Photos: See Highlights of KAREN MASON'S BIRTHDAY BASH at Birdland

Karen Mason. Photo credit: Maryann Lopinto

She opened the show with "Seasons of Love" written by Jonathan Larson from RENT with some new lyrics added written by her director Barry Kleinbort, who also changed the number of days to coincide with her age, I only wondered: did he include the extra days for the leap years?

Karen Mason. Photo credit: Maryann Lopinto

Karen chose songs that were meaningful to her or favorites. She got laughs with "Come On-a My House" by including some Knock-Knock Jokes in the middle of it. This song was written by William Saroyan and Ross Bagdasarian. Bagdasarian went on the create Alvin and the Chipmunks. She told us that finally she learned to play an instrument and brought out a wooden egg maraca and played it intermittently during a song written by her husband Paul Rolnick and Paul Guzzone, "South of the Coconut Line".

Karen Mason. Photo credit: Maryann Lopinto

Karen went on to sing a song, and said that this was only the second time she was singing it. It was her opening number from a first performance she had done towards the end of the pandemic.  It was presented at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home on the East Side by the man who ran it and decided to do these concerts for the people in the neighborhood and Karen was hired to do one.  The song "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" well... we all fell out of our seats. I was there and there was a buffet after the show.

Karen Mason. Photo credit: Maryann Lopinto

She did songs from a couple of shows from her past.  There was "Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Mr. Snow" that she had sung in CAROUSEL in a production she had done early on, a beautiful and touching "Dance" from HEARTBEATS in which she starred in at The Goodspeed Opera House in East Hadam, Connecticut written by Amanda McBroom, and "But the World Goes Round" from the Kander and Ebb revue AND THE WORLD GOES ROUND which she appeared in Off-Broadway

Karen Mason. Photo credit: Maryann Lopinto

She did a couple of mashups: "One Boy/Golden Boy" both by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, "Nothing Like Love/I'm In Love" both by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn.  She did a bit of showing off her dancing ability in "Hurray! It's Lovely Up Here" by Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane.

Karen Mason. Photo credit: Maryann Lopinto

Getting to some meaningful and special heartfelt songs, she sang Billy Goldenberg/Marilyn and Alan Bergman's from the motion picture UP IN THE SANDBOX, "If I Close My Eyes", "Time" written by Barry Kleinbort and Joseph Thalkin and a song written ages ago by Isham Jones and Gus Kahn "It Had To Be You" which has a special message and dedicated it to her husband Paul and their marriage.

Karen Mason. Photo credit: Maryann Lopinto

How to end the show? She chose one by Brian Lasser, her first musical director who wrote so many songs for her and passed away in 1992, "Better Days" a special song of hope and promise and we surely need it.

After her bows, out came Paul with a birthday cake, we all got to sing "Happy Birthday" to her.  The show was over and we wound up with the gifts from her this beautiful show

Karen Mason. Photo credit: Maryann Lopinto.

Learn more about the artist at www.karenmason.com

Find more upcoming shows at Birdland at www.birdlandjazz.com

MUSICAL  DIRECTOR: Christopher Denny

BASS: Tom Hubbard

DIRECTOR; Barry Kleinbort