Friends, performers to pay tribute to Wichita’s Karla Burns at benefit show

From the moment they met as music students at Wichita State, Karla Burns and Roy Wilbur were kindred spirits.

“We were together all the time, just enjoying life and good times – singing together and having a good time together,” Wilbur recalled from his home in Pennsylvania.

“We had the same sense of humor. We would do silly things we thought were fun. We had a bond between us and were able to talk to each other about anything on our minds,” he continued. “We just bonded in so many different ways. We really clicked.”

They were on stage frequently together as well, and Wilbur laughs at the juxtaposition of the 6-foot-7 skinny white man dancing with the 5-foot-4 Black woman. Their last onstage production together in 1979, “Over the Rainbow to New York,” was a fundraiser to boost the next steps in their careers.

“Even though it’s been 42 years since she and I sang together, she’s continued to be a very big part of my life,” Wilbur said.

When Burns died at age 66 on June 4 at St. Francis Hospital, Wilbur was holding her hand and in the room with other longtime friends Tom Frye, Rick Bumgardner and Huron Breaux.

“It was very sad but a joy to be there with her,” he said. “She was surrounded by lots of love.”

After hearing that WSU was creating a scholarship in Burns’ honor, Wilbur knew the best way to pay back his longtime friend was with a benefit concert.

That will take place next weekend at Roxy’s Downtown, where Bumgardner is the artistic director. The performance also will be livestreamed.

The first act of the concert will be all Cole Porter songs, which Wilbur and Burns performed together in the revue “Hot and Cole.” He will be joined in duets with Patty Reeder (“You’re the Top”) and Dennis Arnold (“Friendship”). The second act will be a variety of songs, including duets with Frye (“Make Believe”) and Jenny Mitchell (“Indian Love Call”).

Wilbur said he did not know Mitchell until he heard her sing at Burns’ home-going service.

“I was so impressed with her singing and the way she presented the song,” he said.

On piano will be Breaux, who Burns collaborated with frequently late in her career.

“When I heard Huron play at her going-home service, I was just bowled over,” Wilbur said. “I’m very excited about what he’s going to bring to the event.”

Before the second act, a photo compilation of Burns’ performances, including her “Show Boat” role at Houston Grand Opera and “Godspell” at WSU will be shown, with recordings of Burns playing in the background.

A Wichita native, Burns was best known for her role as Queenie in “Show Boat,” which earned her a Tony Award nomination, a Drama Desk Award, and a 1991 Olivier Award for the London revival of the Jerome Kern musical – becoming the first Black performer to win an acting Olivier.

Burns had to learn to speak and sing again after an emergency thyroidectomy in 2007, returning to the stage four years later. Wilbur, with dozens of professional operatic and musical theater roles to his credit, recently made a return to singing after being unable to perform because of illness.

Wilbur said the WSU scholarship is an appropriate memorial for Burns, who loved her role as a teacher as much as a performer.

“She loved life, she was a lot of fun, she was caring, she was passionate about what she did – not only the work she did on stage but what she did with the young people she worked with,” he said.

The program will include many personal reminisces from Wilbur about his onstage and offstage collaborations with Burns and expects others in the show will have their own memories to share as well.

“It’s going to be fun, but it’s just going to be an opportunity for a bunch of us to get together and remember Karla for the joy that she brought to our lives and her powerhouse talent that she brought to thousands of peoples’ lives,” he said.

“I’m thrilled to be able to do this for Karla,” Wilbur added. “The theater community in Wichita was a big part of her family.”

Karla Burns musical tribute

When: 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 29

Where: Roxy’s Downtown, 412 ½ E. Douglas

Tickets: $30 for live performance, $20 for livestream, from roxysdowntown.com or 265-4400

This story was originally published August 21, 2021 at 4:17 AM.