Karen Mason To Celebrate 75th Birthday With Concert At Birdland

Karen Mason will celebrate her 75th birthday with a concert engagement at Birdland Jazz Club, following recent sold-out appearances in New York, Chicago, Connecticut, the Berkshires, and Puerto Vallarta. The evening will feature music and stories spanning her decades-long career.

Directed by Barry Kleinbort, with music direction by Christopher Denny and bass by Tom Hubbard, the concert will include songs from each decade of Mason’s life, along with selections such as “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart,” “One Boy,” “Somewhere/Impossible Dream,” and “Nice and Easy.”

Mason most recently appeared as Mrs. Marsh on Halston for Netflix. She starred as Madame Giry in the North American premiere of Love Never Dies, and on Broadway as the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland, and originated the role of Tanya in Mamma Mia! (earning a 2002 Drama Desk nomination). She has also appeared in Sunset Boulevard, Hairspray, and Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. Off-Broadway, she received the Outer Critics Circle Award for And the World Goes ‘Round.

A 14-time MAC Award winner and recipient of the 2019 MAC Lifetime Achievement Award, Mason has released nine albums, including Karen Mason and All That Jazz!, It’s About Time, and Not So Simply Broadway, among others.

Kleinbort, an Edward Kleban Foundation Award recipient, has written and directed numerous musicals and revues, including 13 Things About Ed Carpolotti and Was. Denny has served as musical director for artists including Julie Wilson, Lauren Bacall, and Brent Barrett, and has performed at Carnegie Hall and internationally.