THEATER REVIEW: 'Master Class' offers glimpse into a diva's heart

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Don't expect much Maria Callas-type operatic singing in the Players' production of "Master Class," Terrence McNally's play about one of the world's most recognizable opera divas and classes she taught at Juilliard in the early 1970s.

Seva Anthony plays Maria Callas in "Master Class" at the Players. / DON DALY PHOTO

Seva Anthony plays Maria Callas in "Master Class" at the Players. / DON DALY PHOTO

In fact, most of the singing falls to her three students, played with varying degrees of verve and self-confidence by young singers Maria Wirries, Erica Reynolds and Christos Nicholoudis, while Seva Anthony as Callas jumps all over them not so much for their vocal technique but rather for failing to truly understand the roles they are playing and the composer's intention. (Note to aspiring opera singers: Know what's actually happening with the character before you attempt to interpret him or her vocally.) "You are here to serve the composer! The composer is God!" she admonishes.

Rather than Callas critiquing her students and offering them suggestions for vocal improvement, "Master Class" spends most of its time letting Callas tell her life story, more or less, and to muse on the many indignities that befell her, and continue to befall her. Does Juilliard not know that the house lights must be OFF during her class? Where is her footstool? Where is a cushion? Where is the water? Who is this accompanist?

Seva Anthony and Erica Reynolds in "Master Class" at the Players. / DON DALY PHOTO

Seva Anthony and Erica Reynolds in "Master Class" at the Players. / DON DALY PHOTO

Anthony seems to capture the essence of Callas, with a mane of dark, curly hair and piercing, dark eyes as she strides around the mostly bare stage, advising her students to develop a signature look, Wirries to not wear her skirt too short lest the audience see more than she intends, all the while warning them against the dog-eat-dog world of theater.

"In theater, someone, somewhere is plotting your demise," she said. "Everything in the theater is life and death."

Under Helen Holliday's direction, Anthony  does an excellent job capturing the crankiness, the huge and wounded ego, the insecurity about her looks ("fat and ugly" were the terms applied to Callas until she trimmed down considerably in her 40s), the constant hunger for audience appreciation and most especially for the love of a man. She turns vulgar when impersonating Aristotle Onassis, her very wealthy and yet crude lover, yet she divorced her husband to be with Onassis (who in turn left her for Jacqueline Kennedy).

Maria Wirries and Seva Anthony in "Master Class" at the Players. / DON DALY PHOTO

Maria Wirries and Seva Anthony in "Master Class" at the Players. / DON DALY PHOTO

Anthony gets good support from her three young charges, Wirries as the ever-smiling naif, Sophie, who gets stopped on her very first note by the imperious Callas; Reynolds as a more outwardly poised, evening-gown clad Sharon who recovers from an initial humiliation with a gorgeous aria from "Lady Macbeth," and Nicholoudis as a cocky young tenor. Alan Jay Corey provides able onstage accompaniment on the piano and chips in vocally in counterpoint to Nicholoudis.

Evidently the playwright has taken a fair amount of artistic license with Callas's actual master classes at Juilliard, where reportedly she offered thoughtful and useful critiques to her students rather than the near-monologue she delivers in "Master Class." A curtain at the back of the stage comes up during Callas's reveries, with recorded versions of her magnificent arias giving just a taste of the immense talent she was.

THEATER REVIEW

MASTER CLASS. By Terrence McNally. Directed by Helen Holliday. Reviewed Aug. 6 at the Players Theatre, 838 N.Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Additional performances through Aug. 16. 365-2494; www.theplayers.org

THEATER REVIEW
MASTER CLASS. By Terrence McNally. Directed by Helen Holliday. Reviewed Aug. 6 at the Players Theatre, 838 N.Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Additional performances through Aug. 16. 365-2494; www.theplayers.org
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Susan Rife

Susan Rife is the arts and books editor for the Herald-Tribune Media Group. She holds a bachelor of science degree in journalism from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4930. Make sure to "Like" Arts Sarasota on Facebook for news and reviews of the arts.
Last modified: August 7, 2015
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