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Theater Review " Master Class"
Tuesday, June 10, 2014 at 5:11AM “Master Class”
Produced by: Theatre Three – Port Jefferson
Reviewed by: Jeb Ladouceur
“Master Class” is a supposedly fictional series of opera critiques during which retired icon Maria Callas analyzes the performances of three students at Julliard. The ultra-dedicated diva uses the classes to reflect upon her 
own storied career … beginning with her early years as a plump and homely (if vocally gifted) child … moving on to a brutally graphic description of her affair with Aristotle Onassis … and concluding with an overview of the sacrifices one must be willing to make for one’s art.
Let it be said at the outset that Marci Bing is phenomenal as the demanding prima donna. Indeed, this reviewer would have guessed that the first one-hour act was ten minutes long; ditto the second … that’s how wonderful Bing’s sense of conversational pace is.
“Master Class” debuted at Broadway’s Golden Theater in November 1995 and closed after some six hundred satisfying performances, during which such luminaries as Zoe Caldwell, Patti LuPone and Dixie Carter performed as Callas. The play garnered four Tony Awards and Faye Dunaway starred in the show’s national tour.
Anyone who has ever performed on stage will be especially touched by Ms. Bing’s reminiscences. I recall that once, when rehearsing as Iago in “Othello,” under the direction of Shakespeare scholar John Oetgen, the character Roderigo and I entered stage right and my opening line was, “But you will not hear me.”
“No,” came the thundering voice of Oxford-educated Oetgen from the dark recesses of the theater, “Nor will anyone else if you don’t open your damn mouth.” Any number of similar vignettes are furnished in drumbeat sequence by Bing as directed by 2013 Encore Award winner Jeffrey Sanzel.
While insistence on perfection (or at least the pursuit of it) is the overriding trait that playwright Terrence McNally has intended for his central character, Mr. Sanzel wisely stresses a few elements of compassion at perfectly placed intervals in Marci Bing’s soliloquies. For instance, just when we think there simply is no pleasing the svelte, self-assured Callas, she is reduced to tears by the performance of a young tenor. “That was beautiful,” the normally caustic soprano whispers … and the relieved audience at Port Jefferson’s lovely old Theatre Three applauds lustily.
Actually, we were applauding the excellence of four persons: playwright McNally, Sanzel, Ms. Bing, and the tenor played by John Hudson.
Once in a great while, theatergoers are treated to examples of pure poetry. Such an instance occurs when Callas describes her lopsided relationship with the boorish Onassis as akin to, “A great ballerina dancing for a blind man.” One cannot help but marvel that Marci Bing, professional though she is, was able to speak McNally’s heartbreaking line without choking back a sob.
The other four veteran actors in this astonishing play are all exquisite, primarily inasmuch as they obviously have learned to take direction. The day is coming when Steve McCoy, Christina Faicco, James D. Schultz, and Tracylynn Conner will claim the lead in future shows, and all will be justifiably proud that they once contributed so greatly to Marci Bing’s triumph when called upon to fill necessarily subservient roles.
“Master Class” runs through June 28th. Don’t miss this gem.
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Award-winning Smithtown writer Jeb Ladouceur is the author of eight novels, and his theater reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. In Ladouceur’s next thriller, “Harvest” due in late summer, an American doctor is forced to perform illegal surgeries for a gang of vital organ traffickers in The Balkans.
Reader Comments (3)
Is Master Class a musical? (email)
No.
The supporting actors sing briefly (and very well) as does the real-life Callas in recorded background music. And all the while, Marci Bing speaks her memorable lines with profound conviction.
Essentially, however, this is an ongoing monologue about the life and art of the famed diva.
I think "Master Class" is the finest work of one of our best playwrights ... and proves Terrence McNally a true dramatic genius.
- Jeb Ladouceur
What a great review of "Master Class"! Debbie Fifer, Kings Park (email)