By Marilyn Lester***Take a humorous and wry piano man-host: Ricky Ritzel, and combine him with another talent, a vocalist of A-list dimension and a wicked humor herself: Karen Mason, and the equation adds up to prime 
entertainment. Ricky Ritzel’s Broadway Salutes Karen Mason of course focused on Mason’a amazing Broadway career with Q&A, serenading from Mason shows by an ensemble cast (Aaron Morishita, Sidney Myer, Tanya Moberley, Jon Satrom, Alison Nusbaum) and lots of fun.
But it should be known that Mason’s career has not only included starring on The Rialto but Off-Broadway, television, cabaret and concerts, and in the recording studio. In fact, her latest album, of Kander and Ebb tunes, All That Jazz, was released on the very day of this show. The list of awards and kudos Mason has garnered would take up the bulk of this review, so suffice it to say, there are a heck of a lot of them. Likewise, listing her many Broadway and almost-Broadway credits (i.e. starring in Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz, this year at Papermill Playhouse) would take up a lot more space.
First question: what was your first audition? It was for Torch Song Trilogy, but that conversation led to Mason’s experience in 1982’s Play Me a Country Song, a legendary bomb that opened and closed on the same night, having played 22 previews. A “mess” reported Mason. Was it any wonder that Morishita sang “Comedy Tonight” from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. About her role in Hairspray, Mason quips she got it because they ran out of people.” Nusbaum thus presented, with gusto, “(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs.” Sidney Myer, whose repertoire of novelty songs seems endless, announced that years ago Mason opened “this very room” at Don’t Tell Mama. A piece of cake no doubt, since he sang the delightful “Sara Lee” from The World Goes Round, a 1991 revue of Kander and Ebb works.
It would be difficult to imagine anyone else in the cast but the droll Ritzel offering, in a red wig, the Queen of Hearts number from Wonderland, “Off with Their Heads.” Mason was at last heard, joining Morishita on “Sing Happy” and then solo on another Kander and Ebb number from h
er new album, All That Jazz, “Cabaret,” which featured special lyrics by Barry Kleinbort. She also closed the evening with one of her favorite Kander and Ebb tunes, (and the last track on the album) a lovely soft and contemplative rendition of “A Quiet Thing.”
But before that closer, there were more songs in tribute: Tanya Moberley with “Mr. Monotony” by Irving Berlin, written for Judy Garland but cut from Easter Parade, and recorded by Mason in 2021. Sastrom sang the eponymous “Sunset Boulevard.” He was followed by Mason’s story of the tragedy of the ill-fated “Rebecca” (read about it here). But in the spirit of “tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight,” the salute to Mason went into penultimate high gear with a cast rendition, led by Nusbaum, of “Mama Mia.” It was a chock-full evening—the kind that made you glad you were there.
Photos by Maryann Lopinto
