"Master Class" presented by Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, June 26, 2011
Terrence McNalley's 1995 fantasia of Maria Callas conducting a master class at the Julliard School in the 1970s returns to Broadway courtesy of Manhattan Theatre Club.
Playing La Divina is an unlikely Tyne Daly, whose Callas simmers and seethes through the thinnest of skins, bristling at the smallest perception of a slight to a star of her caliber. Ms. Daly masters the intricate diction of the singer beautifully, though she felt occasionally less than clear as she navigated the memory segments, interacting with her first husband, then Onassis. Callas was a consummate acting singer - a novelty in opera at the time. As she coaches each of the three "victims" (her word), she sends each one back to their score to find the answers in the composer's music and text. (It's a solid performance/coaching/directing technique best and most recently demonstrated by David Cromer's recent productions of "Our Town" and "Brighton Beach Memoirs.") Ms. Daly's Callas is not subtle though she strives for elegance. The narcissistic fragility interrupts too often.
