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Born and raised in [[Wichita, Kansas|Wichita]], [[Kansas]], Burns was the daughter of Ira Willie Lee Burns and Catherine S. Burns.<ref name="obit"/> The youngest of four children, Burns credited her parents with inspiring her love of music.<ref name="Telegraph"/><ref name="NYT"/> Her father was a jazz and gospel pianist and her mother, a seamstress and employee of the [[American Red Cross]], sang spirituals and old hymns at church.<ref name="Telegraph"/><ref name="NYT"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Brunch with Bonnie: Karla Burns|date=June 30, 2015|work=Wichita Magazine|author=Bonnie Bing}}</ref> Burns graduated from [[Wichita West High School]], where she played clarinet in the band and sang in the choir.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.kansas.com/news/special-reports/article1086745.html|title=Successful Wichita natives praise their schooling here|author=Bonnie Bing|date=February 26, 2012|work=[[The Wichita Eagle]]}}</ref><ref name="Telegraph"/>
Burns attended [[Wichita State University]] (WSU), from which she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music Education and a BA in Theatre Performance.<ref name="obit"/> At WSU she performed in several university productions: she was Polly Peachum in [[Bertolt Brecht]],’s ''[[The Threepenny Opera]]'', amd also appeared in [[Arthur Miller]]'s ''[[The Crucible]]'' and [[Leonard Bernstein]]'s ''[[Mass (Bernstein)|Mass]]''.<ref name="Telegraph"/> She also toured Europe in performances with WSU's choir.<ref name="Telegraph"/> She made her professional stage debut in 1977 while still a WSU student at the old Victory Theatre in Wichita.<ref>{{cite work|title=Last Rites' Happenings Salute Wichita Theatre|work=[[Boxoffice Pro|Boxoffice]]|volume=112|issue=4|date=October 31, 1977|page= C4}}</ref> She graduated from WSU in 1981.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/theater/karla-burns-dead.html|title=Karla Burns, Who Broke a
==A career defining role: Queenie in ''Show Boat''==
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Burns won a [[Drama Desk Award]] and was nominated for a [[Tony Award]] for her work in this production.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ourdigitalmags.com/article/FOR+KARLA+BURNS,+LIFE+IS+A+Wild+RIDE/1427024/0/article.html|title=For Karla Burns Life Is A Wild Ride|author=Teri Mott|date=June 2013|work=Women's Focus}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20085187,00.html|title=A Tony Award Nominee, 250-Pound Karla Burns, Makes It Big on Broadway|date=June 6, 1983|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|volume=19|number=22}}</ref><ref name="DD">{{cite journal|title=Legitimate: DRAMA DESK AWARDS AT RAINBOW ROOM|journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|volume=311|issue=5|date=June 1, 1983|page= 70}}</ref> The HGO production also toured overseas to the [[Cairo Opera House]] in Egypt. Burns commented in an interview that Egyptian audiences struggled to comprehend how a character with so little power could be important to the story.<ref name="Decker"/> She stated, <blockquote> I'm of the belief that Queenie is a woman who just happened to have been born in a period that didn't allow her to speak her mind ... But in Egypt they took her name Queenie for Queen. It did something to them culturally, made them feel good about having dark skins. When I was doing interviews there, they really wanted to hear that she was more than just a boat's cook. I was able to tell them, she certainly was.<ref>{{cite work|title=A rounded performance|author= Sarah Gristwood|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=July 27, 1990|page=31}}</ref> </blockquote>
The role of Queenie became a staple part in Burns's repertoire; after the Broadway production ended, she went on to recreate the character in ten more productions during her career.<ref name="Decker"/> The most significant of them was a 1989 revival jointly mounted by [[Opera North]] and the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]].<ref name="Decker"/> One theatre critic described Burns's Queenie as, "a dynamo dumpling with enough personality to light up a whole fleet of show boats".<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/06/17/karla-burns-black-performer-blazed-trail-winning-olivier-award/|title=Karla Burns, black performer who blazed a trail winning an Olivier award for her Queenie in Show Boat – obituary|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|date=17 June 2021}}</ref> When the show moved to the [[London Palladium]] in 1991, Burns's contribution to it won her the [[Laurence Olivier Award]], the United Kingdom's most prestigious prize for theatre. This was the first time that a Black artist was awarded this prize.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.centerofhopeinc.org/news/COHNwsltrFall2002.pdf |title=COHNwsltrFall2002 |access-date=April 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607001629/http://www.centerofhopeinc.org/news/cohnwsltrfall2002.pdf |archive-date=June 7, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Burns again reprised the role of Queenie with [[Opéra national du Rhin]] in [[Strasbourg]], France in 2002.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2002/03/27/showboat_ed3_.php OPERA: "'Show Boat' after 75 years"], International Herald Tribune, March 27, 2002</ref> She also recorded the role in 1988 for [[EMI Classics]] with the [[London Sinfonietta]] and a cast that included [[Frederica von Stade]], [[Teresa Stratas]] and [[Jerry Hadley]].<ref>{{cite
==Other performances==
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