Photos: Singer/Actress Karen Akers Returns to Birdland

Birdland was thrilled to once again present singer/actress Karen Akers at the iconic club on Monday, May 27. The show, titled “Water Under The Bridge,” was musical directed by Alex Rybeck, with Tom Hubbard on bass. In this show, Ms. Akers looked back at some of the songs that first brought her acclaim in cabaret as well as on Broadway, television, and recordings — works by Craig Carnelia, Maury Yeston, Edith Piaf, and Stephen Sondheim, among others.

Karen Akers is one of America's more arresting and successful concert and cabaret stars. She 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 many prestigious 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. Cabaret and 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 debut on the Great White Way in the original production of NINE, also directed by Tommy Tune, receiving a Tony nomination and a Theatre World Award. Ms. Akers television appearances include Cheers, The Tonight Show, The Equalizer, 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, Ms. Akers had two of her own PBS specials, Presenting Karen Akers and Karen Akers: On Stage at Wolf Trap. The latter is available on DVD. Her film roles include the femme fatale in Mike Nichol's Heartburn, opposite Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo, and Vibes. Ms. Akers's CDs include: If We Only Have Love, Feels Like Home, Live From Rainbow and Stars, Under Paris Skies, Just Imagine, Unchained Melodies, In A Very Unusual Way, Like It Was, Presenting Karen Akers and Simply Styne (DRG Records).

Photo Credit: Kevin Alvey