Photo Source: Michal Daniel
Mason is, at the moment, "covered," as she seamlessly merges the worlds of cabaret and musical theater in the recently opened Broadway musical "Wonderland." Lewis Carroll's iconic children's tale "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" has been updated and reconceived by Gregory Boyd (book and direction), Jack Murphy (book and lyrics), and Frank Wildhorn (music), though Mason maintains the joyously demented spirit of the original without overplaying the most outrageous moments. It's a consummate performance by a true pro.
"This show has expanded my ability to be silly on stage," Mason says. "I love that." Nonetheless, there have been hurdles, not least the production's many rewrites, forcing Mason to reconsider who her character is and what role she plays in the context of the entire piece.
But Mason's major challenge is wearing designer Susan Hilferty's heavy costumes, extraordinarily vivid and witty though they may be. Indeed, they shape her performance, evoking a dowager who is at once "daffy and stylishly sophisticated," Mason says. Still, they weigh 15 to 20 pounds and affect the alignment of her neck, shoulders, rib cage, and hips, all of which have bearing on her vocal apparatus and her ability to freely create sound, she explains. "This would be a challenge at any age, but it's especially a challenge now. I go to the gym regularly, visit a chiropractor, and get physical therapy." Mason has four costumes, with the final three changes taking place within 10 minutes toward the end of the show. "Each of those changes takes between 10 and 15 seconds," she says. "We've got it down to a science. Backstage I have two dressers and two hairdressers working on me. I just stand there and let them do their work. If I try to help, I end up hitting people in the face."
Boasting a roster of Broadway credits that includes "Hairspray," "Mamma Mia!," "Jerome Robbins' Broadway," and "Torch Song Trilogy," the delightful and enthusiastic Mason admits that music is her first love, adding that it's the perfect expression of the human experience. Still, she concedes, "I think of myself as a storyteller. To me, the words are the critical part and the music is the movie score."
A New Interest in Cabaret
A New Orleans native who grew up in St. Louis and Chicago, Mason was one of those kids born with the urge to put on a show. Music was part of the family tradition, including annual performances with her sisters on July 4 and frequent visits to theatrical events. Mason nostalgically recalls her experiences at the MUNY, an outdoor summer theater in St. Louis that seats 11,000. "We would sit near the top, and the magic reached all the way up and grabbed me," she says. Years later she performed at the MUNY, and on the other side of the footlights she was struck by the size of the audience and remembered "how dazzled I was as a young girl sitting all the way at the top watching 'Peter Pan' or 'Around the World in 80 Days.' "
Mason performed in school and community productions. She later majored in theater at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, before deciding to try her luck professionally. At that time she did not graduate, though in 1999 she went back to earn her undergraduate degree, in part to please her parents, but also to accommodate her own need for completion.
Back in the '70s, one of her first paying gigs—as a singing waiter in a Chicago restaurant with the moniker Lawrence of Oregano—changed her life. There she met Brian Lasser, the restaurant's musical director, with whom she worked for 16 years until his death from AIDS in 1992. "He was my musical director, my mentor, my good, good friend," she says. "He helped me discover strength in myself and who I was as a performer. Before Brian, I didn't believe in me." Mason's biggest challenge was playing herself on a cabaret stage, which she found far more difficult than sustaining a character in a play, she says: "How do I make an audience interested in me and want to spend time with me?"
Lasser and Mason performed cabaret shows and concerts throughout the Chicago area, though their destination was always New York and in 1979 they relocated to the Big Apple, where Lasser's Off-Broadway show "The Matinee Kids" starred Mason. "Brian and I always had the intention of doing it all," she notes. "Brian would say it all feeds each other. Cabaret informs you as a performer and takes you to the next step, and then what you do in theater may expand your cabaret audience."
Mason believes that cabaret may be experiencing a little bit of a resurgence thanks to the cyclical nature of cultural trends and a new generation of actors coming to New York who want to sing when they're between jobs. "So they go to a place like Cast Party"—a weekly open-mike night at Birdland in New York—"where they have the opportunity to sing in front of small groups of people that's not an audition. They see the fun and joy, and maybe they'll go see a Karen Mason in cabaret if they've heard her at Cast Party."
Still, within many theater circles, cabaret does not earn the kind of respect it deserves, Mason suggests. "There is the belief that if you do cabaret, you can't do anything else," she says. "People are casual about it. They don't understand how much time and effort and money go into pulling it all together. People in business should know better, but they don't necessarily."
The Death of a Mentor and Friend
When Mason moved on to a Broadway stage, her cabaret experience proved useful in many ways, especially when she served as a cover for Glenn Close as Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard." As a cover, there are limited rehearsals (if any) and no previews. "You are called upon to be strong, powerful, and in command in a short period of time," Mason says. "That's not unlike cabaret. When I did Norma, I felt like I was shot out of a cannon, but I didn't embarrass my family or friends or step on anyone on stage."
Nevertheless, adjustments are called for when doing a musical. Instead of just one performer and a piano, suddenly there are many people involved, with vested interests and often warring agendas. "It's one of the hardest dynamics to achieve: everyone moving in the same direction with the same intent," Mason says. "It's a delicate balance. 'Wonderland' has the most collaborative group I've ever worked with, and it starts at the top. Frank brings a family sense to what he does. It's all about 'Let's all enjoy this' and 'Go with passion.' "
On a sad note, the death of Lasser was a watershed moment and a turning point. Besides the devastating loss of a close friend, it was also the loss of a constant support. "He was always with me, and suddenly he was not there," Mason recalls. "I had to be autonomous." Despite the grief, she realized that she could carry on without him and, most important, for the first time she was comfortable acknowledging "that it's okay to say you're good at what you do."
Unlike other mature female performers, Mason is not experiencing fewer opportunities or less-interesting roles. In fact, it's quite the reverse. "I was never an ingénue anyway," she says. "Some things I won't ever play now unless it's in a very large theater, but I can still sing all the music." Mason has her sights set on "Mame" and "Hello, Dolly!" "And, of course, if anyone wants to write anything for me, that would be wonderful too."
"Wonderland" is playing at the Marquis Theatre, 1535 Broadway, NYC. Tickets: (877) 250-2929 or www.ticketmaster.com.
OUTTAKES
– Received Drama Desk Award nominations for "Mamma Mia!" and the Off-Broadway production of "Carnival"
– Has won cabaret's top honors: 10 MACs, three Bistros, and one Nightlife Award
– Has appeared on "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," and "Ed"
– Is married to Paul Rolnick, a songwriter and record producer