by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
What: Master Class
When: January 18-20, 25-27, 2008
Where: Limelight in St. Augustine
Tickets: $18 In Advance * $20 At The Door * $15 Students (w/College ID)
Opera. It’s one of those things I always wanted to enjoy, but never felt cultured enough. But when I heard that First Coast Opera was staging the play Master Class at the Limelight in St. Augustine, I jumped at the chance to go. After all, I knew it was in English (not German or Italian) and that the play was by Terrence McNally, a Tony Award winning American playwright.
Master classes of real-life opera star Maria Callas were the inspiration for the play. Actress Janet Rabe-Meyer plays the larger-than-life part of Maria Callas with verve and style.
A master class is given to students of the arts, such as painting, music or drama. Typically, master classes are given for performance arts. All the students and the spectators watch and listen as the master takes one student at a time. The student performs a piece and the master gives them advice on how to fine-tune it. It’s sort of a mix between entertainment and school.
It might not be a real master class, but it’s as interesting as the real thing. The format gives the actors the opportunity to break the fourth wall. Rabe-Meyer engages the audience and is flexible enough to ad lib when cell phones sound in the audience.
If you love opera and want to introduce a novice to the wonders of it, Master Class is the play to take them to.
Callas helpfully translates the operas, helping the audience understand what’s being sung and what emotions are supposed to be conveyed.
Those who don’t know anything about the life and times of Maria Callas, will want to read about her after the play. She started her career as a rotund aspiring soprano, weighing in at close to 200 pounds or more. She became an operatic phenomenon, competing with other opera stars of her day (such as Renata Tebaldi).
The Limelight’s black box was just the sort of intimate space needed for Master Class. After all, most real master classes are done in small theatres or large classrooms. It’s a simple setup, except that you’ve got to have a piano onstage.
Techwise the lighting and the sound must be flawless when Maria hears the music in her head (provided by recordings of Callas performing) because we are no longer in a master class where Maria Callas can order around the technicians—we are instead transported to a memory. Lighting was exact and used to full effect, including a gimmicky slide image on the back scrim.
Actress Rabe-Meyer does bear a striking resemblance to Callas, and whoever did the makeup made sure to include Callas’ signature eyebrows and black eyeliner. Much of Callas’ dialogue had roots in reality. She was oft quoted and interviewed by the press during her career, so McNally had plenty to work with. Like most big opera stars, she had a reputation for being difficult, or at least demanding. She had press wars with rivals, and very public disagreements with theater mangers. The public and press loved her because she was larger than life and had a talent for one-line zingers.
Although Rabe-Meyer dominates the stage as Callas, she’s not the only one on it. There’s the tolerantly amused piano player Manny (Samuel Clein), a nervous but charming soprano named Sophie (Jessica Slatkoff Artega), an overdressed and overzealous soprano (Hsiao-Ling Wang) and an in-love-with-the-audience (and the sound of his own voice) tenor (Cameo Humes). They hit their marks vocally, but it certainly isn’t necessary. While they’re students in a master class, they are also nervous, and any vocal screw ups would seem natural to the characters. In fact, there are scripted mistakes they must make. Each singer occupies their parts, rightfully overshadowed (and sometimes awed) by Callas.
The only person who doesn’t seem awed at any point is the markedly unenthused Stage Hand played by Adam Mayo. He brings in whatever the diva demands for her master class—a footstool, a pillow and whatever else she can think of at the time.
As some of the students do the last repetition of their lesson, the lights go down on them and Callas begins to reminisce about her fascinating life. She talks about her intense romance with Aristotle Onassis, opera rivalry, her greatest triumphs and tragedies. Along the way she also teaches us about opera, but by the time the play was over, I knew those lessons could be applied almost anywhere in life and art.
Get tickets for this First Coast Opera show by calling (904) 417-5555, or you can buy tickets at 6 pm at the Limelight the day before the performance at the box office .
|
