SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Review
Master Class
|
A career in the theater demands total concentration. — Maria Callas
|
Tyne Daly as Maria Callas
|
Terrence McNally's histrionic ode to opera diva Maria Callas has remained a formidable vehicle for many a dramatic diva in regional theaters across the country. McNally, the winner of four Tony-Awards, including Best Play, was evidently intoxicated by the Callas legend and has no doubt been thrilled to see such stars as Zoe Caldwell, Dixie Carter, Patti LuPone, and Barbara Walsh among others, play Callas. The double dose of temperament and terrorizing ego afforded Callas by Daly will undoubtedly stir up plenty of talk among theatergoers in the coming weeks.
The more fiercely empowered Daly as the "monstre sacre" (Callas' self-ascribed label.) can add Callas to her impressively diverse catalog of imposing roles. Daly is the winner of the triple crown (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle) for her performance as Mama Rose in the 1989 revival of Gypsy, as well as many accolades since ranging from theater roles (Rabbit Hole) to her multi Emmy Awards for her performances in the popular TV series Cagney & Lacey and Judging Amy. She is an actor who remarkably does not conform to a predictable image or subscribe to a dishonest pretension. She is the essence of what it means to be "real" in her art.
The Callas-invoked idiosyncrasies and temperament are all there in Daly's ego-centric-sized performance, but they blaze with a theatricality that is Daly's invention, a uniquely-characterized presence that not only invokes Callas' celebrity but also expands beyond the singer's real and imagined world. As the title indicates, and the facts report, Callas conducted master classes at the Juilliard School in the early 1970s. These, after her tortured voice had disintegrated and after she was dumped by her insensitive lover Aristotle Onassis.
McNally allows his Callas to bare her soul, share her pain and most of all express her bitterness, mostly as it regards the crude and cruel Onassis and her early cast-off husband G.B. Meneghini. This all happens in the somewhat delirious context of soliloquies, reveries, and recitals, executed fluidly and gracefully under Wadworth's direction. It is worth noting that Wadsworth has, in addition to his many theater credits, directed a number of operas at the Metropolitan Opera.
The set has been handsomely designed by Thomas Lynch to invoke the wood-paneled interior of Alice Tully Hall. This is where Callas is consigned to excoriate, if not completely decimate the three voice students brave enough to enter, as well as the indifferent and oblivious stagehand (Clinton Brandhagen) as well. Manny, the timid, but accomplished piano accompanist is played quite affably by Jeremy Cohen.
Daly makes the obligatory grand entrance in a snappy black ensemble accented with a colorful scarf, a distinctive look created by costume designer Martin Pakledinaz. I also liked that Daly was given a warm brown wig to wear instead of a harsh black one. This is a good and complimentary choice. Callas then greets her "first victim" Sophie De Palma (Alexandra Silber making her Broadway debut), a petrified and tremulous young woman whom Callas quickly dissolves into a state of sheer terror. "Get a look" says Callas to this pathetic creature who has dared to wear a rather inappropriate outfit that Callas ridicules for showing more than the audience needs to see.
Punctuated with put-downs and snide remarks about her operatic rivals, as well as dishy opera-newsy asides to us, the fictional class observers, Callas proceeds to humiliate Sophie as she tries to get through the first bars of a testy Bellini aria, a fragment that triggers Callas' memory. Except for the light on the singer's face, the focus is on Callas as the side of the opera house's proscenium appears and we are taken back to Callas' triumph in La Sonnambula.
There is an amusing confrontation with Tony, a hefty cheery faced tenor, played with un-intimidated moxie by Garrett Sorenson, who sparks Callas' romantic side, and more memories, as he sings "Recondita Armonia" from Puccini's Tosca, one of Callas' signature operas. Finally, there is the devastating effect upon Callas after she is told off by a not-so-easily-intimidated soprano Sharon Graham, well-acted and impressively sung by Sierra Boggess, who gets a deserved round of applause for her singing of the brutal letter scene from Verdi's Macbeth. (This is the role that catapulted Audra McDonald to fame.)
You don't have to be a worshiper of the illustrious singer to empathize with the prescribed notes of poignancy or purpose of Master Class. Callas, whose incomparable, steel-belted voice steered a new course in modern operatic singing, was inarguably a larger-than-life personality. How commendable that Daly doesn't shy away from singing a few brief well chosen notes, something that most interpreters don't even begin to consider doing.
Just as today's theater directors and engineers can't resist the temptation to destroy the sound of the human voice, McNally also wasn't able to resist the temptation to magnify the mystique around the full-of-contradictions Callas. As a result, the three young singers, these fictional targets of her acerbic unhelpful criticism, appear credibly within this otherwise dangerously heightened realm of reality.
The dynamics of the often hilariously and sometimes infuriating script can be a bit trying on the nerves, but the experience as a whole is rewarding. It is interesting to consider that while McNally was expressly inspired by real events in the life of Callas, only some of what is dramatically recalled in her fleeting digressions resonates with any accuracy. But who wants truth when what is at stake is to exalt the persona of one of the most tormented, tempestuous and temperamental artists of the 20th century. And we thank Daly for giving that exaltation a brand new life.
This production of Master Class was first produced by the Kennedy Center from March 25 - April 18, 2010.
|
Master Class By Terrence McNally Directed by Stephen Wadsworth Cast: Sierra Boggess (Sharon Graham), Clinton Brandhagen (Stagehand), Jeremy Cohen (Manny), Tyne Daly (Maria Callas), Alexandra Silber (Sophie De Palma), Garrett Sorenson (Anthony Candolino). Scenic Design: Thomas Lynch Costume Design: Martin Pakledinaz Lighting Design: David Lander Sound Design: Jon Gottlieb Wig Design: Paul Huntley Running Time: 2 hours 15 minutes including intermission Manhattan Theater Company at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater, 261 West 47th Street (212) 239 - 6200 Tickets ($57.00 - $116.00) Performances: Tuesday at 7 PM, Wednesday through Saturday at 8 PM. Matinees on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2 PM. from 6/14/11; opening 7/07/11; closing 8/14/11--extended 9/04/11 Review by Simon Saltzman based on performance 06/29/11 |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. Visit Curtainup's Blog Annex For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted add http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter Subscribe to our FREE email updates: E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message. If you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
Book of Mormon -CDOur review of the show
Slings & Arrows-the complete set
You don't have to be a Shakespeare aficionado to love all 21 episodes of this hilarious and moving Canadian TV series about a fictional Shakespeare Company
