

Karen can fly!

Updated On: 5/2/05 at 01:01 AM

That Sondheim concert first aired just a couple of months after I had first seen (and fallen in love with) KZ in WORLD GOES ROUND. I was watching the show on TV with a bunch of friends and had no idea she was in the concert. I didn't recognize the lady pianist with the glasses at first, but when she spun around and flashed that leg, I screamed, "It's HER!" The other people in the room thought I was crazy - until I explained that this was the amazing performer I had "discovered" a few months earlier.

Thirteen years later - still lovin' her!

sorry to be late in reporting, busy weekend.

After being introduced by the evening's host Tommy Tune (after he sang a bit of ALL THAT JAZZ) La Ziemba first charmed the audience in a lovely (but long) velvet sleeveless dress (it looked maroon under the lights) by singing the first Kander & Ebb song ever, that Barbra Streisand hit "MY COLORING BOOK." The pit sounded great, and after that, she could do no wrong.

Then, after a very touching video greeting from Joel Grey in which he sang bits of WILLKOMMEN interspersed with clips from the Fosse film version, we finally got to see Ziemba gams. She returned in halter-like short black dress to belt the hell out of CABARET. Again, her musicality with the pit was amazing. The conductor was introduced from the stage as David Loud, who apparently had done music arranging for THE WORLD GOES ROUND revue.

The rest of the evening was also great, with:

Jennifer Holliday selling the crap out of WHEN YOU'RE GOOD TO MAMA

Liza (also via video) greeting us and telling anecdotes before a clip of WORLD GOES ROUND from NEW YORK NEW YORK

kids from the TUTS school doing a choral version of I MOVE ON from the CHICAGO film

Karen Mason doing MAYBE THIS TIME, a little jazzy for me, but she has a voice and a half

Rob Marshall and John DeLuca (very charmingly) accepting an award for direction and choregraphy (with clips from the making of CHICAGO THE MOVIE)

Bob Cuccioli (whose name Tune could not pronounce) doing KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN--how handsome and charismatic can one man be?

Chita Rivera (cue goosebumps) doing LOVE AND LOVE ALONE from THE VISIT (very Kurt Weill-sounding, with a wonderful little tribute to Fred Ebb in the middle). Legendary.

Tracy Shayne and Caitlin Carter (both from Houston, like Holliday) doing NOWADAYS and then dancing "Hot Honey Rag"

John Kander (and for Ebb, Chita) receiving the American Musical Theatre Award, and again speaking so directly from his heart.

The entire cast (including the kids) singing NEW YORK NEW YORK as a finale, with even a little choreography.

It was great. i felt like i was in NYC. You all would have loved it, and Ziemba was in great voice, as were they all. But she got TWO numbers, thank you very much!

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Thanks, TX! Yes, I love Mason too. She can sing anything.

I'm jealous that you got to hear Ziemba sing/perform Cabaret. That must have been incredible!

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LOL, thanks, PJ, but I'll be fine. She has something else up her sleeve which I'll hold off on discussing until it's officially announced. Besides, she's got about a 25 year window left in her in which to do FOLLIES.

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That's between you and your makeup case.

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Sorry, Hubby. It will happen someday.

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The last time she dropped out of something she had been announced for was when she was supposed to do VICTOR/VICTORIA at North Shore Music Theatre, but dropped out to do NEVER GONNA DANCE. Well, at least that was on Broadway...

Can't wait to see what she's doing...

and i love Crosby, but she is no "Ziemba" type. She seems more suited to Sally than to Phyllis. Loved her original Cinderella in ITW, and her Sarah Brown in the revival of G&D (she was better than Guzman, for my money). Though i like Guzman in other things...

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I heard rumors that she will be placing Shoshana Bean..is this true wifey?

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now i'm REALLY confused. At Paper Mill, McKechnie played Sally to Dee Hoty's Phyllis (not that Hoty is particularly a dancer, but i guess Phyllis doesn't have to be, despite Juliet Prowse doing a helluva job in one of the Houston versions).

So when i read Barrington was doing FOLLIES with McKechnie and Ziemba, i just assumed McKechnie was repeating Sally and Ziemba was taking on the more caustic, dancer-like Phyllis.

i caught McKechnie in MACK & MABEL recently at Goodspeed, and she can still tap, but i no longer see her as the acerbic Phyllis; now her acting style is all about her heart, which is much more Sally.

Can anyone clear up my confusion? or maybe the rest of the world sees Ziemba/Mckechnie/Kim Crosby differently in terms of FOLLIES casting than i do...

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after NEVER GONNA DANCE, i think La Ziemba could play a hilarious, sexy, dance-y, but then ultimately heartbreaking Phyllis as well.

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