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By Kenneth Jones
08 Apr 2008

Karen Mason

Karen Mason earns the title of "Miss Baltimore Crabs" April 8 when the MAC Award-winning performer joins the Broadway company of Hairspray, assuming the role of the dementedly devious Velma Von Tussle.

Mary Birdsong exited the show April 6.

Mason has appeared on Broadway in Mamma Mia!, Sunset Boulevard, Jerome Robbins' Broadway and Torch Song Trilogy. Her Off-Broadway credits include And the World Goes 'Round and Carnival, and she has also been seen on the small screen in "Law & Order" and "As the World Turns." A seven-time MAC Award-winning performer, Mason has charmed audiences at Carnegie Hall, Rainbow & Stars, Davenport's and L.A.'s The Cinegrill. Her solo recordings include "The Sweetest of Nights," "When the Sun Comes Out," "Better Days," "Not So Simply Broadway," "Christmas! Christmas! Christmas!" and "The Sweetest of Nights."

Mason brings her latest cabaret act Right Here, Right Now to the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan April 10-12 at 11 PM and April 13 at 9 PM. The cabaret is based on her forthcoming album "Right Here, Right Now" slated for release later this month.

Hairspray opened on Broadway on Aug. 15, 2002. It won Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Score (Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman), Best Book (Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan), Best Actor in a Musical (Harvey Fierstein), Best Actress in a Musical (Marissa Jaret Winokur), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Dick Latessa), Best Direction of a Musical (Jack O'Brien) and Best Costume Design (William Ivey Long).

In Hairspray "it's 1962 — the '50s are out and change is in the air. Baltimore's Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion — to dance. She wins a spot on the local TV dance program, 'The Corny Collins Show' and, overnight, is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. But can a plus-size trendsetter in dance and fashion vanquish the program's reigning princess, win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show without denting her 'do?"

For more information about Hairspray, visit www.hairsprayonbroadway.com.

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