An extraordinary insight into the life and loves of Maria Callas, the iconic opera singer whose turbulent private life and fiery temperament were as astonishing as her formidable talents. Inspired by her master classes of the early 70s, this is a riveting, hilarious and intensely moving portrayal of the sacrifice and heartache behind the artist, the diva and the legend.
Reviews
The Evening Standard
Henry Hitchings
"Full of little interactions with the audience and moments we're expected to answer with applause, Master Class is the most knowing, bombastic kind of Broadway show. But, crucially, Stephen Wadsworth's production gives Daly room to captivate, and she consistently does just that."
08/02/2012
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The Daily Telegraph
Charles Spencer
"This may be a flawed and even dishonest play, but it is a highly entertaining one, and Tyne Daly richly deserves her standing ovation."
08/02/2012
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The Times
Libby Purves
"The first act relishes caricature: Callas veering between wonderful artistic statements about truth in acting and self-aggrandising riffs about how she walked to the Athens Conservatoire with bleeding feet and gave up oranges to buy pencils for taking notes ... Caricature can grow stale, however entertaining, but jolts of real operatic passion surface whenever the music carries Callas through fictional emotion into real remembered griefs."
08/02/2012
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The Observer
Kate Kellaway
"One has to hope, though, that this portrait, focusing on the end of the soprano's career, is unfair ... It is only because Daly is so accomplished that we see vulnerability in this monster – and like her anyway.
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12/02/2012
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The Sunday Times
David Jays
"At its best during the coaching scenes, where Callas keeps students in a nicely simmering state of terror, and weaves in catty put-downs and overwrought flashbacks.
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12/02/2012
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The Financial Times
Ian Shuttleworth
"Callas is certainly a compelling figure ... but in the event any diminution towards merely human stature is dramatically crippling."
08/02/2012
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The Stage
Mark Shenton
"Creating great art, or being a conduit for it, comes at a price. The irony of McNally’s play about the pain and cost of doing so is that the playwright has not created any himself, but this efficient, effective star vehicle nevertheless articulates the personal losses associated with that pursuit with a moving and intense clarity."
08/02/2012
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The Guardian
Michael Billington
"Against the odds, Daly gives the evening the touch of class that McNally's script lacks. Imperious in a black trouser suit, she hints that Callas's casual cruelty to the students is somehow a product of her own damaged soul ... But, in the end, this is a show about opera for those who hate opera. I only wish we could have seen Daly's famous performance as Rose in Sondheim's Gypsy, which must have been a match for her formidable talents."
07/02/2012
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The Independent
Paul Taylor
"It is the debased, cliche-ridden version of Callas, served up here, that drags it down to that level. The character has as much in common with Dame Edna as with the great artist which this "event" or "entertainment" (you couldn't call it an even half-way decent play) travesties."
08/02/2012
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