Karen Mason

Last updated
Karen Mason
Born (1951-03-31) March 31, 1951 (age 72)
New Orleans, Louisiana
Occupations
SpousePaul Rolnick
Website http://www.karenmason.com

Karen Mason is an American musical theatre actress and singer. She has appeared on stage in Broadway theatre, notably as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, and is a multiple award-winning cabaret performer.

Contents

Career

Mason was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and grew up in St. Louis and Chicago. She majored in theater at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, graduating in 1999. [1] 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. [2] [3]

Mason has performed in cabaret and with symphonies for many years. [4] 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. [5] She appeared at the Bay Area Cabaret, Empire Ballroom, San Francisco in 2010. [6] She continues to perform her cabaret act at such venues as Davenport's (Chicago) [7] and The Iridium (New York City). [8] She taught at the Theatre Arts Center's Summer Workshops & Camp in Bayside, Queens, New York in 2010. [9]

She first appeared on Broadway in Play Me a Country Song in 1982. [10] She took the role of standby to Glenn Close as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard 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. [2] [11] She originated the role of Tanya in Mamma Mia! , playing the role from October 5, 2001 to October 6, 2002. [12] She took over the role of Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray on April 6, 2008. [13] She was the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland in 2011 on Broadway and in the Tampa and Houston productions in 2009–2010. [4] [14] Mason appears in the US tour of A Christmas Story, The Musical! starting in November 2011. [15]

In 2011, Mason was scheduled to play Mrs. Danvers in the musical Rebecca on Broadway. [16] In 2017, she sang, "It's About Time", written by her husband, Paul Rolnick (in 2011), to call for marriage equality. [17] Mason appeared on tour in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies as Madame Giry. The tour ended on December 2, 2018. In December 2020, Mason appeared in The Doris Dear Christmas Special on Broadway on Demand, where her performance received a 5-star rating. [18]

Work

Broadway [19]

Off Broadway

Regional

Touring Production

Recording

Mason has recorded 6 solo albums, including Right Here, Right Now. [4] She appears on the cast recordings of And the World Goes 'Round [27] and Wonderland. [28]

Personal life

Mason is married to Paul Rolnick, a producer and composer. [29]

Awards

Mason has received 10 MAC Awards, including the 2004 MAC Award for Major Female Vocalist, and three Bistro Awards. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Mamma Mia!</i> (musical) 1999 musical based on the songs of ABBA

Mamma Mia! is a jukebox musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson based on songs recorded by Swedish group ABBA and composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, members of the band. The title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia". Ulvaeus and Andersson, who composed the original music for ABBA, were involved in the development of the show from the beginning. Singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad was involved financially in the production and she was also present at many of the premieres around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patti LuPone</span> American actress and singer

Patti Ann LuPone is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theatre. After starting her professional career with The Acting Company in 1972 she soon gained acclaim for her leading performances on the Broadway and West End stage. She has won three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, and two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Faith Prince is an American actress and singer, best known for her work on Broadway in musical theatre. She won the Tony Award as Best Actress in Guys and Dolls in 1992, and received three other Tony nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judy Kuhn</span> American actress and singer (born 1958)

Judy Kuhn is an American actress, singer and activist, known for her work in musical theatre. A four-time Tony Award nominee, she has released four studio albums and sang the title role in the 1995 film Pocahontas, including her rendition of the song "Colors of the Wind", which won its composers the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolee Carmello</span> American actress

Carolee Ann Carmello is an American actress best known for her performances in Broadway musicals and for playing the role of Maple LaMarsh on the television series Remember WENN (1996–1998). She is a three-time Tony Award nominee and a five-time Drama Desk nominee, winning the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her role in Parade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Ebersole</span> American actress and singer

Christine Ebersole is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in film, television, and on stage. She starred in the Broadway musicals 42nd Street and Grey Gardens, winning two Tony Awards. She has co-starred on the TBS sitcom Sullivan & Son, in which she played Carol Walsh, and earned an Emmy Award nomination for her work in One Life to Live. She is also known for her recurring roles as Ms. Newberg on Royal Pains and White Diamond in the Steven Universe franchise. Since 2019, she has played the role of Dottie on Bob Hearts Abishola.

