The holiday gift-giving comes early from Davenport's Cabaret—1383 N. Milwaukee Ave.—this year when Chicago native Karen Mason returns to give local audiences a taste of her interpretations of classic Christmas music. Mason will grace the cabaret with her holiday show, Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, from Wednesday, Dec. 17 through Monday, Dec. 22. Showtimes are 8 p.m. every night (7 p.m. on Sunday) and there is a $30 cover charge ($35 on Friday and Saturday) and a two-drink minimum. Reservations: (773) 278-1830. The show features a mixture of holiday standards, light seasonal fare to more traditional songs performed in Mason's distinctive style. Mason performed in Windy City nightclubs before heading off to New York to become an award-winning Broadway singer and actress. Most recently, she enjoyed critical and popular acclaim and a Drama Desk nomination for her role in the Abba-inspired musical, Mamma Mia. She also replaced Glenn Close as Norma Desmond in the Tony-award winning musical, Sunset Boulevard. Mason has won two Backstage Magazine's Bistro Awards and six MAC Awards for her live performances and recordings. TV viewers may also recognize her from recurring roles on the NBC shows Ed and Law and Order.
An internationally acclaimed vocalist, Karen has performed throughout the world. She has headlined at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and has shared concert stages with Luciano Pavarotti, Rosemary Clooney, Liza Minnelli, Michael Feinstein, Jerry Herman, and John Kander and Fred Ebb. Her four CDs have been critically praised and her most recent effort, When the Sun Comes Out, won the MAC Award as Recording of the Year. Her recording of Hold Me won the 1998 Emmy award for best song.
Recently I had a chance to talk with Karen Mason to find out her influences, her career, and about her start here in Chicago.
RR: You grew up in Arlington Heights, right? And got your start here in Chicago, singing at local nightclubs. As a performer, is there anything you learned in Chicago that you took with you?
KM: I was born in New Orleans, but my family moved to Arlington Heights when I started high school at Sacred Heart of Mary in Rolling Meadows. When I started going to NY to perform, the thing I noticed most was that in Chicago, I was able to work many nights a week for different types of audiences, and was able to grow by making many mistakes and developing my own personality. That was the gift of working in Chicago. It sounds strange, but being able to fail and then get back up was a great gift.
RR: What prompted you to leave Chicago and head out for New York?
KM: New York has always been a place that I wanted to go and be challenged. You know … see if I could do it! And when I met Brian Lasser (her musical director and arranger), his dreams were similar to mine. We felt if someone was going to help us to the next step, it was probably going to be in NY.
RR: You've enjoyed some amazing success on the stage, most notably in Mamma Mia and when you replaced Glenn Close as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. What do you like better about playing a part as opposed to appearing as yourself in a nightclub? What do like less?
KM: They are both gratifying in such different ways. Playing a role allows me to explore such different parts of who I am, and explore it for a certain period of time … really follow a character through a story. Being Norma Desmond for a couple of hours every night was thrilling. Those are emotions that aren't foreign, but certainly her life is very different from anything I have experienced. So the great thing is, I got to live her life for a while. When I get to do my own act, I explore more personal sides of me. And I get to have a dialog with the audience. That is a real gift for me: to be able to share who I am and what my life has been. I always find it comforting to know that we are all going through a lot of the same things. The thing I like less about nightclubs is … well, I have to do my own outfits! No one is there to take care of my every whim.
RR: What would you say are some of the main contributing factors to the singing voice you have today?
KM: I feel very lucky that my voice is in good shape today. I have worked very hard to keep it that way. I study as much as I can. And I have found some great and some not-so-great teachers along the way. You learn from everyone. Thank God I have a really great teacher right now—Bill Schuman—who has gotten me through some very difficult times. He loves the voice, he loves singers, and is really supportive through crazy times, when you have a cold and think you will never sing again! It is a pretty crazy situation when you think your career relies on some very small little muscles you can't even see! I had a paralyzed vocal chord caused by a virus in 1984, which lasted for about six months. I was really lucky in that I got my voice back. So each day is a gift for me.
RR: When you sing in a cabaret, what influences your choice of songs? Who are some of your favorite songwriters or performers, and why?
KM: When we are putting together a show, Barry Kleinbort, my director, and Christopher Denny, my musical director, and I just shoot around ideas and songs. Barry and Chris have the musical library in their heads. I am a better editor than instigator. I love working with them, because they challenge me and also let me find my way through those new challenges. I love to do a combination of songs. Singing just one type of music doesn't interest me. I love Harold Arlen, and I love Kander and Ebb, and Sondheim, and Carole King. Doing new music is also a thrill. Right now I am doing a song written by my husband called 'Right Here, Right Now.' We will be doing a video on January and releasing this song as a single. It is exciting to do music never done by anyone else; you make it your own.
RR: Now you're coming home and will be performing at Davenport's. What's your history with Davenport's?
KM: Davenport's is like home for me. I opened the cabaret space and the owners have been friends for many years. So it is like working for family. I have so much history here in Chicago. I love coming home and seeing old friends ... or trying to see them!
RR: Tell me about some of your recording experiences. What's your favorite Karen Mason CD?
KM: I like all my CDs. I love When the Sun Comes Out because of some of the risks we took vocally. We had a great time putting those arrangements together. Better Days I love because it was my idea to do it to honor my partner Brian Lasser (who died from AIDS in 1992). His work was such a large part of my learning curve. I think that is still happening. And we won an Emmy for best song for 'Hold Me,' which was on Guiding Light.
RR: You've sung at such venues as Carnegie Hall and have shared stages with people like Rosemary Clooney, Luciano Pavarotti, and Michael Feinstein. Who have you especially enjoyed working with and why? And what's the experience that stands out when you think about the very best in your career?
KM: The best part is just standing back and watching these pros work. The effort you know goes into performing is made to seem effortless by these people. That is the trick: not letting anyone see the struggle. I think the best memory I have is walking out on the Carnegie Hall stage for the first time to rehearse with the New York Pops, the first concert I did with them. My God, that was overwhelming: the stage and the hall and the whole history.
RR: Aside from putting Chicagoans in the Christmas spirit at Davenport's, what else do you plan to do while you're in Chicago?
KM: Shop and eat! My mother is already starting to cook. I can't wait. I have a new nephew with whom I want to spend time. And laugh and be with my family, they are a very special group of people.
RR: What should we be watching for next from Karen Mason?
KM: Who knows what the New Year will hold? I just want to try to keep getting better at what I do, keep trying to have forward motion in whatever I do. And try to not get too crazy over the negative things ... . Life is too blessed short.
