Feature: 30 Days Of Cabaret Gratitude - Day Thirteen: The Mavens

Photos by Stephen Mosher; visit the Stephen Mosher website HERE.

Karen Mason and KT Sullivan - The Mavens

Karen Mason and KT Sullivan were a part of a magical time in cabaret, a time when the art form, the industry, and the community were guided by two very special women, Margaret Whiting and Julie Wilson. In the Nineties, when Whiting and Wilson were The Mavens, the industry was booming and overflowing with women who weren't just following in Julie and Margaret's footsteps - they were evolving cabaret into an art form for the era. Among those remarkable women were Andrea Marcovicci, Mary Cleere Haran, Laurie Beechman, Ann Hampton Callaway, Sally Mayes, and Nancy LaMott. Some of those women are still with us, today, and some have, sadly, left this plane, including the legendary Ladies Wilson and Whiting, and, in their place, are the new Mavens, Sullivan and Mason.

Karen Mason - The Star

An actress with credits on Broadway, in regional theater, and on television, Karen Mason has represented something extraordinary in the industry of cabaret and concert: she is a true blue cabaret artist. In recent years the "and concert" has been added to the genre, in order to make space in the small venues of New York City for a new style of show and a new generation of performers. But there is, in fact, a format that an artist follows when creating a bona fide cabaret show, and Karen Mason leads the pack when it comes to creating cabaret. One of those creatives who picks an artistic family and stays with them for the long haul, Karen and director, Barry Kleinbort, and Musical Director, Christopher Denny, have spent the last three decades presenting classic cabaret that puts venues at capacity and sends audience members home feeling like they have been taken on a proper storytelling journey, rich with artistic temperament, visceral humanity, and exceptional entertainment. Karen is revered by her community, adored by her fans, and, still, she considers herself a girl from the Midwest, just working for a living. She can't stop creating (there is always a new Karen Mason show), she can't stop singing (as evidenced by her quarantine-created virtual music series on Facebook), and she can't stop winning awards (her album LET THE MUSIC PLAY took home the industry's top prize in 2022). Karen is particularly known for her annual Christmas cabaret, her association with her one-time musical partner, the late Brian Lasser, and her marriage to music producer and songwriter Paul Rolnick, but she is also a respected teacher of Master Classes, an ardent supporter of other artists, and one of the most memorable actresses to descend Norma Desmond's Broadway staircase. Karen Mason is cabaret. Long may she reign.

Read the Broadway World Cabaret review of a Karen Mason show HERE.

Karen's online presence is as follows:

Website: Click HERE.

Instagram: Click HERE.

Facebook: Click HERE.

Twitter: Click HERE.

YouTube: Click HERE.

Karen's pronouns are She/Her.

Karen's future projects include:

SUNSET BOULEVARD in Concert starring Karen Mason with Eric Kunze and 20 MTU students
Thursday and Friday, November 17 and 18
Helene Galen Performing Arts Center
Rancho Mirage, CA

December 11, "CHRISTMAS...ETC" at BRADSTAN at ELDRED PRESERVE

December 19, CHRISTMAS at Birdland, NYC at 7 pm.

KT Sullivan - The Arbiter

In the Nineties, KT Sullivan was an actress working on the legitimate stage, playing characters on Broadway and in regional theaters... but there was a change in the air for the fair-skinned, blonde-tressed soprano, as she was discovering all that the world of cabaret had to offer. In a profession replete with belters, Sullivan's lilting vocal performances and intricate storytelling aesthetic garnered her a following, as she became one of the most respected interpreters of song in the small venues of show business. In a few short years, KT Sullivan would eschew her life of playing characters for a life of telling tales to small crowds who craved her craft. One of the people who saw something special in her was Donald Smith, the head of the Mabel Mercer Foundation and the creator of the annual Cabaret Convention. The two became friends, colleagues, and warriors in the quest to keep the art form of cabaret alive. At the time of his death in 2012, Donald Smith personally named KT Sullivan as his successor at The Mabel Mercer Foundation, and, ever since, she has industriously made cabaret, the art form, and the foundation her life. With her husband, Steve Downey, by her side, KT worked tirelessly to dispel the myth that cabaret was a dying art, seeking to promote artists, clubs, and the art form through the foundation, the convention, and her own patronage of those clubs and artists. During the pandemic, KT took the Mabel Mercer Foundation digital, presenting concerts staged and filmed in the foundation offices, and forming the first-ever virtual convention. Sullivan has defended the presence of artists of advanced glamor at the convention while welcoming burgeoning talent to the stage, and she has diversified the convention by taking on a mission to cast more artists of color in the three-night event. While balancing out the needs of the foundation, the demands of the production, and the desires of the MMF board, KT Sullivan has brought the organization and the art form into today's world, all the while continuing her own career. During the pandemic she fine-honed her piano-playing skills and can, now, be found at the Algonquin Hotel, singing and playing for herself, like the new Barbara Carroll or Shirley Horn. Her performance of Amanda McBroom's "Dreamin'" was the highlight at the recent American Songbook Association's tribute to Eric Michael Gillett, proving that divas only get better with the passage of time. KT Sullivan is essential to the cabaret community and industry, both of which are in good, no, great hands, as long as she is in the driver's seat.

Read the Broadway World Cabaret review of A KT Sullivan show HERE.

KT's online presence is as follows:

Website: Click HERE.

Mabel Mercer Foundation Website: Click HERE.

Instagram: Click HERE.

Facebook: Click HERE.

Twitter: Click HERE.

KT's pronouns are She/Her.

KT's future projects include:

Continuing to play and sing at The Algonquin on Friday nights, while working at the Mabel Mercer Foundation.

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