We've got Karen!

Hello, METsters!
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This is Karen Paone, your newly-minted Box Office Manager/ Full-time Company Member, sending out a little hello and an "OMG, I'm so excited!" missive for our lovely blog.
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For those of you who don't know me, I'll give you a little background: I grew up in Philadelphia, PA, where I acted and sang in high school musicals and took dance lessons from the age of three. I moved to Washington, DC in 1991 to attend The Catholic University Of America, graduating in 1995 with a Bachelors Degree in Music (concentration in Musical Theatre Performance.)
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For the next six years, I worked with such companies as Source, Signature, Horizon, and Interact and was a member of the political satire troupe Mrs. Foggybottom and Friends. I did a brief stint working as a Vocal Mechanics instructor for the Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts and, more importantly for the purposes of my new position at the MET, as a host, waitress, temp and retail manager. Customer Service? I've got you covered.
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I took a break from theatre in 2001 and moved to Washington State. When I moved back to the DC area in 2002 I still was keeping my distance from the theatre scene until that fateful day in 2003 when former Company Member Tim King asked me to come see him in Hedwig at the MET. At first, I was skeptical. Theatre in Frederick? But I was absolutely wowed. When Tim asked me to come up and act in Lance and The Fam, a show he had written for MET-X, I was in.
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My first official show at MET was the Planet Claire revival at The Baltimore Theatre Project and I've been here ever since. I became a Company Member in 2005 and moved up here in 2006 to be closer to the action.
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In the past four years I've taught at the Ensemble School, been in fifteen main stage productions (and counting!), fourteen Fun Company productions (and counting!), numerous cabarets and school touring shows and co-direct the Artist Residency program with Julie Herber (I'm still in a daze over that one!)
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I'm not sure quite what else to say, except that there are a lot of changes coming to the MET (our shiny, new offices being a BIG part of that) that I'm proud to have been given the opportunity to help further the MET mission. I'm absolutely honored to be a part of the MET. These people are my family, and the fact that I get to work with them every day is better than anything in the world.
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So, if you're Downtown, stop by and say hello (and buy some tickets for our fantastic season while you're here!)
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I'll be the chick with the black specs looking madly industrious in the front office ;)
-- Karen