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 into memories, we experience her days at La Scala, her marriage to Meneghini, and her great doomed love for Aristotle Onassis. But the dazzling theatricality comes from Callas's emotional explosions, her cutting wit, and the soaring music as each student sings an aria that exposes the Divina's vulnerabilities ... and her genius.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452276152
• ISBN13: 9780452276154
• Release Date: December 1995
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 62 Pages
• Weight: 0.31 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...

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...

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,...

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,...