Karen Mason is an American musical theatre

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

. She has appeared on stage in

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

, notably as Norma Desmond in ''

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...

,'' and is a multiple award-winning

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

performer.

Career

Mason was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, Louisiana, and grew up in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. She majored in theater at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, graduating in 1999. Mason started as a "singing hostess at Lawrence of Oregano in Chicago" in 1976 after leaving college, where she met the late pianist and composer Brian Lasser, with whom she worked until his death in 1992.Johnson, Ree
Broadway Singer Gets Intimate; Karen Mason Had Big Supporting Cast In ''Sunset Boulevard'', But She's Equally Adept Standing Alone In Her Cabaret Act
''Daily News'' (Los Angeles, CA) (freelibrary), January 2, 1998 Mason has performed in cabaret and with symphonies for many years.Karen Mason
masterworksbroadway.com She was one of the featured cabaret vocalists at Duplex Cabaret Theatre, New York City, in the early 1980s, and in 2005 presented a program "Better Days" with songs by her late musical director Brian Lasser. She has appeared at the Bay Area Cabaret, Empire Ballroom,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

in 2010. She continues to perform her cabaret act at such venues as Davenport's in Chicago in 2011 and The Iridium (New York City) in 2011. She taught at the Theatre Arts Center's Summer Workshops & Camp in

Bayside, Queens Bayside is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Whitestone to the northwest, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay to the northeast, Douglaston to the east, Oakland Gardens to the south, and Fresh Meado ...

, New York in 2010. She first appeared on Broadway in ''Play Me a Country Song'' in 1982. She took the role of standby to

Glenn Close Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...

as Norma Desmond in ''

'' in the Los Angeles production in 1993, and went on to play almost 300 performances over two years both in Los Angeles and on Broadway. She originated the role of Tanya in '' Mamma Mia!'', playing the role from October 5, 2001 to October 6, 2002. She took over the role of Velma Von Tussle in ''

Hairspray Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundtrack), the film's soundtrack album ** ''Hairspray ...

'' on April 6, 2008. She was the Queen of Hearts in '' Wonderland'' in 2011 on Broadway and in the Tampa and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

productions in 2009–2010. Mason appears in the US tour of ''A Christmas Story, The Musical!'' starting in November 2011. In 2011, Mason was scheduled to play Mrs. Danvers in the musical '' Rebecca'' on Broadway. In 2017, Mason used a song to call for marriage equality. Mason appeared on tour in Andrew Lloyd Webber's '' Love Never Dies'' as

Madame Giry Madame Giry is a fictional character from Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel ''The Phantom of the Opera''. She is a fairly intermediate character in the novel, although her role is much increased in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical. Madame Giry is als ...

. The tour ended on December 2, 2018. In December 2020, Karen Mason appeared in The Doris Dear Christmas Special on Broadway on Demand, where her performance received a 5-star rating.

Work

Broadway *'' Play Me a Country Song'' (1982) *''

Jerome Robbins' Broadway ''Jerome Robbins' Broadway'' is an anthology comprising musical numbers from shows that were either directed or choreographed by Jerome Robbins. The shows represented include, for example, '' The King and I'', '' On the Town'' and ''West Side Stor ...

'' (1989) *''

'' (1994) *'' Mamma Mia!'' ( Drama Desk Award nomination) (2001) *''

'' (2008) *'' Wonderland'' (2011) Off Broadway *''Karen Mason Sings Broadway, Beatles, and Brian'', 1986, Minetta Lane TheaterMcGibbon, Andrew
Chat Live With Diva Karen Mason Mar. 9
Playbill.com, March 9, 1998 *'' And the World Goes 'Round'' ( Outer Critics Circle Award) - 1991 *'' Carnival!'' - Rosalie, 1993, York Theatre Regional * ''Heartbeats'' by Amanda McBroom at

Goodspeed Opera House Goodspeed Musicals is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, located in East Haddam, Connecticut. A distinctive feature of the view from the Connecticut River, th ...

, 1993 *''

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

'' at the Westchester Broadway Theatre in May through August 2007;

The Muny The St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre (commonly known as The Muny) is an amphitheatre, amphitheater located in St. Louis, Missouri. The theatre seats 11,000 people with about 1,500 free seats in the last nine rows that are available on a first ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

in July 2006;

Bucks County Playhouse THE BUCKS COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE The Bucks County Playhouse is located in New Hope, Pennsylvania. When the ''Hope Mills'' burned in 1790, the grist mills were rebuilt as the ''New Hope Mills,'' by Benjamin Parry. The town was renamed for the mills. ...

in New Hope,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

; and the Sundance Theatre Touring Production *'' Love Never Dies'' (2017-2018 US National Tour) Recording Mason has recorded 6 solo albums, including ''Right Here, Right Now''. She appears on the cast recordings of ''And the World Goes 'Round'' and ''Wonderland''.

Personal life

Mason is married to Paul Rolnick, a producer and composer.McBride, Murdoc
Paul Rolnick Added to Roster at Arci's Place Cabaret Benefit, Jan. 29
playbill.com, January 26, 2001

Awards

Mason has received 10

MAC Awards The MAC Awards, established in 1986, are presented annually to honor achievements in cabaret, comedy and jazz. They are administered by the non-profit Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs (MAC), founded in 1983, and voted on by the MAC member ...

, including the 2004 MAC Award for Major Female Vocalist, and three Bistro Awards.

References

External links

karenmason.com
Mason's official website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Karen American musical theatre actresses Living people University of Illinois Chicago alumni 1951 births 21st-century American women