I first became aware of Tony Award Winning Actress Karen Ziemba when she got her nomination & then won for Broadway's Contact. While I didn't get to see her in Contact, her name was on my radar.

I then finally got to see Karen on Broadway, in her next 2 Tony nominated roles, in Never Gonna Dance &  Curtains.

As Karen returns to the theatrical stage for her next show, L.B. Browne's Safe House, I am thrilled to be getting to spotlight her!

In this interview, Karen answered my call to share:

• Why she said yes to bringing Safe House to life at Theatre Row
• How she connects to Slipper’s loyalty, heart & need to help
• The Slipper trait she is glad she leaves behind when the curtain falls
• What audiences should know before entering the world of Safe House
• Why Safe House feels urgently relevant right now
• Her personal answer to what truly feels like her “last safe place”
• What her Tony Award recognition meant then & what it means today.
• So much more

Connect with Karen: Website, Instagram

Safe House is a family drama set in the days leading up to a U.S. presidential election. Convinced the second American civil war is imminent, Rock, a father secretly dying of a hereditary neurodegenerative disease, becomes consumed by the need to protect his family.

In the basement of his Pennsylvania suburban home, transformed, beam by beam, into a doomsday bunker, he has built what he believes is the last safe place on earth.

But when his estranged teenage daughter returns home pregnant, the tensions that have long simmered beneath the surface of the household break open, and the father’s obsession with safety turns into something else entirely.

What follows is a reckoning with fear, and the consequences of confusing love with control.

Safe House will play at Theatre Row in NYC from September 2-13, 2026. Click Here for tickets!

1. This fall you are starring in L.B. Browne's new play Safe House at Theatre Row in NYC. What made you want to be part of this show? I decided to join the cast of SAFE HOUSE by L.B. Browne because working on a new project gives an actor a chance to create a new character in a new story from the get go.

Through collaboration with each other, our company brings that new story to life.

2. What do you relate to most about your character of Slipper? I relate to the character of “Slipper” in that I’m also a helper, facilitator, and love my family.

3. What is one characteristic of Slipper's you are glad you don't possess? One characteristic of "Slipper" I’m glad I don’t have is that I don’t enable bad behavior that hurts me and in turn, hurts others.

4. What should audiences know about this show before they see it? What audiences should know about the show before they see it is that you may see similarities of someone you care about and are trying to reach out to, in one of us.

5. What makes now the right time for Safe Place to be brought to life? SAFE HOUSE is very timely…many today are living with some of the same themes that are in the play.

6. According to press notes, your husband in the show (played by 3 time Tony Nominee Marc Kudisch) builds a doomsday bunker which he believes is the last safe place on earth. What do you feel is your last safe place? My last safe place I hope will be in the town I love most of all, and always look forward to returning to when I travel elsewhere…my home, NEW YORK CITY.

Karen Ziemba in her Tony Winning Role in Broadway's Contact
Photo Courtesy of Karen Ziemba's website

7. You have been nominated for 3 Tony Awards & won the coveted award in 2000 for Best Featured Actress in Contact. What did this recognition mean to you back then & what does it mean to you today? Receiving recognition in the live theatre community from your peers and producers, especially with a coveted award is a validation of one’s hard work, reputation, and dedication to one’s craft.

When you’re in a terrific show with a great cast…it raises the bar and you strive to do your best work.

8. What is something you now know about Broadway that you wish you knew earlier in your career? Broadway keeps changing so what I know now that I didn’t know earlier in my career varies.

I’ve been at this since my Broadway debut in the original run of A CHORUS LINE at the Shubert Theatre in 1983. I’m still learning, listening, and gratefully, still kicking.

Karen Ziemba

More on Karen Ziemba:

Karen Ziemba received the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance in CONTACT at Lincoln Center Theatre. For some other stage appearances she’s been honored with three Tony nominations, the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Chicago’s JEFF Awards.

Select Theatre: MASTER CLASS, DOUBT, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, BROADWAY BOUND, BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS,AGATHA CHRISTIE's THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD, MRS. WARREN’S PROFESSION, PRINCE OF BROADWAY, CURTAINS, STEEL PIER, AND THE WORLD GOES ‘ROUND, CRAZY FOR YOU, CHICAGO, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, SWEENEY TODD, 110 IN THE SHADE, and HELLO DOLLY!

TV: The Blacklist, Elementary, Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, Law and Order C.I & S.V.U., The Kennedy Center Honors, PBS’ Great Performances.

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