Master Class

by Terrence McNally

Book Overview

Master Class is a pyrotechnical theater--fireworks in a contained space where Maria Callas is brought back to life in Sturm und Drang. Inspired by a series of master classes the great diva conducted at Juilliard toward the end of her career, this drama puts Maria Callas at center stage again as she coaxes, prods, and inspires students--"victims" as she calls them--into giving the performances of their lives while revealing her own. As she slips off...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452276152
• ISBN13: 9780452276154
• Release Date: December 1995
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 62 Pages
• Weight: 0.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Master Play

I saw this performance a number of years ago (with the incredible Zoe Caldwell) and I was completely paralyzed by the end of the performance. When the curtain finally fell - I couldn't move out of my seat - so great was the story and the acting. The story is about Maria Callas and it begins with the audience being "invited" to sit in one of her master classes. As she begins to listen and analyze a student's performance, we are drawn into her mind as she recounts her life, her love for Onasis, and the difficulties she faced in the opera world. What makes the play so incredible is that in her recounting the stories and dialogue, the character Maria Callas transforms herself into the other people she is talking about. She "becomes" Onasis and reconstructs the conversation she had with him years before. I truly recommend this play to anyone who loves opera, Maria Callas as well as to any student actor looking for what is almost a one woman show.

Oh, if only there was an audio tape to go with this script!

When Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington listen to Maria Callas sing "La Mamma Morta" in the film "Philadelphia," I am sure most viewers did recognized neither the aria nor the diva. If the name of Maria Callas is mentioned it is as likely because she was Aristotle Onassis' mistress as it is that she was one of the world's greatest opera singers. In 1971 Callas returned to the stage to teach master classes at Julliard, which were transcribed and collected into a book edited by John Ardoin. A quarter century later Terrence McNally was inspired by those lectures to write his play, Master Class," which may do as much as anything to restore Callas to her rightful spot in the history of opera as anything since her death. McNally's great conceit in this play is to make the theater audience the members of the master class. The house lights never go completely down during the course of the play, allowing Callas to lecture (harangue) the audience along with her master students who she puts through the wringer, usually reducing them to tears. The play uses an accompanist, two sopranos and a tenor to play and sing the music, while Callas comments on both the meaning of the texts and their performances. When she performed on stage the key description of Callas was that she was "dramatic" as a singer. In this play McNally tries to make it clear why this is true, for even if the diva can no longer sing, she retains her total understanding of each piece under discussion. Because Callas is talking about music in general and various arias in particular, there is certainly a missing dimension to this script. I am serious when I say it would be nice if there was an audio tape of the arias that you could play while Callas talks about them (e.g., Verdi's "Macbeth"). Unfortunately, I am ashamed to admit my opera collection is inadequate to the task of putting together my own tape. But it is certainly fun to listen to those particular works as they are discussed. Not as good as actually seeing this play in performance, but that is unlikely to happen since it requires not only someone with the commanding presence of Zoe Caldwell but several singers like Audra McDonald. This is a fascinating portrait of a person who was as dynamic a personality as she was a performer. As much as I enjoyed reading this play, I have to lament the fact that reading it deprives me of the musical dimension that is at the heart of "Master Class." If you enjoy opera, musical theater or the creative process of the performing arts, this is a wonderful play for you to read.

Entertaining and Good Insight into Music

I have played violin since age 4 hence especially enjoyed Maria's passion for music. Her eccentricities with the students and her theatrical manner are traits with which practically anyone in the music business is destined to encounter in his or her career. Also, the significance of Maria, Ari, and Ms. Kennedy-Onassis (only briefly referred to) adds another interesting element to the play.

Wit, compassion, and flair all in one!

This play is a true masterpiece. Whether Callas was actually as she is portrayed in this play makes little to no difference (it's called dramatic license). _Master Class_ offers one of the strongest characters ever created for the stage, a character who encompasses a large spectrum of emotion. Maria Callas is witty, funny, harsh, genius. She "has a look" that is truly brought to life within the pages of this play, but which refuses to be bound there!

The riveting story of a shining voice and tragic life

Let history books decide if Callas was this or that, McNally's play is not an attempt to photograph La Divina. Master Class is a brillant play that allows the audience to enter onto the stage at La Scala and quaking with fear, hit that one perfect note. You follow the corridors of Maria Callas' character through her past, her grief, her triumph, and her art as she teaches a master class. Read this play and then see it, if you interest is in a great tragic story rather than detailed scholarship you will be tremendously engaged.