'Fannie Lou' Musical

Fannie Lou Musical

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  • CAST AND CREW FOR THE CENTENNIAL PERFORMANCEClick to open the CAST AND CREW FOR THE CENTENNIAL PERFORMANCE menu
    • Aaron Boscanin, Oct. 1, 2017
    • Torian Brackett, Oct. 1, 2017
    • Dorothy Chan, Oct. 1, 2017
    • Cameron Draper, Oct. 1, 2017
    • Ben Marcus, Oct. 1, 2017
    • Yewande Odetoyinbo, Oct. 1, 2017
    • Jessica Raymonvil, Oct. 1, 2017
    • Karen Stefano, Oct., 1, 2017
    • Annette Mooney Wasno, Oct. 1, 2017
    • Desi Waters, Oct. 1, 2017
    • Amber Yi-Wen Ho, Oct. 1, 2017
    • Hanna Elizabeth Young, Oct. 1, 2017
  • "I WILL GROW" from Fannie Lou Musical
  • Some of the characters in the original musical 'Fannie Lou' as developed by the show's creator, Felicia Hunter
  • FANNIE LOU MUSICAL "INSIDE TRACKS" SONG DEMOS -- FREE LISTENING
  • About Fannie Lou Hamer
  • 'Fannie Lou' Background
  • Audience Comments
  • "Scenes and Songs from Fannie Lou: At Carnegie Hall"
  • PANELISTS FOR THE OCT. 22, 2016 PERFORMANCEClick to open the PANELISTS FOR THE OCT. 22, 2016 PERFORMANCE menu
    • Rev. Glenmore Bembry, Trinity Baptist Church
    • Jack Bryant, NAACP
    • Mary Jenkins and Crystal Joseph, LWVNYC
    • Esmeralda Simmons, Esq., CLSJ
  • July 2015 Performance in DC Marked the 50th Anniversary Year of the Voting Rights Act
  • Actor and Musician Profiles for the Carnegie Hall PerformanceClick to open the Actor and Musician Profiles for the Carnegie Hall Performance menu
    • Karen Stefano
    • Jacob Berger
    • Jonathan Rodriguez
    • Yewande Odetoyinbo
    • Robert Rice
    • Lynn Flickinger
    • Dean Temple
    • Michael Moss
    • Blake Allen
    • Claire Duncan
    • Matt Visconti
    • Dorothy Chan
    • Will Hack
    • Miki Hanta
    • Sydney Shepherd
    • Dan Chen
    • Cheryl Krugel-Lee
    • Felicia Hunter and Cheri Hunter
  • 2012 FANNIE LOU MUSICAL World Premiere
  • World Premiere PerformancesClick to open the World Premiere Performances menu
    • Comments
    • Photos
  • World Premiere Cast and CrewClick to open the World Premiere Cast and Crew menu
    • Adiagha, Jonathan, Tiffani and Paul
    • Autumn, Ron, Janockeil and Alexis
    • Kirby, Michael, Ross and Rodney
    • Harrison, Phillip, Terri and Meghan
    • Chantez, Josh and Jennifer
    • Yewande, Becky, Lynn, Ke'John and Darnell
    • Jacob, Blondean, Rich and Charles
    • Blake, Jaime, Cheryl and Felicia
  • Community ConnectionsClick to open the Community Connections menu
    • About The Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College; Meet Founder Esmeralda Simmons
  • Fannie Lou Hamer Resources
  • SONG SAMPLES FROM FANNIE LOU
  • Dialogue ExcerptsClick to open the Dialogue Excerpts menu
    • Fannie Lou
    • Junior
    • Rev. Hill
    • Pamela
    • Mr. Richards

Karen Stefano

Karen Stefano

 

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 " I get to be a freer me. There's no limit, there's no judgment.

To do different characters and live in a world I would not normally live in, I think that's awesome."

 

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Karen Stefano stood out during auditions. For her callback, she didn't just read the script she was given. She had memorized it.

That demonstrated to producers an impressive work ethic which, along with her talent and congenial personality, landed Karen the lead role for "Scenes and Songs from Fannie Lou: At Carnegie Hall." 

"I'm so blessed to be able to play this woman, who is such an inspiration," said Karen. "She's a hero."

Karen portrayed voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer in the one-night-only presentation of selected dialogue and music from the new original musical Fannie Lou on Oct. 9 at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Fannie Lou Hamer was one of the seminal leaders of the voting rights struggle in the South during the early 1960's. A Mississippi sharecropper who grew up poor and whose education ceased with grade school, she nevertheless relentlessly fought for the right to vote. Her voting and civil rights activities began when she was 44 years old and ended only with her death 15 years later.

Karen relayed different aspects of Mrs. Hamer's life for the Carnegie Hall production. In order to do that, Karen had to draw on a range of acting and singing skills. As her audition callback suggested, it is a job for which she has well prepared. 

 

"I studied theater at Nazareth College of Rochester [New York]," recalled Karen, who received a scholarship to pursue theater studies. "After I graduated I wanted to come to New York City. So I came and started taking classes." 

That was in the early 1990's. Karen's first job was as an extra on the set of Spike Lee's acclaimed film "Malcolm X." She continued to do more extra work on various projects, including the television soap operas "All My Children" and "As the World Turns." 

Working on stage and screen has always been a career goal for Karen. "I've always been acting," says Karen, who laughs about her first "big break" as a performer.

"It was in first grade," she said about a Christmas re-creation that her class was going to present. "Another girl wanted to play the part of Mary. I said, 'I can rock Baby Jesus better than her.'" A determined Karen got the role.

"That's all I did, rock Baby Jesus. So I remember that being my first feature part."

But with that first role also came Karen's first critic -- her sister, Audrey, who was harsh with her review after Karen had the misfortune of dropping the doll she was holding.

"She said, 'You dropped Baby Jesus!'" Karen recalled. But the budding actress was undaunted. "I didn't take it to heart because I knew I did a fabulous job."

Karen makes her home in Bloomfield, NJ. A native of Jamaica, she moved to the United States with her family at age 16.

"My parents wanted to come for a better life, so we moved to Rochester," said Karen, the middle of nine children. "I thought it was the coldest place on earth. My father had family there, so it was just easier for him to find work and live there.

Family has always been important to Karen. She has two children, a boy and a girl. She was working on an "All My Children" shoot when there was a minor emergency involving her daughter, who was in kindergarten at the time. A comment her daughter made then led Karen to change her direction -- at least temporarily.  

"She said, 'You're never home,'" remembered Karen. Although Karen was able to put the comment into perspective as the narrow observation of a child, it still made an impact. Karen decided to stop acting for awhile.

Another comment, this time from her son, initiated her return.

"About four years ago he looked at me and said, 'Mom, you can go back. We're pretty good now. You can go back to acting.'" He was 10 years old at the time.

Karen began sending out headshots and resumes, slowly getting back into the fold. 

"Progressively I started getting work. I said, I guess I can get back into acting, so I did." 

Karen said she enjoys the liberating aspects of performing.

"I get to be a freer me," she said. "There's no limit, there's no judgment. To do different characters and live in a world I would not normally live in, I think that's awesome."

She was enthused about telling the story of Fannie Lou Hamer on the stage. She listened to audio tapes of Mrs. Hamer to study her speaking tones and inflections.

"I cannot wait," Karen said prior to the Carnegie Hall performance. "As long as I know that someone will get this message and walk away with it, that's awesome. And I know it's going to take off. I'm so excited."


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