Master Class

Master Class (1995), a play by Terrence McNally. [ John Golden Theatre. 601 perf.; Tony Award.] The play takes the form of one of opera diva Maria Callas's famous master classes in voice in 1971. While Callas (Zoe Caldwell) makes snide comments about other opera singers and demands passion and fervor from three student vocalists (Karen Kay Cody, Audra McDonald, and Jay Hunter Morris), the action sometimes shifts to reveal the secrets in her heart: her ugly duckling childhood, an abortion, a failed marriage, and intimate conversations with her lover Aristotle Onassis. Although the script met with mixed reactions in the press, the production (co‐produced by Robert Whitehead) was praised for Caldwell and McDonald's performances and both won Tony Awards.

Terrence Mcnally 1995

Terrence McNally’s Master Class was first produced by the Philadelphia Theatre Company in March 1995; it opened at the Golden Theatre in New York City in November of the same year. The play is based on a series of master classes given by the renowned opera singer Maria Callas at the Juilliard School of Music in New York in 1971 and 1972. Callas (1923-77), was the greatest dramatic soprano of her generation and also a controversial figure. Her restless and tempestuous personality often led her into disputes with opera managements and feuds with rival singers. However, she was adored by her fans and was the subject of constant media attention, including gossip about her jet-set life with the wealthy Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis.

Although Master Class does delve into the triumphs and tragedies of Callas’s life, its primary focus is the art of dramatic singing. As McNally’s fictional version of Callas teaches her class, she explains to her students, two sopranos and a tenor, just what it takes to invest the music with real feeling, revealing as she does so how demanding the profession of opera singing is. She also reveals her own contradictory personality — proud and egotistical yet also vulnerable and self-pitying. In spite of all the flaws of its main character, however, Master Class, written by a man who has been a Callas fan since he was a teenager in high school, is a tribute to the dedication of a great singer and actress to her chosen art.

For the type of high-level artistic tuition, see Master class.

Master Class
Written by	Terrence McNally
Characters	Maria Callas Sharon Graham Sophie De Palma Emmanuel Weinstock Anthony Candolino Stagehand
Date premiered	November 5, 1995
Place premiered	John Golden Theatre New York City, New York
Original language	English
Subject
Genre	Comedy
Setting	A master class with Maria Callas at the John Golden Theatre
IBDB profile

Master Class is a play by Terrence McNally, with incidental music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Vincenzo Bellini.

The play originally was staged by the Philadelphia Theatre Company and the Mark Taper Forum. After twelve previews, the Broadway production, directed by Leonard Foglia, opened on November 15, 1995 at the John Golden Theatre, where it ran for 598 performances. The original cast included Zoe Caldwell, Audra McDonald, Karen Kay Cody, David Loud, and Jay Hunter Morris. Patti LuPone and Dixie Carter subsequently replaced Caldwell as Callas and Alaine Rodin replaced McDonald later in the run. LuPone played the role in the London production and Faye Dunaway played the role in the national tour .

Plot synopsis

At its core is diva Maria Callas, a glamorous, commanding, larger-than-life, caustic, and surprisingly drop-dead funny pedagogue of a voice master class. Alternately dismayed and impressed by the students who parade before her, she retreats into recollections about the glories of her own life and career. Included in her musings are her younger years as an ugly duckling, her fierce hatred of her rivals, the unforgiving press that savaged her early performances, her triumphs at La Scala, and her affair with Aristotle Onassis. It all culminates into a monologue about sacrifice taken in the name of art.

Awards and nominations

Master Class won both the 1996 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play and the 1996 Tony Award for Best Play.

External links

• Master Class at the Internet Broadway Database

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