Karen Morrow
Encyclopedia
Karen Morrow is an American
singer – actress best known for her work in musical theater. Her honors include an Emmy Award
and a Theatre World Award
, and an Ovation Award and five Drama-Logue Award
nominations.
and raised in Des Moines, Iowa
by parents who were both classical singers. As a teenager, she first heard recordings by actress/singer Susan Johnson
, which inspired her to try musical theater, beginning with the role of Meg in Brigadoon. After attending Clarke College
, she moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin
, where she taught and performed on the side, but she soon moved to Manhattan
. Her career there began with an appearance in the Off-Broadway
show, Sing, Muse!; she won a 1962 Theatre World Award for her performance. She also played Luce in a 1963 revival of Rodgers & Hart's The Boys from Syracuse
and a number of roles in City Center over the next five years, including The Most Happy Fella
.
Morrow's first Broadway
production, I Had a Ball
, opened in December 1964, only to fold six months later despite the presence of co-stars Buddy Hackett
and Richard Kiley. Most of Morrow's later Broadway productions would also have short runs despite some impressive casts. Two years later, she appeared as Mary Texas in A Joyful Noise
, a misconceived effort to incorporate country music into a Broadway show. It closed after 4 previews and 12 performances. Next she played Na'Ama in 1968's I'm Solomon, which vanished just as quickly (9 previews, 7 performances). In November 1971, she appeared as Babylove in The Grass Harp
(co-starring Barbara Cook
, based on Truman Capote
's novel of the same name), which lasted one week at the Martin Beck Theatre, but brought her good notices, especially for her rendition of "Babylove Miracle Show". In 1972, Morrow appeared as Irene Jantzen in another short-lived Broadway production, The Selling of the President. Her last Broadway performance was as The Princess Puffer/Miss Angela Prysock in The Mystery of Edwin Drood
(1987).
Asked why so many of the Broadway shows that she appeared in were flops, Morrow said, "I've analyzed this, trying to think of why I've had so many flops. I keep coming back to my contemporaries ... it was always the ones who could sing but also had something extra, something interesting about themselves ... I think with me, I was just a singer with a big voice and I was pleasant, and that can only take you so far."
her home base, where she worked on local cable in a short-lived series called Singin that co-starred her friend and peer, Nancy Dussault and appeared regularly on The Jim Nabors Hour
(1969), The Merv Griffin Show
, The Tonight Show
and Match Game
. She won an Emmy Award (with Nancy Dussault for the PBS program "Cabaret Tonight". Other TV work has included appearances in many series: Girl Talk
(1968), Love, American Style
(1973/two episodes), Medical Center
(1974), Karen (1975/two episodes), Starsky and Hutch
(1976), Tabitha
(1977/Aunt Minerva), Alice
(1979), Friends (1979 TV series)
(1979/Pamela Richards), Ladies Man
(1980/Betty Brill), The Love Boat
(1979 and 1982/two episodes), Too Close for Comfort
(1980), Trapper John, M.D.
(1983),
Goodnight, Beantown
(1984), Falcon Crest
(1988/two episodes),
Murder, She Wrote
(1988-89/Gladys), Night Court
(1989) and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
(1996-97/Nana).
Morrow has also appeared in three TV movies: Eve Wister in I Was a Mail Order Bride (1982), Martha Biggs in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
(1976), and Mrs. Turner in Cage Without a Key
(1975).http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=124894 She was also a regular on Garrison Keillor
's A Prairie Home Companion
.
Her stage work outside of New York has included Parthy in Show Boat
(national tour of the 1994 Broadway production), Die Fledermaus
, It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman
(1967 revival), Anything Goes
, Annie Get Your Gun
, Sally Adams in Call Me Madam
(2000),
Hello, Dolly!
, Oliver!
, Carlotta in Follies
, Sweeney Todd
and A New Brain
. She also has appeared in concerts with major orchestras in Los Angeles
, Milwaukee
, and Honolulu
. She can be heard on the 2002 concept album
Miss Spectacular
, a studio recording of an unproduced work by Jerry Herman
, with whom she has worked and recorded extensively. Other albums include An Evening with Jerry Herman (1998).
Morrow also taught musical theatre performance at UCLA and continues to teach master class
es in performance and audition skills. She is a member of the faculty of AMDA
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer – actress best known for her work in musical theater. Her honors include an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
and a Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
, and an Ovation Award and five Drama-Logue Award
Drama-Logue Award
The Drama-Logue Award was a theater award established in 1977, given by the publishers of Drama-Logue newspaper, a weekly west-coast theater trade publication. Winners were selected by the publication's theater critics, and would receive a certificate at an annual awards ceremony...
nominations.
