MASTER CLASS Teaser Trailer

Audience's first glimpse of Terrence McNally's MASTER CLASS, which ran October 19 - December 9, 2018 at Stage 773.

Witness a master class conducted by legendary opera diva Maria Callas (Janet Ulrich Brooks). Glamorous and demanding, Callas critiques and regales a new crop of opera’s finest, occasionally escaping into recollections of her past, remembering her rise as one of opera’s biggest underdogs. This authentic and musically rich MASTER CLASS presents a portrait of a fading star who refuses to be anything but unapologetically herself.

MASTER CLASS was directed by Nick Bowling, music directed by Doug Peck, and featured Janet Ulrich Brooks, Eric Anthony Lopez, Stephen Boyer, Molly Hernández, Keirsten Hodgens, and Raymond Hutchinson.

[amylunamanderino]

I saw this production last night and it was amazing. Janet Ulrich Brooks' portrayal of Maria Callas was wonderfully nuanced and full of humor and humanity. I have seen excerpts of other actors in this role and this performance is my favorite. She even looks like Callas! My only critique is of the author's framing of Callas' life. So many people (insecure men and catty women) want to paint her as a tragic victim, when clearly she was--for most of her life--a triumphant victor. But, in this play, even her victories are painted as vengeful. To me, it's what a man thinks a woman's inner world is, not what a talented, powerful, beautiful, wealthy female genius would be thinking about her life. It's as though men think a woman having all those qualities is so unnatural, she must be damaged. Whatever....Callas Forever! La Davina!