Director Stephen Wadsworth worked with Tony Award winner Daly (of the 1989-90 Broadway Gypsy) on the 2010 Kennedy Center revival of McNally's play, set in a 1970s master class in which Callas critiques young legit singers and muses on her life, loves and career.
Wadsworth's Broadway company includes Olivier Award nominee Sierra Boggess (Love Never Dies, The Little Mermaid) as student-singer Sharon, a role that won Audra McDonald a Tony Award; Clinton Brandhagen as a Stagehand; Jeremy Cohen as accompanist Manny; Alexandra Silber as student-singer Sophie; and Garrett Sorenson as student-singer Tony. Here is a look at the cast and friends on opening night:
According to MTC, "Terrence McNally's play about Maria Callas (Tyne Daly) takes us to one of her famous master classes, where, late in her own career, she dares the next generation to make the same sacrifices and rise to the same heights that made her the most celebrated, the most reviled and the most controversial singer of her time."
As with the original Broadway production, Master Class includes sung musical passages from Verdi's Macbeth, Puccini's Tosca and Bellini's La Sonnambula. The play is inspired by real master classes that Callas gave at the Juilliard School in the 1970s. Master Class is produced by Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, artistic director; Barry Grove, executive producer) by special arrangement with Max Cooper, Maberry Theatricals, Marks-Moore-Turnbull Group and Ted Snowdon.
Tickets are available by calling Telecharge at (212) 239-6200, online by visiting www.Telecharge.com, or by visiting the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre Box Office (261 West 47th Street). Ticket prices are $57-$116.
Since previews began, the run of the play has been extended by a week, to Aug. 21.
For more information on MTC, please visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.
