Broadway's Karen Mason Chicago premier of Just in Styne: Karen Sings Jule...And More!

Award-winning concert and Broadway star Karen Mason will be marking her Chicago premiere of her celebrated show Just in Styne: Karen Sings Jule – honoring composer Jule Styne (Gypsy, Funny Girl and Gentleman Prefer Blondes), one of her favorite songwriters. With arrangements by Christopher Denny and Barry Kleinbort, who also directed the show, Karen will be accompanied by Beckie Menzie, on piano. The concert will take place for one night only on Sunday, October 5th at 7pm at The Skokie Theatre, 7924 Lincoln Avenue, Downtown Skokie. Tickets are $45 and are available online at SkokieTheatre.org.

From the first time Karen sang for Mr. Styne in New York City, to performing in a concert in his honor at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Karen has made the songs of Jule Styne a part of her musical life. The show will include Broadway tunes “Just in Time” and “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” and pop standards “It’s Magic” and “Every Street’s a Boulevard in Old New York.” Karen will also be adding a few songs from her illustrious Broadway career. Noted Chicago Tribune critic Howard Reich said of Karen’s Davenport’s performances: “Mason performs with a ferocity of spirit and improvisational freedom that are immensely appealing.”

Karen’s performance will be part of a weekend series called Remembering Davenport’s (Oct 3-5) Chicago’s premier cabaret club for over 26 years. The club abruptly closed down and rebranded itself in April amid scandal and accusations by staff. Karen Mason originally was the headline act for the club when it opened its doors in November 1998. She was also one of the cancelled acts by the owners in April 2025, in the very show that she will be performing at the Skokie Theatre.

Karen recently released a new recording KAREN MASON…AND ALL THAT JAZZ! which was awarded BroadwayWorld’s Best Commercial Recording of 2024. Karen’s recordings are available on the web at KarenMason.com, amazon.com, iTunes and all streaming platforms including Spotify (where she has garnered over 3 million streams!) and Apple Music.

With her Broadway and Off-Broadway stage performances, TV appearances, CD recordings and live concerts, Karen “has few peers when it comes to ripping the roof off with her amazing voice that knows no bounds” (TheaterScene.net), which her performances always reaffirm. The multi-MAC and Backstage Magazine Bistro Award winner, including the MAC Lifetime Achievement Award.

It will be “coming home week” for Mason, who began her career in Chicago and became a favorite of the Windy City’s nightclub scene, before heading off to the bright lights of New York. Since that time, Mason has forged a career that has been filled with many triumphs including the original Mamma Mia!, playing Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray, portraying the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland, Andrew Lloyd Weber’s sequel to Phantom of the Opera in Love Never Dies and replacing Glenn Close as Norma Desmond, in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Sunset Boulevard. TV viewers may also recognize her from her recurring roles on the hit NBC shows ED and Law & Order SVU. Most recently she was seen on Netflix’ award winning series Halston.

An internationally acclaimed vocalist, Karen has performed throughout the world including Great Britain, Scotland, Sweden and Brazil. She has headlined at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, the UCLA/ASCAP Concert and has shared concert stages with such musical luminaries as Luciano Pavarotti, Rosemary Clooney, Liza Minnelli, Michael Feinstein, Jerry Herman and John Kander & Fred Ebb. Most recently performed with the CSO, Jesse Mueller and Norm Lewis at Ravinia with the Salute To Mancini at 100.

You can visit her website www.karenmason.com for further information.