The next time audiences hear Jill Eikenberry sing the song “Pirate Jenny” from “The Threepenny Opera,” it will, in a sense, bring her career full circle.
She first sang it to an audience of artistic directors at a Theatre Communications Group audition when she graduated from the Yale Drama School, and on Monday, the now-veteran stage-and-screen actor will sing it in front of an audience at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor in a cabaret show of her own creation, “Here I Go Again.”
Back then, Ms. Eikenberry said, it was a really unusual and modern song choice, but it worked. And it’s particularly relevant these days for women who may be feeling victimized over how they are treated by men, she said.
“It resonated for me so much. I ended up getting so many offers of jobs from it, so I know that it was effective,” she said in an interview. “I decided to sing it again two years ago when I did my show for the first time. I was amazed that it was more powerful to me after all this time, so I’m doing it again.”
“Here I Go Again,” in which Ms. Eikenberry will be joined by Michael Tucker, the actor and writer who happens to be her husband, and David Rasche, an award-winning composer and actor, is a cabaret-style evening of song.
Ms. Eikenberry will sing one number from “Enter Laughing: The Musical,” which was the previous production she appeared in at Bay Street Theater when it ran for several weeks in 2011, and favorite songs across genres, from Broadway to folk to rock ’n’ roll. She will even play a couple of instruments. The show was born on her birthday in 2017, when she decided to celebrate turning 70 with her own production.
“I do play the drums and the piano a little bit. I do a little dance,” she said. “It’s a very personal show, really personal, so there’s a lot of stories about my life and our life together married for 46 years. It’s a fun show.”
Ms. Eikenberry is a Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-nominated actress perhaps best known for her role as Ann Kelsey on the hit NBC television show “L.A. Law.” She has numerous Broadway and Off Broadway credits, including Obie Award-winning performances in “Life Under Water” and “Lemon Sky.”
She also has several film credits, among them “Young Adult,” in which she played the mother of Charlize Theron’s leading character. She will appear opposite Mr. Rasche in the upcoming production of “Fern Hill,” a play written by her husband, in New York City.
Back when Ms. Eikenberry and Mr. Tucker were doing “L.A. Law,” they had a chance to meet Randy Newman, the singer and songwriter. He played the music while the couple sang, and it’s a moment they’ve never forgotten, Ms. Eikenberry said. They will pay tribute on Monday when they sing “Dayton, Ohio,” and another song that she wants to be a surprise.
She will also sing songs by Joni Mitchell, one of her favorite artists. Her son, Max Tucker, will fly in from Portland, Ore., to play drums. Lee Weissman will play guitar, and Mike Kuennen will play bass. James Horan musically directs.
For Ms. Eikenberry, producing and starring in her own show has been empowering, though a little daunting at first.
“As most actors do, I’ve mostly done other people’s projects. I’ve rarely done my own projects,” she said. “It’s very wonderful, a very powerful feeling to do my absolute own thing. I’ve had guests join me, but everything came from me. That’s so exciting. You think at this age, I would have done that more. It’s kind of cool. But it also is a big responsibility and I was actually terrified about that in the beginning — why would anyone want to see what I come up with? But they do, and they seem to enjoy it.”
“Here I Go Again,” part of Bay Street Theater’s Music Mondays series, will start at 8 p.m. on Monday. Tickets are $69 to $89 and can be purchased at
McArdle, McKechnie Next
Music Mondays will continue on July 8 when Andrea McArdle and Donna McKechnie will celebrate the music of Stephen Sondheim and Marvin Hamlisch.
Ms. McArdle originated the title role in the musical “Annie” in 1977 and, at 13, became the youngest performer ever to be nominated for a Tony Award for best lead actress in a musical. Since then she has starred in several Broadway musicals and in theaters in New York, across the country, and internationally.
Ms. McKechnie, who received a best actress Tony nomination for her performance in “A Chorus Line,” has also appeared on Broadway in “How to
Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” “Promises, Promises,” “Company,” and “On the Town.” She was tapped by Bob Fosse to play the lead in his last production, the national tour of “Sweet Charity.”