Karen Murphy

"The enchanting Murphy spoofed wannabe divas in “Art is Calling for Me,” from Herbert’s The Enchantress." TheatreScene.net

"Schoeffler and Karen Murphy displayed a fine knack for light comedy in the charming "Talk About This, Talk About That," a song that Cole Porter might have retitled "Let's Not Talk About Love." Soon after, Murphy was a gem lending exaggerated trills and satirical elegance to "Art Is Calling Me" (a/k/a "I Want To Be A Prima Donna"), a Victor Herbert effort from The Enchantress..." BroadwayWorld.com

"[Paul Sorvino is] ably supported by an excellent cast, which includes...Karen Murphy as Marie." The Hollywood Reporter

"The chief reward here for obsessive tunerphiles will be hearing Loesser's score in its complete version. The production restores two songs cut from the original, "Nobody's Ever Gonna Love You Like I Love You" and "Eyes Like a Stranger," both sung with brooding intensity by Karen Murphy as Tony's almost incestuously over-protective sister." Variety

"There also is strong support from Karen Murphy as Tony's possessive sister, who resents another woman in the house." Associated Press

"Think of Cary Grant and Irene Dunne reincarnated as a vocal duo, and you'll have some notion of the flavor of ''L'Amour, the Merrier!,'' a delightful two-person revue in which Steve Ross and Karen Murphy portray a sophisticated couple loving and bickering their way through life. Think especially of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. A well-known adage about them insists that he gave her class and she gave him sex. That chemistry applies to Mr. Ross, the debonair singer and pianist, and Ms. Murphy, his snappy, red-headed partner, who spends part of the show coiled seductively atop the grand piano he is playing." The New York Times (Click to read full review!)

"[Murphy] always displays a playful, mischievous spirit" WLIM (Click to read full review!)

"Appearing in a formal, off-the-shoulder navy gown, and bathed in a light suggesting cabaret noir, Murphy looks like a cross between Madaline Kahn and Rita Hayworth by way of David Lynch...She is such a good actress that it's easy to overlook her splendid voice, which can swoop down to deep, husky blue notes before chargin up the scale through brassy, Mermanesque tones, until she hits the heights of surprisingly delicate high notes. A rich, expressive voice with lots of individuality, Murphy can put over the '60s rock 'n' roll hit, "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me," like you've never heard it before, starting slow and building to an almost insanely wild finish. " Dramalogue Review (Click to read full review!)

"Only the wily Karen Murphy, the actress playing a tyrannical high school principal, seemed to have all her wits about her, ushering everyone off stage without once breaking character and winning her audience's heart in the process." The New York Times

"Good, too, are Richard Muenz as Flagrante and, in the most demanding role, Karen Murphy as Delilah....[S]he handles her songs extremely well and stops the show at least once." New York Law Journal

"It even has a secret weapon lacking in LITTLE SHOP: Karen Murphy. As Delilah Strict, the shrill, shapely, storm-trooping principal of Enrico Fermi High, she makes Dorothy Loudon's Miss Hannigan look like a wilted wallflower. She struts. She quivers. She pops her eyes. She emotes with every pore. She screams through clenched teeth--try that sometime. She reels with near-orgasmic pleasure as her scared-submissive students recite the school's show-stopping credo of "Rules, Regulations, and Respect." It's not camp; it's just very strenuous musical-comedy acting by a diva of tomorrow. As Murphy gets bigger and broader, she gets funnier -- by Act Two she was earning applause on every entrance and exit. Long may she glower." STAGES: The National Theater Magazine