Full given name: |
Karen Ziemba |
Hometown: |
St. Joseph, Michigan, but raised outside Detroit. Go Tigers! |
Zodiac sign: |
Scorpio |
Audition song: |
I don't have just one audition song anymore. My very first audition song was a little Martha Raye ditty called "Mama That Moon Is Here Again." |
Special skills: |
I'll try anything once, at least on stage. |
First Broadway show ever saw: |
A Little Night Music |
If you could go back in time and catch any Broadway show, what would it be? |
The original Follies |
MAC or PC? |
PC |
Most played song on your iPod: |
Anything by Chris Botti on his trumpet. |
One CD you couldn't live without: |
"Rodgers & Hammerstein's Overtures" by Hollywood Bowl Orchestra |
Last book you read: |
"The Pursuit of Happyness" by Chris Gardner |
Must-see TV show: |
"Six Feet Under" and "Brothers & Sisters" |
Last good movie you saw: |
"The Lives of Others" |
Favorite card game: |
"500 Rummy" |
Performer you would drop everything to go see: |
If they were still alive, Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr. |
Pop culture guilty pleasure: |
My guilty pleasure is shoe shopping, but it's been "Pop" for centuries. Does that count? |
First stage kiss: |
My first stage kiss was in high school playing Maria in West Side Story, but the first Broadway kiss was Jerry Orbach in the original production of 42nd Street. |
Favorite pre-show meal: |
A California roll from the sushi bar at Kodama on West 45th Street. |
How you got your Equity card: |
My Fair Lady at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, MA. |
Worst onstage mishap: |
I slipped and fell on my ass during the curtain call in Babes in Arms, directed by Ginger Rogers. Well, that's what happens when you run in tap shoes! |
Who have you played on "Law & Order"? Which edition? |
On the original "L&O," I played a forensics cop opposite my former leading man, Jerry Orbach. On "L&O: Criminal Intent," I played the lover of a murderous doctor played by Kevin Tighe. On "L&O: SVU," I played Brian Dennehy's physician. |
Worst costume ever: |
I played the front end of an elephant in a local ballet production called Circus. Other than that I've been really lucky with my costumes. |
Worst job you ever had: |
Even when I waitressed, I had a pretty good time. Of course, that was in an ice cream parlor! Not to sound too sugary, I always try to find something enjoyable, or at least life-affirming, in everything I do - on stage and off; otherwise I would go crazy! |
If you could star in any musical revival, which would it be? |
I'd rather do something new but, as Encores! is the best at doing revivals, I'd love to play Leona in Do I Hear a Waltz? for them. |