By John Amodeo***Broadway cabaret and concert star Karen Mason made her Puerto Vallarta and Mexican debut at ACT2PV’s Red Room with And All That Broadway, and neither Puerto Vallarta nor Mexico will be the same again. Draped from head to toe in cream-colored silk, Mason, was an angelic vision that beautifully matched her celestial vocals. Her show was at times thrilling, touching, funny and always honest and real. Her vocals were masterful, with some well-placed high belts dramatizing the many soft lilting passages that told the story or conveyed the meaning of the song. When she spoke to us between songs, it was directly from the heart. If anyone in the audience left not absolutely loving Mason as a performer and as a person, then, they have a closed soul and nothing can open it.
The thrilling parts included Mason’s opener “All That Jazz” (Chicago), highlighting her longstanding relationship with the composer/lyricist team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, having appeared in their Off-Broadway revue And the World Goes ‘Round. In her second act solo she offered “Ring Them Bells” (sadly cut from the cast recording), where she voiced all the characters in the song to hilarious effect. Mason’s longtime musical director and accompanist Christopher Denny paired two other Kander and Ebb pieces, the well-known “New York, New York,” (from New York, New York the musical), with the far less-well-known “One Good Break” (Flora, the Red Menace), which gave Mason an opportunity to really showcase her Broadway chops and bring it home with a big finish. Treating us to a song from a Broadway show she starred in, but never sang, she gave us “I Have a Dream” (Mamma Mia) as delicate as fine crystal.
Denny tailored another exquisite pairing for Mason, Michel Legrand’s “Watch What Happens/I Will Wait for You,” where Mason’s final sweet high note just lingered in the air, leavin
g a stunned audience silent for a beat before applauding wildly. Throughout this Broadway-themed show, Beside her own Broadway repertoire (she’s been in six Broadway productions, plus touring and regional outings), Mason sang other noteworthy Broadway selections, including “A Whole New World” (Aladdin), sharing that making music is where she feels most free. Another gem was “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) teasing us right up until the big finish. She also treated us to a Norma Desmond moment as she recreated the role she played many times on Broadway as Sunset Boulevard standby to Glenn Close and Betty Buckley—a spellbinding “As if We Never Said Goodbye.”
Denny’s playing throughout was so integrated with Mason’s singing that you almost couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. Barry Kleinbort’s directing has always been spot on, allowing Mason’s story to be told with clarity while optimizing its entertainment value. Leaving us as she began with Kander and Ebb, her encore “A Quiet Thing,” was another moment of shear bliss that we could take with us.
Photos by John Amodeo