Early life and Broadway career
Morrow was born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and raised in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
by parents who were both classical singers. As a teenager, she first heard recordings by actress/singer Susan Johnson
Susan Johnson (American musical theatre actress)
Susan Johnson , also known as Susan Johnson-Kehn, was an American actress and singer. She appeared primarily in musical theatre, but also appeared in films and television.-Stage and film roles:...
, which inspired her to try musical theater, beginning with the role of Meg in Brigadoon. After attending Clarke College
Clarke College
Clarke University is a four-year Catholic college located in Dubuque, Iowa, United States, with a general attendance of approximately 1,200 students. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degree programs...
, she moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, where she taught and performed on the side, but she soon moved to Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Her career there began with an appearance in the Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
show, Sing, Muse!; she won a 1962 Theatre World Award for her performance. She also played Luce in a 1963 revival of Rodgers & Hart's The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors, as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemporary rhythms of the 1930s. The show was the first musical...
and a number of roles in City Center over the next five years, including The Most Happy Fella
The Most Happy Fella
The Most Happy Fella is a 1956 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The story, about a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard...
.
Morrow's first Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production, I Had a Ball
I Had a Ball
I Had a Ball is a musical with a book by Jerome Chodorov and music and lyrics by Jack Lawrence and Stan Freeman.Set on the Coney Island boardwalk, it focuses on matchmaking fortune teller Garside, who finds love with floozy Addie, and recent parolee Stan, who becomes involved with Ferris wheel...
, opened in December 1964, only to fold six months later despite the presence of co-stars Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...
and Richard Kiley. Most of Morrow's later Broadway productions would also have short runs despite some impressive casts. Two years later, she appeared as Mary Texas in A Joyful Noise
A Joyful Noise
A Joyful Noise is a musical with a book by Edward Padula and music and lyrics by Oscar Brand and Paul Nassau. The 1966 Broadway production was a flop but introduced choreographer Michael Bennett in his Broadway debut....
, a misconceived effort to incorporate country music into a Broadway show. It closed after 4 previews and 12 performances. Next she played Na'Ama in 1968's I'm Solomon, which vanished just as quickly (9 previews, 7 performances). In November 1971, she appeared as Babylove in The Grass Harp
The Grass Harp
The Grass Harp is a novel by Truman Capote published on October 1, 1951 It tells the story of an orphaned boy and two elderly ladies who observe life from a tree...
(co-starring Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook is an American singer and actress who first came to prominence in the 1950s after starring in the original Broadway musicals Candide and The Music Man among others, winning a Tony Award for the latter...
, based on Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
's novel of the same name), which lasted one week at the Martin Beck Theatre, but brought her good notices, especially for her rendition of "Babylove Miracle Show". In 1972, Morrow appeared as Irene Jantzen in another short-lived Broadway production, The Selling of the President. Her last Broadway performance was as The Princess Puffer/Miss Angela Prysock in The Mystery of Edwin Drood
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (musical)
Drood is a musical based on the unfinished Charles Dickens novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It is written by Rupert Holmes, and was the first Broadway musical with multiple endings . Holmes received Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Original Score...
(1987).
Asked why so many of the Broadway shows that she appeared in were flops, Morrow said, "I've analyzed this, trying to think of why I've had so many flops. I keep coming back to my contemporaries ... it was always the ones who could sing but also had something extra, something interesting about themselves ... I think with me, I was just a singer with a big voice and I was pleasant, and that can only take you so far."
Later years
From 1969, she made Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
her home base, where she worked on local cable in a short-lived series called Singin that co-starred her friend and peer, Nancy Dussault and appeared regularly on The Jim Nabors Hour
The Jim Nabors Hour
The Jim Nabors Hour was a variety television series hosted by Jim Nabors that aired on the CBS television network from 1969 to 1971.Fresh from his success with Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., which put his backwoods "Gomer Pyle" character from The Andy Griffith Show in a military context, the show not only...
(1969), The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to September 26, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in...
, The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
and Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
. She won an Emmy Award (with Nancy Dussault for the PBS program "Cabaret Tonight". Other TV work has included appearances in many series: Girl Talk
Virginia Graham
Virginia Graham born Virginia Komiss, was a daytime television talk show host from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s...
(1968), Love, American Style
Love, American Style
Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...
(1973/two episodes), Medical Center
Medical Center (TV series)
Medical Center is a medical drama series which aired on CBS from 1969 to 1976.-Synopsis:The show starred James Daly as Dr. Paul Lochner and Chad Everett as Dr. Joe Gannon, surgeons working in an otherwise unnamed university hospital in Los Angeles. The show focused both on the lives of the doctors...
(1974), Karen (1975/two episodes), Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC...
