Master Class

- Frank Furnari, New Rep Reviewer 

Maria Callas says to student in her masterclass "Anyone can stand there and sing.  An artist enters and is." By this mark it is certain that Amelia Broome is an artist.  Broome has embodied the poise and authority of the diva artist in Terrence McNally's Master Class. From the moment she steps on stage she commands attention from her presence, posture, and mannerisms.  At one point Callas says "this is not about me" but we know that's far from the truth – one can't take one's eyes off of her the entire time she's on stage.  The premise of the TONY winning play with music is that the diva Maria Callas, after she stopped performing, would conduct master classes where aspiring opera singers came to learn from one of the best.  As we see in the play, while the focus should be on the up and coming singers, it rarely isn't – one can't expect a diva not to steal focus.  Three performers (or victims as Callas jokingly refers to them) come out to sing an aria and be critiqued.  While the performers occasionally get notes on actual vocal technique ("Sing on the breath"), many of the interruptions serve as a reason for Callas to talk about herself or to badmouth one of her fellow opera stars.  The writing is very witty and makes for an enjoyable 2.5hrs of theatre.  

Whenever taking on a role of a real person, particularly one you can easily go on YouTube and watch clips of, one needs to decide how much of the person to include in the performance.  Broome appears to have the look and the mannerisms down.  She also has scenes where she portrays Callas' lover and a younger version of Callas – there is a discernible shift even when playing a young Callas, not only does the tone change but also the posture.  Broome decided, however, not to incorporate Callas' accent, and while a minor qualm, her Italian pronunciation was not the best.  She creates a great diva, but she is not channeling Callas in this performance.  I'm unsure how much this matters in this case as the diva Broome creates still commands our attention as well as makes us laugh throughout the evening.  She brings out three singers during the class, two sopranos Erica Spyres and Lindsay Conrad who both have beautiful voices as well as Darren T. Anderson as the tenor, Tony who has such a lovely voice I only wished that Callas had allowed him to sing more.  

While there are a lot of references that the opera aficionado will get, anyone can appreciate the humor of the piece as well as the larger than life character of Callas.  This is my favorite show thus far in New Rep's season with solid performances as a very engaging and funny script.