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'Master Class' puts actors to tough test
(by Bob Abelman - September 17, 2008)
'Master Class' puts actors to tough test
Before Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Cher, there was Maria Callas -- an internationally renowned singer with diva status whose turbulent, high-profile personal life drew as much attention as her stellar on-stage performances. Ms. Callas' career as an operatic soprano lasted from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s and is retold by the artist herself in Terrence McNally's "Master Class."
In the early 1970s, Ms. Callas gave a series of master classes at New York's Julliard School of Music that were eagerly attended by faculty, students, fellow artists and opera aficionados. Although her singing voice was in decline, these classes enabled Ms. Callas to make her mark on the next generation of singers and gain the confidence she needed to initiate a final concert tour a few years later and just before her death. It is one of these master classes that Mr. McNally fictionally recreates for the stage.
Although the subject matter is intriguing, Mr. McNally's play is not. In "Master Class," we are only given the Ms. Callas of the tabloid headlines -- the egomaniacal, insecure, ultra-competitive "La Divina" -- who announces to the audience that she is there to work and teach and then spends the evening talking about herself.
Some degree of complexity and personal insight is gained though a series of internal dialogues, but these are overwritten affairs that surface abruptly, triggered by particular arias the way a flash of light can send an epileptic into seizure.
"Master Class" is essentially a one-woman show and only succeeds if Ms. Callas is portrayed by a master actress who can rise above the occasionally mundane material.
The three students who playwright Mr. McNally parades in front of Ms. Callas are mere cardboard cutouts. More prop than interesting secondary characters, these post-graduate students approach this master class and react to Ms. Callas' upstaging and brutally harsh criticism as if Julliard were a high school of the performing arts.
The performers depicting the students must work through Mr. McNally's simple characterizations and generate their own semblance of authenticity. Some productions of this work choose to replace the students with voice-overs and soundtracks. Others edit them out completely.
Harriet DeVeto plays Maria Callas in this Chagrin Valley Little Theatre production of "Master Class" and serves as its co-director. She is wonderful. Ms. DeVeto brings all the brazen bravura, grand self-significance and interpersonal inaccessibility that one would expect from someone of Ms. Callas' stature. Her arsenal of diva qualities and her ability to seamlessly bounce between her character's passion for the art and indifference for the artist are impressive and interesting to watch.
Ms. DeVeto's brilliant performance is muted only by insufficient guidance from co-director Thomas Stephan.
This is particularly evident during the flashback moments of the play. Here, a young, vulnerable Maria Callas is on display, and, through imaginary interaction with significant others, we witness the painful, painstaking making of a superstar. These difficult scenes lack momentum and a clear distinction between one person and the next. The seduction of fame and the emptiness of the glamorous life are revealed during these moments but are not always adequately tapped or convincingly relayed.
Ms. DeVeto delivers what was legendary about Maria Callas but falls just short of capturing the legend.
The other performers in this production could also have benefited from more or better direction.
Amy Hall and Sharon Lloyd, as students Sophie and Sharon, have wonderful voices that even those unfamiliar with opera can appreciate. Frequently seen faces in local area theater, they are also fine actors.
Unfortunately, along with Marc Finney, as tenor Tony, and the on-stage accompanist David Keith Stiver, they fall victim to the playwright's broad characterizations and severely overact their parts. They tend to go for laughs that, on this opening night performance, are just not there.
"Master Class," which runs until Sept. 27, is a love letter to Maria Callas and, thus, best suited for opera fans. Of course, those who find pleasure in witnessing a fine one-woman tour de force should also make their way to the CVLT in downtown Chagrin Falls.
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