Judy Kaye is an American singer and actress. She has appeared in stage musicals, plays, and operas. Kaye has been in long runs on Broadway in the musicals The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime, Mamma Mia!, and Nice Work If You Can Get It.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerry Butler</span> American actress and singer

Kerry Butler is an American actress and singer known primarily for her work in theatre. She is best known for originating the roles of Barbara Maitland in Beetlejuice, Penny Pingleton in Hairspray, and Clio/Kira in Xanadu, the latter of which earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Murney</span> American actress and singer

Julia Kathleen Murney is an American actress and singer, also known for television commercial voice-overs. Until 2005, she was commonly known as the Broadway actress who had technically never appeared on Broadway. This was because her fame came mostly from her performances on the Broadway charity circuit, and not traditional Broadway productions. She played the role of Elphaba in the musical Wicked, both on the US national tour (2006) and on Broadway (2007). She is also a two-time Drama Desk Award nominee, for The Wild Party (2000) and Falling (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dossett</span> American actor and singer

John Dossett is an American actor and singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Leavel</span> American actress

Beth Leavel is a Tony Award-winning American stage and screen actress and singer.

David Allen Friedman is a film and theatre composer, songwriter, author, lyricist and conductor based in New York City. He received a 1997 Backstage Bistro Award for Composer of the Year and a 1997 Johnny Mercer Award for Songwriter of the Year, and a Special Lifetime Achievement Award at the 26th Annual MAC Awards. His oratorio, King Island Christmas, won a Frederick Loewe Award and Dramatists Guild Award. David's musical Desperate Measures won the 2018 Drama Desk Award for Best Music and Best Lyrics as well as the Outer Critic's Circle Award for Best Off Broadway Musical and the Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Musical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Skinner (actress, born 1970)</span> American singer

Emily Skinner, also known as Emily Scott Skinner, is a Tony-nominated American actress and singer. She has played leading roles in 9 Broadway productions as New York, New York, Prince of Broadway, The Cher Show, Side Show, Jekyll & Hyde, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight, Billy Elliot, as well as the Actor's Fund Broadway concerts of Dreamgirls and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She has sung on concert stages around the world and on numerous recordings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">56th Tony Awards</span> 2002 awards ceremony

The 56th Annual Tony Awards ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall on June 2, 2002 and broadcast by CBS. "The First Ten" awards ceremony was telecast on PBS television. The event was co-hosted by Bernadette Peters and Gregory Hines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Kennedy</span> American actress

Lauren Kennedy is an American actress and singer who has performed numerous times on Broadway. She is now the producing artistic director of Theatre Raleigh in her home state of North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Brescia</span> American musical theatre actress

Lisa Brescia is an American musical theatre actress who has performed as lead and understudy in several Broadway shows. Raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she went on to pursue acting and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She taught Acting I and IV at Missouri State University and is now set to be the head of the Musical Theatre department at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri.

Jill Paice is an American actress best known for her musical theatre roles. She originated the roles of Laura Fairlie in the musical The Woman in White in the West End (2004) and on Broadway (2005); Niki in Curtains on Broadway (2006); Scarlett in London's Gone With The Wind (2008); and Grazia Off-Broadway in Death Takes a Holiday (2011). Among other roles, she appeared in the Broadway play The 39 Steps (2009).

Terri White is an American actress and singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose Hemingway</span> American actress, performer and singer (born 1984)

Rose Hemingway is an American actress, performer and singer, known for performing in musical theatre productions.

Erika Leigh Henningsen is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her work on Broadway and for originating the role of Cady Heron in the 2018 Tony-nominated musical Mean Girls, for which she received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination.

