Jane Krakowski Live At The PAC

She might play a spoiled, shallow, self-obsessed actress on “30 Rock,” but in real life Jane Krakowski is a pretty regular gal—albeit one with a whole lot of talent and a great set of pipes.

Having won a Tony award for her role as Carla in the Broadway musical “Nine,” and receiving a handful of Emmy nominations for her work on “30 Rock” and “Ally McBeal,” Ms. Krakowski is clearly no one-trick pony. In fact, the singing, dancing and acting star has been performing and honing her considerable talents her whole life.

And now, for her first-ever East End performance, she will be bringing those talents to the stage of the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Saturday, September 3. Slated to be a “sizzling night of cabaret,” Ms. Krakowski and her band will perform songs from the “Great American Songbook,” as well as classic Broadway tunes, with a bit of vamping a la Marlene Dietrich, Ann-Margret and other legendary bombshells.

“This is a fun evening that was inspired by the great variety specials,” Ms. Krakowski said during a telephone interview last month. “Mitzi Gaynor, Eartha Kitt, Ann Margret, it should be a lot of fun.”

Having just co-hosted “Live with Regis and Kelly” the day before her interview, Ms. Krakowski was still at her apartment in the city but itching to head out East to her Southampton rental with her family.

“We took our first foray into the Hamptons last summer, now I’m a Hamptons girl,” she said, adding that visiting the beach—the bay side, not ocean side, as she’s “frightened by the parking situation” at the ocean—is a favorite family activity. Weather watching has also been a notable pastime (note, the interview was on Friday, August 19, a good week before Hurricane Irene blew across the Eastern seaboard but a few days after an impressive summertime lightning display). “We just saw that crazy lightning story, we were watching that light show in awe.”

But soaking up all that the East End has to offer is most definitely on the schedule, she said, adding that she had plans to take her parents to see “Enter Laughing” at Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor. A self-professed musical theater and stage junkie, Ms. Krakowski said that she attended a lot of plays while growing up in New Jersey. She was such a fan, she used to tape the annual “Tony” broadcast.

“I had the ‘Tonys’ all on VHS tapes and would play them over and over again,” she said. “The ‘Tonys’ were sort of like my ‘Star Wars.’”

Now a Manhattan resident, Ms. Krakowski credited her “30 Rock” co-star, Alec Baldwin, with introducing her to the East End.

“He’s such a great guy and he is Mr. Hamptons. We have to get him a sash,” she joked. “Alec is one of the reasons I wanted to do the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center ... I saw him doing ‘Equus’ last year at Guild Hall and that made me want to come out and perform. I’ll be sure to tweet him that it’s happening.”

Ms. Krakowski said that she can’t wait to bring her 90-minute show to the PAC, and that she had been told of the excellent acoustics at that venue last year but couldn’t fit a show into her schedule until now.

“I hear it’s a great space, I was thrilled to be asked,” she said.

The show will stay true to the cabaret format, she reported.

“It’s a true cabaret show, I’ll be telling stories in between the songs,” she said. “It will be playful and fun. I love doing it!”

Ms. Krakowski said that audience members often request her to sing “Muffin Top,” a song which her “30 Rock” character, Jenna, sang during one of the earlier seasons of the NBC show. She wouldn’t say if that particular song was on the play list for this Saturday but she did report that she will be performing a rendition of Ann Margret’s “very ’60s song, ‘13 Men,’ my favorite moment in the show.” She will also be singing what she called a “very modernized version of ‘Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend.’”

“It will be 90 minutes of fun,” she promised. “Escapism from everything else.”

Jane Krakowski will take the stage at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on September 3, at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $65, $95 and $125. 288-1500 | whbpac.org.