Preparing for Kander & Ebb Tribute Show, Karen Mason Says She's 'Pretty F***ng Lucky'

If you've somehow not heard the glorious voice of Karen Mason until now, here's your chance. The Broadway vet, who has graced the stages of some of the biggest concert halls in the world, has just released her ninth album, "Karen Mason And All That Jazz!" The album is a celebration of the songbook of the Tony, Emmy and Grammy Award-winning duo responsible for iconic musicals such as "Chicago," "Cabaret," "Kiss of the Spider Woman," and "And the World Goes 'Round": John Kander and Fred Ebb.

Mason originated the role of Tanya in the Broadway production of "Mamma Mia!" Other theater credits include Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard" (where she was Glenn Close's understudy and went on to play the role some 300 times), Velma Von Tussle in "Hairspray," and Rosalie in "Carnival." She first met Kander and Ebb when she was cast in the off-Broadway production of "And The World Goes 'Round," and she happily says she has "been lucky to 'bump' into John and Fred many times in [her] career."

Her concert work has included headlining at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, and Feinstein's at the Regency, among others. Her symphonic performances include the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, the New York Pops, the Oklahoma Philharmonic, and the Chicagoland Pops.

She will be celebrating the album's release with live shows at 54 Below in New York City on Sunday November 10.

EDGE recently had the chance to speak with Karen as she prepares for her upcoming shows.

EDGE: Let's go back to the beginning. Did you always want to be in music and theater?

Karen Mason: My mother was a pianist and she loved music, so we always had it around the house. I don't know if I always aspired to it. I always loved it, but it wasn't until I was a bit older that I started to envision that that's where I wanted to be.

I went to an all-girls Catholic high school and doing the musicals was a way to meet boys. I needed a prom date. This was my big motivation. I got cast in the show, didn't get a date. But as soon as I was on that stage, I found I was very much at home, and I liked it. I was kind of a nerd; today it means something not quite so horrible as when I was growing up. I was not popular. I was fat, skinny, fat, skinny. I had a horrible self-image. To do something where I thought I was appreciated just for what I was doing was kind of nice. And so I felt very at home, very appreciated on the stage.

EDGE: You have an amazing voice. Didn't somebody say, 'Wow what a voice' at some point?

Karen Mason: When I was growing up my sisters and I were always singing, doing harmony, doing shows and things for our parents. We were young girls who were crazy theatrical and just loved music. It can be annoying, but we continued forth. I found out later in life both my sisters have beautiful voices. I never really thought about it much back then.

EDGE: And yet you went to college for music.

Karen Mason: I started out with great passion for college, but I didn't go to a school that had a great musical theater department and that's what I really wanted to do. The University of Illinois Chicago was, at the time, very divided between drama and music, and the music was opera. They did musicals, and I did every one of them, but it was really a very drama-driven department. So I did a lot of community theater where I could kind of satisfy my musical theatre desire.

At some point I decided I wanted to get close to the people who were getting paid for doing what I was doing for free. I was living in a suburb of Chicago at the time and knew I needed to get into the city.

I auditioned for a job as a singing waitress at a restaurant in Chicago called Lawrence of Oregano. I met a gentleman there who changed my life. His name was Brian Lasser. He was the music director there. When he heard me sing he said he felt he had found his Judy Garland.

EDGE: That's quite a compliment.

Karen Mason: We worked together for 16 years. We made our way through Chicago working the gay clubs and concerts, then we finally decided to move to New York. He found out he had AIDS in 1989 or '90, and passed away in '92. I had 16 beautiful years with a man who changed my life. At that point I knew exactly where I should be. Of course when he died, it was like having the rug taken out from underneath me. I never envisioned my life without him at the piano so it was a big change.

But, you know, you move on however you do, and I was lucky to find my new musical director, Christopher Denny, and my director, Barry Kleinbort. We've been working together ever since '94.