References

  1. ↑ Horwitz, Simi. Karen Mason Shakes Her Booty in 'Wonderland', Backstage.com, April 20, 2011
  2. 1 2 Johnson, Reed.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
  3. ↑ O'Malley, Kathy. Flying Solo Toward Stardom, Chicagotribune.com, December 22, 1994
  4. 1 2 3 4 Karen Mason masterworksbroadway.com
  5. ↑ Gans, Andrew Mamma Mia!'s Karen Mason Revisits "Better Days" June 13 at the Duplex playbill.com, June 9, 2005
  6. ↑ Drake Hotel, Broadwayworld.com
  7. ↑ Karen Mason - Comes To Chicago Archived 2012-04-26 at the Wayback Machine chicago3media.com, January 24, 2011
  8. ↑ Gans, Andrew. Karen Mason Offers Show Queen: Life After Wonderland July 19 in Manhattan, Playbill.com, July 19, 2011
  9. ↑ Karen Mason Joins Staff At Theatre Arts Center in Bayside Theatre Arts Center, Broadwayworld.com
  10. ↑ Rich, Frank. THEATER: 'Play Me A Country Song', The New York Times, June 28, 1982
  11. ↑ Marks, Peter. Glenn Close's 'Sunset' Standby Is Ready for Her Close-Up, The New York Times, March 5, 1995
  12. ↑ Ehren, Christine and Robert Simonson. Take a Chance on Them: Mamma Mia! Opens Oct. 18, Playbill.com, October 18, 2001
  13. ↑ Hetrick, Adam and Andrew Gans. Bow and Exalt: Karen Mason is Hairspray's Next Velma Von Tussle, Playbill.com, March 28, 2008
  14. ↑ Jones, Kenneth. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore; Broadway's Wonderland to Close May 15 Archived 2012-07-13 at archive.today , Playbill.com, May 10, 2011
  15. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. Karen Mason and Adam Pelty Complete Cast of A Christmas Story, The Musical!" Playbill.com, October 12, 2011
  16. ↑ Jones, Kenneth. Karen Mason Is Mrs. Danvers, Tam Mutu Is Maxim de Winter in Broadway's Rebecca; Principals Announced, Playbill.com, December 1, 2011
  17. ↑ "Broadway Diva Defends Marriage Equality in a Powerful New Song". May 17, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Doris Dear's Gurl Talk Broadway Tickets" . Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  19. ↑ Karen Mason Broadway ibdb.com, accessed December 24, 2011
  20. 1 2 McGibbon, Andrew. Chat Live With Diva Karen Mason Mar. 9, Playbill.com, March 9, 1998
  21. ↑ Holden, Stephen. Pop: Karen Mason, Singer, The New York Times, May 22, 1986
  22. ↑ Rich, Frank. Review/Theater; All the Best of Kander and Ebb, The New York Times, March 19, 1991
  23. ↑ Holden, Stephen. "Theater in Review", The New York Times, April 14, 1993
  24. ↑ Holden, Stephen. Review/Theater; Taking Stock in Song of a Marriage Gone Sour, The New York Times, August 9, 1993
  25. ↑ Gans, Andrew. Curtain Up, Light the Lights: Karen Mason Stars in Gypsy, May 31-Aug. 4, Playbill.com, May 31, 2007
  26. ↑ Gans, Andrew. Casting Complete for Muny Gypsy with Karen Mason", Playbill.com, July 11, 2006
  27. ↑ And The World Goes 'Round: The Songs Of Kander & Ebb 1991 Original Broadway Cast, Masterworks Broadway, 1991-11-26, retrieved 2017-12-18
  28. ↑ Wonderland, Broadwayworld.com, March 29, 2010
  29. ↑ McBride, Murdoch.Paul Rolnick Added to Roster at Arci's Place Cabaret Benefit, Jan. 29 playbill.com, January 26, 2001
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.