What continuously makes Karen Mason the top-shelf cabaret performer that she is is her intense honesty supported by physical grace and a remarkable vocal instrument. Mason has the amazing ability to make each audience member feel as if she is singing to him or her personally; she holds her body in ways that makes her approachable from any angle. What makes Mason a better performer with each passing year is her reliance more on the former and less on the latter. In Mason’s hands, the old chestnut, “It Had to Be You” isn’t merely a piano bar sing-along. It is a reflection on why we choose to partner with one person among all those others. (Mason might want to take a shot at the second verse, which is especially rich).

Setting New Standards could use more variety and contrast: We are many songs in before there is something different from the (albeit well-executed) mid-tempo love songs. For this to happen, the ballsy and comic “Off with Their Heads” from the about-to-open Broadway musical, Wonderland (lyrics by Jack Murphy, music by Frank Wildhorn), in which she appears as the Queen of Hearts, might be placed earlier in the show, as could the addition of rock and comedy numbers for contrast and variety. “Right Here, Right, Now,” composed by Mason’s husband Paul Rolnick, is a beautiful celebration of gratitude. Excellent musical direction was provided by the newly-bespectacled Christopher Denny. Karen Mason and her native Chicago are peas and carrots: they belong together.

Carla Gordon
Cabaret Scenes
February 12, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org