Karen Ziemba received the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award for her portrayal of The Wife in Contact at Lincoln Center Theatre. For her performance as Georgia Hendricks in the Kander and Ebb musical Curtains, she received the Outer Critics Circle Award and was nominated for the Tony, Drama Desk and L.A.’s Ovation Award. Other appearances on and off-Broadway include Never Gonna Dance (Tony nomination, Outer Critics Circle Award); Kander and Ebb’s Steel Pier (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations); And The World Goes ‘Round (Drama Desk Award), I DO! I DO! (Drama Desk nomination), Chicago, A Chorus Line, 42nd Street, Crazy For You, and leading roles at the New York City Opera in 110 in The Shade and The Most Happy Fella.
For Encores! at City Center she starred in Bye Bye Birdie, The Pajama Game, Ziegfled Follies Of 1936, and Allegro. Regionally she has appeared in The Three Penny Opera (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Six Degrees Of Separation, The First Wives Club, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound (San Diego’sOld Globe), Much Ado About Nothing (The Shakespeare Theatre Company, D.C. and Hartford Stage), Sylvia (New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre) and in Shooting Star (Penguin Rep.). Her film and TV appearances include The Producers, Once More With Feeling, Scrubs, all three Law and Order series, The Kennedy Center Honors, in tributes to Angela Lansbury and Julie Harris, and for PBS’ Great Performances, “My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies”, “Gershwin at 100”, and “Stephen Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall”. Karen has sung on many recordings including several original cast albums and received an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Niagara University.