(1976), Tabitha
Tabitha
-People:Tabitha is a biblical name from the Hebrew text of Dorcas and Acts 9:36 in the NIV Bible. The meaning is gazelle.-Literature:* Tabitha Twitchit, Tom Kitten's mother in the books for children by Beatrix Potter...
(1977/Aunt Minerva), Alice
Alice (TV series)
Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...
(1979), Friends (1979 TV series)
Friends (1979 TV series)
Friends was a short-lived kids-oriented drama from spring 1979. The series, which was produced by Aaron Spelling and aired on ABC, starred Charlie Aiken, Jill Whelan, and Jarrod Johnson as three Southern Californian 11-year-olds. Karen Morrow also appeared. Only five one-hour episodes were produced...
(1979/Pamela Richards), Ladies Man
Ladies Man (1980 TV series)
Ladies Man is an American situation comedy television series starring Lawrence Pressman as a divorced male working at a women's magazine. The series premiered October 27, 1980, on CBS. The program also stars Louise Sorel and her former husband, Herbert Edelman. The show was written by Anne Convy ...
(1980/Betty Brill), The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...
(1979 and 1982/two episodes), Too Close for Comfort
Too Close for Comfort (TV series)
Too Close for Comfort is an American television sitcom which ran on the ABC network and later in first-run syndication from November 11, 1980 to September 27, 1986. It was modeled after the British series Keep It in the Family, which debuted nine months before Too Close for Comfort debuted in the U.S...
(1980), Trapper John, M.D.
Trapper John, M.D.
Trapper John, M.D. is an American television medical drama and spin-off of the film MASH, concerning a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, California. The show ran on CBS from September 23, 1979, to September 4, 1986....
(1983),
Goodnight, Beantown
Goodnight, Beantown
Goodnight, Beantown is an American sitcom that aired on CBS for two brief seasons in 1983 and 1984.-Synopsis:The series starred Bill Bixby as Matt Cassidy and Mariette Hartley as Jennifer Barnes, two news anchors at a fictional Boston, Massachusetts television station...
(1984), Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced....
(1988/two episodes),
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
(1988-89/Gladys), Night Court
Night Court
Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...
(1989) and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV series)
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the same name.The show stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, a teenager with magical powers, who lives with her aunts Hilda and Zelda , and their magical talking cat Salem...
(1996-97/Nana).
Morrow has also appeared in three TV movies: Eve Wister in I Was a Mail Order Bride (1982), Martha Biggs in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble is a 1976 made-for-TV movie inspired by the lives of David Vetter and Ted DeVita, who lacked effective immune systems. It stars John Travolta, Glynnis O'Connor, Diana Hyland, Robert Reed, and P.J. Soles...
(1976), and Mrs. Turner in Cage Without a Key
Cage Without a Key
Cage Without a Key is a 1975 made-for-TV movie starring Susan Dey and Sam Bottoms, with Jonelle Allen and Lani O'Grady in supporting roles. The movie appeared on the NBC television network, later repeating on The CBS Late Movie...
(1975).http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=124894 She was also a regular on Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...
's A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion is a live radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. The show runs on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Central Time, and usually originates from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it is frequently taken on the road...
.
Her stage work outside of New York has included Parthy in Show Boat
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
(national tour of the 1994 Broadway production), Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
, It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman
It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman
It's A Bird... It's A Plane... It's Superman is a musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, with a book by David Newman and Robert Benton. It is based on the comic book character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics.-Synopsis:The plot...
(1967 revival), Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
, Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun (musical)
Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music written by Irving Berlin and a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley , who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband, Frank Butler.The 1946 Broadway production...
, Sally Adams in Call Me Madam
Call Me Madam
Call Me Madam is a musical with a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin.A satire on politics and foreign affairs that spoofs America's penchant for lending billions of dollars to needy countries, it centers on Sally Adams, a well-meaning but ill-informed...
(2000),
Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....
, Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
, Carlotta in Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
, Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd (musical)
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond....
and A New Brain
A New Brain
A New Brain is a musical with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Finn and James Lapine.The musical was first produced Off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, with previews beginning on May 14, 1998...
. She also has appeared in concerts with major orchestras in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, and Honolulu
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
. She can be heard on the 2002 concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
Miss Spectacular
Miss Spectacular
Miss Spectacular is an unproduced musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and additional lyrics by Steve Lawrence and Michael Feinstein....
, a studio recording of an unproduced work by Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman is an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage...
, with whom she has worked and recorded extensively. Other albums include An Evening with Jerry Herman (1998).
Morrow also taught musical theatre performance at UCLA and continues to teach master class
Master class
A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also painting, drama, or any of the arts....
es in performance and audition skills. She is a member of the faculty of AMDA
American Musical and Dramatic Academy
The American Musical and Dramatic Academy , is a college conservatory for the performing arts located in New York City and Los Angeles, California....
.