Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
#1Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 1:23am
I'm kind of speechless.
http://www.karenolivo.com/blog/2013/03/18/starting-over/
#2Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 1:25amwell maybe not a retirement. More of a break, it seems.
grumpyoptimist
Leading Actor Joined: 2/26/11
#2Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 1:30amI'm not sure...does this mean she's retiring from acting or just trying to leave behind the person she was, and instead concentrate on the person she wants to be, rather than who everyone else thinks she should be. As you mention in your second post, I kinda go for the latter...
#3Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 2:27amI don't think she is necessarily saying she is retiring from acting. She beautiful words, such a great actress, she's a jewel. Wish her the very best.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#4Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 6:11am
I don't know....leaving something behind sounds pretty "over" to me. Of course, who knows what the future will bring.
Sounds like she has some demons to face. I wish her well.
#5Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 6:27am
Sounds like she's definitely taking a break to focus on other things. It also sounds like she should.
I've seen many interviews over the years where actors and singers talk about "giving their all" in a performance. Patti LaBelle, I recall, said something like, "You never give your all. Give as much as you can, give a lot, but not all. You have to save some of yourself or you won't be able to go on again."
I'm sure I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it.
Sounds like Karen needs to learn to strike a balance between herself and her art. I hope she finds herself first, then comes back to her art with a new perspective of how to manage the two, especially during a performance or a run or a filming schedule.
Best of luck to her.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#6Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 6:33amI get the sense that she's burnt out by the business. She probably needs a long rest. But, she shouldn't stay away too long. Otherwise, producers will forget her. from RC in Austin, Texas
iluvtheatertrash
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/9/04
#7Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 7:44amAll those absences really burnt her out, huh?
#8Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 8:06am
What was the small show she refers to?
Also, don't discount the effect of the breakup of her second of two marriages on her psyche. Sometimes it's not just work problems that bring someone to this point, but a more holistic sense that life is not going the way one wants it to go, and that the problem is as much internal as external. Or maybe more so.
Whatever she does, her spirit will guide her. Here's wishing her the best.
#9Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 8:08amPJ--the show to which she is referring is Murder Ballad at City Center.
#10Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 8:11am
“Just because I can, doesn’t mean I should.”
And with this knowledge I start a new chapter. I leave behind the actor and I start learning how to be me.
That's deep, and if she decides to walk away and do something else she wouldn't be the first to do so. Sometimes personal happiness trumps everything - I hope she finds it. She's a mighty talented lady.
SondheimFan5
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/10
#11Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 8:41am
A lot of actors leave the business for one reason or another. Michael Maguire (Tony winner for Les Miz) is a lawyer now. Jere Shea (Tony nominee for Passion) works a 9-5 desk job now. Dona Correia (Tony nominee for Singin in the Rain & husband of Sandy Duncan) is a successful realtor now. Some choose to teach, others leave the biz entirely. It's a tough job.
Karen is a gifted woman so I am sure she will find success in whatever she chooses to do.
DeNada
Broadway Star Joined: 7/7/07
#13Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 9:22amNo, she's not still with Matt Caplan - as the blog entry says she split with him last year.
#14Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 9:40am
I didn't realize she was married before Matt.
You have to respect someone make such a bold decision while really in their prime. At least we got to enjoy her while we could.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
#15Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 9:49am
Now it all makes sense. As someone who tried to see her six times to no avail-this brings it all together. It sounds like her heart wasn't in it, or rather too much of her heart was in it to sustain.
I wish her all the best on her journey. Good luck Karen.
wonkit
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/30/08
#16Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 9:52amShe writes beautifully. I wish her every success in finding happiness.
#17Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 10:16amBetter to take a break now than to have a nervous breakdown later.
#18Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 10:20amI wish her all the best. I will never forget the first time I saw her live, it was in IN THE HEIGHTS and I couldn't take my eyes off her. I truly hope that she's taking a break from acting, but more than that, I hope she's able to find what she's looking for. We'll always have the memory of those performances where she did give it her all.
#19Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 10:41amOh my God. I wish her well, and I wish I had seen Murder Ballad.
#20Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 12:35pm
She'll be back. Actors are always saying "I'm leaving the business" only to return six months later (myself, for example).
Fun fact: Ron Rifkin left showbiz to work at his family's coat manufacturing company (or something like that) for a couple years before coming back, winning a Tony for "Cabaret" and co-starring on Alias.
#21Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 12:44pm
As much as many of you would like this to be about you, it is not. It has nothing to do with you. She really doesn't care about your opinion. She is leaving to repair herself and no BWW poster's advice is going to help or influence her.
Yes, she may be back in time. But right now, you are irrelevant and not even a thought in her mind. And when she comes back (if she does) if won't be for you, the fans. Otherwise, she would have given Rob the exclusive.
Now most of you, do the world a favour and close this window on your computer and get back to you actual job!
#22Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 12:47pm
^ You are one nasty piece of work
Now most of you, do the world a favour and close this window on your computer and get back to you actual job!
May I suggest you stop creating scenarios in your head that clearly don't exist and take your own advice...
#23Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 12:56pm
^ Preach.
I have no opinion on this...but, I mean...she put out a message to her fans to explain what was going on with her. So saying it's 'not about you' when she decided to include them in the process is a little ridiculous.
SamIAm2
Featured Actor Joined: 3/10/09
#24Karen Olivo is retiring from acting
Posted: 3/18/13 at 1:08pmKyle, offering kindness and compassion is never out of place. Whether or not it is received by Karen is not really relevant. Posters' hope that she returns to acting is, at its essence, a complement to her about what she has given and an honest expression that she will be missed by members of this community. Sorry you don't see that.
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