Divine bully Divine bully (November 11, 2005)

Pear's 'Master Class' an intimate look at legendary diva

by Diana Reynolds Roome

By all accounts, a master class with the opera diva Maria Callas was a life-changing experience.

"Master Class" at the Pear Avenue Theatre, directed by Jane Bement Geesman, offers a partially fictional sampling of what Callas's students endured -- and learned -- during one of her legendary teaching sessions. Terrence McNally's play is based loosely on tapes and transcripts of the classes held at the Julliard School in New York 1971 to 1972. It also weaves material from Callas' past and current life into the dialogue.

You might call that monologue, since McNally's character Maria -- despite disclaimers ("This is not about me," she frequently tells us) -- makes it difficult for the students to get a word, or note, in edgewise. "Art is domination," she declares. "It's making people think that for that precise moment in time there is only one way, one voice. Yours."

This Maria Callas (Diane Tasca) practices what she preaches, and in the close quarters of the Pear's tiny auditorium it's easy to feel the thrill and threat of the possibility that she might pick on you for a challenging question or withering comment. "It's important to have a look," she says. Then, pointing somewhat gleefully at a member of the audience, states "You don't have a look. Get one."

The hapless student Sophie de Palma (Keri Lindell) who originally provoked this remark leaves the stage without having sung more than one solitary note. Callas interrupts her repeatedly, commenting on her weight, her choice of clothes and her lack of commitment to the music.

The students' varied reactions to the diva's bullying ways create moments of breathtaking tension. When Sharon Graham, played with aplomb and a hint of brattishness by Ann Assarsson, turns up for class in a glamorous gown, she gets a dressing-down from Callas -- who has just been lecturing the audience on the importance of style. The Stagehand (played by real life Pear Theatre stagehand Allison Asher) is insulted for interrupting the class to bring in a cushion Callas has demanded. Tony Candelino (Mark A. Smith), handsome and confident even though he has little understanding of what he is singing, fares better as Callas coquettishly praises his efforts.

What makes each of these encounters so much more than a dramatic game of musical cat-and-mouse is the way they reveal Callas' vulnerabilities. Between acerbic or gushing encounters, she retreats into an internal dialogue that steadily increases our sympathy for the woman and her difficult life. Tasca's powerful ability to change the mood in an instant transports us back into Callas' haunting memories of a hungry wartime girlhood in Athens, her fraught affair with Aristotle Onassis, and the reluctant abortion she had when he threatened to leave her.

Skillful lighting (S.Randall Carnefix) helps here, and recordings of Callas' own singing voice, at times exquisitely fine-tuned and at others agonizingly raw, are riveting. Sharing the airwaves with Callas herself is a huge demand for any actress, but Tasca's spoken monologues against this background are almost hypnotic, as Callas reaches into herself to find her deepest, darkest truths. Against her arias from Verdi's Macbeth and Bellini's "Sonnambula," the singer's recollections of great moments at La Scala, Milan hold as much pain as pleasure, since she knows she has ruined her voice from unwise use. The moment she breaks into song to demonstrate phrasing to a student is a cracked expression of tragedy.

Music is a major star in this play. The pianist, Manny Weinstock (Paul Wanless), stalwartly produces the accompaniments for each student recital, though his fearful smiles express what many must have felt in Callas' demanding presence. It is a real pleasure to hear the voices of three young singers (two sopranos and a tenor) and when Callas gets down to teaching, we vicariously experience lessons from a supreme artist.

These are not so much about technique as finding the deepest conviction from personal pain and joy and using them honestly to inform our art, whatever that may be.

This is ultimately the truth of Callas' life, and her final revelations in the play -- spoken in her own words from the transcripts -- make clear the source of her greatness.

What: "Master Class," a play by Terrence McNally, presented by the Pear Avenue Theatre

Where: At the Pear Avenue Theatre at 1220 Pear Avenue in Mountain View

When: Through Nov. 20, with 8 p.m. shows Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. matinees on Sundays

Cost: Tickets range from $10 to $20.

Info: Call (650) 254-1148 or go to www.thepear.org.

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