Karen Akers gets her kick from Cole Porter

October 28, 10:46 AMSF Showbiz ExaminerRobert Sokol

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     Karen Akers  (Photo: Heather Sullivan)

“I felt like giving a party,” says singer and actress Karen Akers of the motivation behind her Cole Porter show opening this week at The Rrazz Room. “I’m serious!” she laughs in her warm, cultured tones. “Times have been tough and I thought we could use a party, so that’s what drew me to Porter. I will say,” she adds, “that he did write far too many words. They take up all the room in my head. I can never forgive him for that.”

Asked if there will be any rare gems from the Porter canon included in the evening’s selections, she responds playfully. “Why would I tell you about them? Wouldn’t I want people to be surprised? One of the best things about the show is when people tell me afterwards that there were songs in it that they didn’t know before or did not know were Porter’s.”

She will offer a teaser. “There is a song – I won’t tell you what it is – but I’m passionately in love with it. I found it in the library of Michael Levine, a dear man in New York who has the most remarkable collection of sheet music. It’s not that the song is totally unknown, but I had never heard this one before. I call it an optimistic blues and I was very surprised to discover that Porter had written it.”

Born with the melodic surname of Orth-Pallavincini, Akers kept her first married name for her sons. “They are both Akers. I can’t carry on my family line and it’s sad that none of my brothers have had children. So the Orth-Pallavincini name will soon be gone.” Akers has been married to Jerry Powers since 1993 and her younger sisters Nicole and Terri are also entertainers.

Celebrated on the cabaret and concert circuit, Akers has released ten CDs since she began recording in the early ‘90s. She was Tony-nominated, along with co-stars Liliane Montevecchi and the late Anita Morris, for her performance in Nine, the musical adaptation of Fellini’s 8 1/2. The honor went to Montevecchi, but there were no hard feelings and the two were reunited in the musical Grand Hotel.

With friends and family in the area, Akers is delighted to return to the Bay Area.  “I have two very special friends who live in the area, one of whom who is unfortunately no longer with us. A wonderful gentleman named Lewis Friedman used to run a club called Reno Sweeney on 13th Street in New York. He moved to Santa Rosa and I would visit him there. Once we went to Muir Woods. It was the first time I’d been deep in a redwood forest and it was truly the most spiritual place I’ve ever been. Exquisite. Another time my friends Steve and Jack took me across the Golden Gate Bridge for a picnic and then we hiked for about two hours. It was just one of the best days of my life. Every time I’ve been to San Francisco I just marvel at what a beautiful city it is.”