Theatre Arts Center-Teen Cabaret Company NYC

The Teen Cabaret Company Workshop is an optional Fifth Week in our summer program. The workshop will focus on individual performance skills--singing and acting. The structure of the workshop and small cast will allow each performer to be coached and showcased in solos and small group numbers. The company will make the renovated Shadowbox Theatre at QCC their home. Students who are accepted into the 2010 four week Musical Theatre Workshop/Senior Company OR the Teen Acting Ensemble are eligible to audition. Students NOT in the four-week program may apply.

The Workshop will end with a fully staged cabaret show. The performances will be open to the public.

Our Special Guest DIRECTOR for this workshop will be KAREN MASON, who was recently starring on Broadway as Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray (See her bio below). She is currently playing the Queens of Hearts in the Pre-Broadway production of the new Alice in Wonderland Musical---Wonderland. Karen is a Broadway, Cabaret, and Recording star. Spending a full week with and learning from Karen will be a chance of a lifetime for our students!

"KAREN MASON (the original Tanya in Mama Mia) shows why she's a New York cabaret favorite with her svelte figure and big voice. When she filled in for star Glen Close in "Sunset Boulevard," the critics were ecstatic!"

Music Director will be DENNIS DEAL (the composer of the international hit musical, Nite Club Confidential).

Additional rehearsals from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. during the four week workshop are required. These will be 1-3 times per week and the schedule will be announced at the start of the workshops.

The Cabaret Company Workshop dates are
August 2 -8, 2010
with final weekend performances in the newly renovated Shadowbox Theatre.

KAREN MASON BIOGRAPHY

Karen Mason has starred on Broadway, Off-Broadway, television, and recording: and "has few peers when it comes to ripping the roof off with her amazing voice that knows no bounds!" (TheatreScene.net) Karen is a nine time MAC Award winner and has won the MAC Award for Major Female Vocalist of the Year for six consecutive years. She has also won the 2006 Nightlife Award for Major Female Vocalist and three Bistro Awards. She has just released a new album (summer 2008).

Ms. Mason starred as Thelma in the Broadway production of HAIRSPRAY's final cast. She originated the role of Tanya on Broadway in Abba's MAMMA MIA!, (photo at right) and was awarded a 2002 Drama Desk nomination as Best Actress. Her other leading roles include Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD, which she performed to critical acclaim and standing ovations on Broadway and in Los Angeles for three years; Mazeppa in JEROME ROBBINS' BROADWAY; Rosalie in CARNIVAL (another Drama Desk nomination); plus featured roles in Broadway's TORCH SONG TRILOGY; and PLAY ME A COUNTRY SONG.

Karen won the Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance in AND THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND, and starred Off-Broadway in her own show KAREN MASON SINGS BROADWAY, BEATLES AND BRIAN.

Her television appearances include the hit dramas ED and LAW & ORDER: SVU. Film credits include SLEEPING DOGS LIE and A CHORUS LINE.

In regional theatre, Karen most recently played the Queen of Hearts in the new Waldheim musical WONDERLAND. She starred in the world premiere of the stage production of WHITE CHRISTMAS, (playing the Rosemary Clooney role at St. Louis Muni Opera), SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM (Coconut Grove Playhouse in Florida), GYPSY (Sundance Theatre in California), the world premiere of ONE TOUGH COOKIE (Apple Tree Theatre in Chicago), HEARTBEATS (Goodspeed Opera House in NY) and COMPANY (Huntington Theatre in Boston). Most recently in New York, Karen starred in the one-woman musical about Dorothy Parker YOU MIGHT AS WELL LIVE.

Karen has headlined Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Feinstein's at The Regency, Rainbow & Stars, the Algonquin, Arci' Place, The Supper Club and The Ballroom in NYC; The Cinegrill and the UCLA/ASCAP Concert Series in Los Angeles; The Plush Room in San Francisco; and Davenport's in Chicago.

She has shared concert stages with Luciano Pavarotti, Rosemary Clooney, Liza Minnelli, Michael Feinstein, Jerry Herman, and John Kander & Fred Ebb, among others. Karen has given concerts in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Brazil, Scotland, Tokyo and Osaka. Her starring symphonic performances include The New York Pops with Skitch Henderson, The Oklahoma Philharmonic with Joel Levine, the premier performance of The Chicagoland Pops, The Indianapolis Philharmonic, and the St. Louis Symphony with John McDaniel.

In addition to her live performances, her voice graces the soundtrack of JEFFREY (Varese Sarabande), the studio cast recording of WONDERFUL TOWN (Jay Records), the original cast album of AND THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND(RCA Victor), THE CHILD IN ME Vol.1 (Harbinger Records) and LOST IN BOSTON II (Varese Sarabande).

In 2009, Karen released her sixth universally acclaimed award-winning CD, Right Here - Right Now. Other CD's include SWEETEST OF NIGHTS, after winning the 2002 MAC Award for Major Female Recording of the Year for WHEN THE SUN COMES OUT. Her other CD's are BETTER DAYS (featuring the 1998 Emmy winning song, "Hold Me", by Brian Lasser); NOT SO SIMPLY BROADWAY; and her live recording CHRISTMAS! CHRISTMAS! CHRISTMAS!(all on Zevely Records).