An Interview with Chicago's Luba Mason

By: Maya Cantu Oct. 29, 2005

There's a good chance that producers who put out casting notices for statuesque blonde triple threats are secretly hoping that their calls will reach the eyes of Luba Mason, the performer who is currently playing Velma Kelly in Chicago.

Velma is certainly the most lethally seductive character that Mason has played on Broadway--previous roles include the dizzy Hedy in the revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and the doomed Lucy in Jekyll and Hyde.

While Mason may never have landed in the slammer for a crime of passion, she still finds admirable qualities--such as determination--to play up in Velma: "She's a talented performer who's had some very bad luck, but she's very far from being washed-up--those words don't exist in her vocabulary." She's also not without sympathy for the hard-edged merry murderess. "Velma spends most of the show desperately trying to get out of jail and consistently gets knocked down by Roxie, Billy Flynn, the press. She also loses her top position with Mama. Those are moments I take advantage of to show her vulnerability and hopefully gain some sympathy from the audience."

It's Brooke Shields' Roxie who is doing the knocking down. While the two characters spend a good deal of the show with the claws bared, Mason has nothing but good things to say about her co-star: "It's been a great experience to perform with Brooke, and I think we're a really good match. Not only is she a lovely person, but I think we have great chemistry on stage."

Velma is, of course, a role that demands more than a little talent as well as presence, razzle dazzle and chemistry with the actress playing Roxie. Mason has years of training as an actress, singer and dancer. She studied acting at Circle in the Square, trained as a dancer with Lee Theodore as well as dancing professionally with The American Dance Machine for four years, and trained for years in classical voice. Singing holds the slight edge for Mason, but "It's the combination of all three that gives me my greatest high as a performer."

Mason also has a talent for learning a role under pressure. She replaced Brenda Braxton (who she thought was terrific), but had only two weeks to learn her songs, lines, and perhaps most challengingly, the flares, thrusts and dips of Fosse's intricate choreography. She acknowledges that being a replacement can be intimidating: "Unfortunately, as a replacement, you don't have the luxury of a 2 or 3 month rehearsal process with the director there every day." Mason says that she rehearsed with the dance captain, the stage manager and the current musical director, was also aided when "Walter Bobbie came in for a few hours one afternoon and I was fortunate to have Ann Reinking for a whole afternoon two days before I opened. " Mason believes that the biggest obstacle in coming in as a replacement is to put an individual stamp on the role, and hopes she has accomplished that with Velma.

Mason was previously a replacement in the Broadway production of Jekyll & Hyde, but opened in the earlier revival of How to Succeed. She played Lucy, the ill-fated prostitute who sings of "A New Life" in the former show: "It was not only my first leading role on Broadway, but the first time I really got a chance to sing...and what a role to sing! It was a really gratifying experience." In How to Succeed, she proved that a secretary is not a toy as the sexy Hedy LaRue. "That was my coming-out role," she laughs. "It was so exciting for me for me to start with the original cast in my first big featured role. And I got to kiss Matthew Broderick every night! Joking aside, Matthew taught me a lot about the ease of comedy onstage."

Prior to starring in Jekyll & Hyde, Mason was featured in the cast of a high-profile musical with a score by pop-rock icon Paul Simon. The Capeman was based on a true story of teenage gang tragedy in 1959 New York; she played Mrs. Krzesinski, the mother of one of the little boys killed by the cloaked 16 year-old boy of the title. While the show itself failed to live up to expectations, its score was highly praised.

Mason's experience with The Capeman is one she'll never forget: "Whenever a performer gets to meet and work with any brilliant talent and icon such as Paul Simon..well, you feel very fortunate. The music was extraordinary, unlike anything I had ever heard." Mason feels that the show was ahead of its time, but also learned from the short-lived run of The Capeman. "Even if a show has a great creative team and cast, it doesn't always guarantee a hit. It's all a delicate balance."

Mason can be heard crooning pop/rock on her debut solo CD, Collage. As the title suggests, the CD is a patchwork of musical styles that speak to Mason. She decided to go for an eclectic album because "I had many musical influences growing up." While she trained in classical voice, "I grew up listening to the Top 10 pop charts on the radio while also memorizing every word of my Broadway show albums." She was also influenced and inspired by Simon's Capeman music, with its share of jazz and Latin sounds: "I thought, 'Why can't my album also be a musical hybrid?" Collage includes her cool jazz rendition of Van Morrison's "Moondance," Bacharach and David's "The Look of Love" in Spanish with a "laidback samba rhythm," Lou Reed's socially-conscious rock anthem "Calm Before the Storm" and the Sherman Brothers' "Don't Shoot the Hooey to Me, Louie," from the musical Over Here! Mason also says that an album focusing more on theatre music is on the way.

Included on Collage, as well, is a traditional Slavic folk song called "Motherland." While for a time Mason avoided being labelled as ethnic (and was credited as "Kim Freshwater" for Late Nite Comic, her Broadway debut), she now embraces her Slovak heritage. "Coming straight out of college with a name like Luba Gregus ("Mason" comes from her ex-husband), it sounded like a car engine part to me. I was young, full of dreams and wanted another name when I entered the audition room--so Kim Freshwater was born! That lasted three years, and I realized I need to come back to who I really was." Mason now seeks to express her heritage in her work, and will do so in an upcoming one-woman show that she has started writing.

Mason, whether playing Velma or performing as herself, has every reason to be satisfied with who she is.

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