Karla Burns Dies: Tony-Nominated ‘Showboat’ Actress Who Broke Olivier Award Color Barrier Was 66
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deadline.comKarla Burns, an actress and singer whose acclaimed performance as Queenie in the musical Show Boat earned an Olivier Award and a Tony Award nomination, died June 4 in Wichita, Kansas, following a series of strokes.
She was 66.Her death was confirmed by her sister, Donna Burns-Revels, in a New York Times obituary.In winning London’s Olivier Award in 1991, Burns became the first Black performer to do so.Born, raised and educated in Wichita, Burns sang in church choirs growing up, later studying music and theater at Wichita State University.
She soon won the role that would become her signature – Show Boat‘s Queenie – in regional productions, and in 1982 joined the Houston Grand Opera’s national tour of the Kern-Hammerstein classic.She played
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