In these extraordinary and uncertain times of COVID-19, with venues closed and live performance at a halt, NiteLife Exchange is reaching out and covering the effect the crisis is having on performing artists.
Karen Mason has starred on Broadway, Off-Broadway and television, as well as being a premiere recording artist. She is the recipient of the 2019 MAC Lifetime Achievement Award, is a 14-time MAC Award winner and has won the MAC Award for Major Female Vocalist of the Year for six consecutive years. She has also won the 2006 Nightlife Award for Major Female Vocalist and has three Bistro Awards. In 2018, Mason was awarded two MAC Awards: for Celebrity Artist, and for Major Recording. Recently, Mason appeared as Madame Giry in the North American Premier Tour of Love Never Dies—Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. Broadway credits include Velma von Tussle in the closing Broadway company of Hairspray; The Queen of Hearts in Wonderland. She was the original Tanya in Abba’s Mamma Mia! for which she was awarded a 2002 Drama Desk nomination as Best Actress. Additionally, Mason played Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, on Broadway and in Los Angeles; was Mazeppa in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway and Rosalie in Carnival (Drama Desk nomination). She also appeared in Torch Song Trilogy and Play Me A Country Song.
Mason has headlined at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Feinstein’s/54Below, Rainbow & Stars, Don’t Tell Mama, The Cinegrill and the UCLA/ASCAP Concert Series in Los Angeles; Feinstein’s at The Nikko in San Francisco and Davenport’s and The Drury Lane in Chicago. Her symphonic performances include The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra with Maestro Michael Berkowitz, The Philly Pops, The New York Pops, The Oklahoma Philharmonic, The Indianapolis Philharmonic and the St. Louis Symphony with John McDaniel. She has seven acclaimed recordings to her credit, including her newest single, It’s About Time, an anthem for marriage equality, and Hold Me, which won the 1998 Emmy Award for Best Song. www.karenmason.com
NieLife Exchange (NLE) asks Karen Mason (KM) Six Questions:
NLE: You’ve had an enduring, successful and stunning career. Does this long view give you an advantage in coping with or assessing the unreality of these unprecedented times?
KM: Thank you, NLE! I have been around a long time! And like people my age, have lived through many difficult and “unprecedented times:” AIDS, Viet Nam war era, 911, etc. and yes, this time we are living in is very crazy and scary and very unreal! I am not sure I am coping better than anyone else, but, having lived through other crazy times, I know this time will end. I have no idea exactly how or when. I know we will be changed and that we will move forward. And move on til we meet the next crazy, unreal time! I am not a patient person by nature, but have been forced to learn, if not patience, then tenacity. And, over the years, learned how to fill those “in- between gig” moments. Maybe those experiences did give me a different perspective and some creative survival skills! Human beings generally have strong survival instincts. We will survive this.
NLE: How do you handle the days in quarantine? Does your training as a performer give you particular skills to weather the storm?
KM: I am not sure anything could prepare us for this! It is a truly disorienting time for all of us. We do learn, as artists, how to fill time with our imaginations, with just ourselves! There is always some new skill to learn, some new song or character to explore! Even with that training, it took me more than a week to do more than sit and watch Netflix and catch up on all my TV series! I had such great intentions to clean every closet, to read lots of books, to learn new skills!! I have not cleaned all the closets yet. Haven’t read tons of books, haven’t learned to cook! Right now, I am trying to stay in shape and maybe learn a few new things! I finally took a yoga class and LOVED it! I am working with Barry Kleinbort on a piece about my friend, Brian Lasser. Now we have the time!! I am taking a tap class this week (sorry, neighbors), and watching a lot of videos about theatre and music and ….well, anything that interests me! Who knows? maybe I will finally learn Italian! And at 7 pm, I am at my window applauding and cheering on our First-Responders! Helps to be a belter!!!
NLE: Humor is part of your fabric. How important is humor as a general rule of life? As a coping mechanism in a time like this?
KM: For me, humor is survival! If I didn’t have my sense of humor, I don’t think I could have survived all the dark situations we all have in a lifetime. Humor is my point of connection with a friend and a way to get through the hard times. My husband says I laugh all the time. Sometimes it may be just a way to be social, I admit that. But during stressful times, it helps to relieve the pressure a little. The stress of this time hits me at odd times. There has been a lot going on during this time for me: I have been dealing with a health issue (not a great time to have one!), dealing with losing a lot of work (who hasn’t?) and just the other day my 96-year-old Mom fell and broke her hip (and none of us can visit her!)—so there is a lot going on!! A LOT! I am an optimistic sort, but even this gets to me! I find I am reconnecting with friends from the past… and mostly friends who I laugh with a lot together. I just spent three hours on the phone with my friend, Sue, who I have known since I was six!—a loooooonnnnggg time! And all the silly memes everyone is sending… I love them!! My favorite is of a little cat (yes, its a cat meme) jumping into a bean bag chair!! Kills me every time!! All of this is so good for the soul! Laughter will get all of us through!
NLE: You’ve recently posted on Facebook a video of one of your performances, as well as Zoom sessions with your two sister, demonstrating capability with technology. Do you see yourself utilizing Zoom or another platform for live-streaming a performance?
KM: I think it is fantastic!! What a great tool to keep us all connecting and creating! I would love to do something live. I am not really great at the video part of it…YET!! I am learning… so I hope to do something soon! I purchased a “video kit” a few years back and of course, lost the instruction manual!, soooo I have been spending time (and getting help from friends) learning how to set it up! At some point, I will be ready! I want whatever I do to be pretty good …cuz it is on the net for a long time! As for already taped shows… Michael Lee Stever and my husband Paul Rolnick are working on the video of my Mason@ Mama’s in March show! I watched it… and enjoyed it! And that is not easy for me. I cannot watch or listen to myself without a critical eye/ear! Not always fun! So I want anything I do to be as good as it can be!
NLE: One of the hallmarks of your career has been a high standard of excellence. Do you think that performers who set the bar high will be able to maintain that standard if online activity becomes more of a norm?
KM: Interesting question for someone who is not really good at selfies! First of all, the word “excellence” to me is such a personal standard. What might be excellent to you might not register on the same scale for me. I certainly try to be excellent… but I beat myself up all the time for missed notes, talking too much, etc. That being said, I personalIy think the younger artists will not have any difficulty with achieving or maintaining their standard of excellence. They have grown up with video as part of their day to day lives—so comfortable with themselves on camera. I think it will be more of a challenge for me, because it will be an opportunity for me to get to watch the video OVER AND OVER! and judge myself OVER AND OVER! Might take me longer, but I will get there! It is a fun challenge, right? And I do believe self-taping is here to stay! So I better get comfortable if I want to continue singing!
NLE: Will you reschedule your birthday show? Are there any plans or projects on the table for the time this crisis ends?
KM: The Birthday Show is rescheduled for July 13. But seriously, who knows what our future holds? Will anyone want to sit in a room with other people? Sit very closely? Dunno. Future projects? Barry Kleinbort, Christopher Denny and I wrote a show called Unfinished Business, which is about my time with Brian Lasser, using his music to tell the story. We did it at CAP21 and NYMF, and it needs some reworking. I am determined to get a production., so for now, I am trying not to make too many plans for the future. I just want to invest myself in this gift of time and try to utilize it for connecting with family and friends—family and friends I have not been great at keeping in touch with!
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