Monday, July 11, 2011

Theater Review: Master Class



New Broadway Season Starts on a High Note
By Lauren Yarger
The 2011-2012 Broadway season started in a high note – literally and figuratively – with Manhattan Theatre Club’s production of Terrence McNally’s Master Class starring a superb Tyne Daly.
The actress channels opera diva Maria Callas, who in the play, conducts a master vocal teaching class for students after her own career in the stage wanes. The popular Greek-born soprano who tackled Verdi’s Lady Macbeth when she was only 18 years old went on to wow the opera world in the 1950s. She isn’t quite ready to give up the spotlight, however, and the class becomes an amusing collection of vocal instruction mixed with the soprano’s thoughts about her own life and career.
She intimidates students Sharon Graham (Sierra Boggess), Sophie DePalma (Alexandra Silber) and Anthony Candolino (Garrett Sorenson) while bossing around  a stagehand (Clinton Brandhagen) and trying to remember the name of her pianist, Emmanuel Weinstock (an affable Jeremy Cohen), who struggles to provide accompaniment for the singers constantly interrupted by the diva’s ramblings and demands.
McNally combines humor, memoir and expertise about opera to create an engaging script which Daly uses to perfection in creating Callas. Dressed in a simple black pants suit (Martin Pakledinaz, costume design) she even looks like Callas (Paul Huntley, wig design). She tells us repeatedly that this session is NOT about her, then amusingly makes it obvious that it, of course, is all about her. She relives moments on stage and shares details from her marriage and an affair with Aristotle Onassis, at the time, the world’s richest man. Thomas Lynch’s set design, nicely lighted by designer David Lander, takes us smoothly from the master class into Callas’ memories (except for one glitch the day I attended where set pieces didn’t line up correctly and caused a toppling of props).
When she can tear herself away from her own thoughts long enough to focus on the students, Callas tries to help Sophie (showing too much leg and who gets stopped at the first note), Sharon (overdressed, who labors to perform Lady Macbeth in the  grueling session) and "Tony" (to whom everything is a joke) to find their own looks and to connect with the stories in the music they are singing. There are some life lessons in the wisdom she shares about performing in theater as well. 
McNally’s own expertise in opera comes through and we are treated to parts of operas as well Callas’ own voice (Jon Gottlieb, sound design). Sorenson, making his theatrical stage debut, has performed at the Met and numerous other opera companies. His tenor voice is a delight to hear. 
Good writing, excellent direction by Stephen Wadsworth and a diva-worthy performance from Daly harmonize to create a production that deserves a huge Bravo! 
Master Class has been extended through Sept. 4 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th St., NYC. Discounted tickets are available by clicking here. 
Christians might also like to know:
·         Abortion
·         Language
·         Sexual dialogue
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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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