Master Class

"Master Class" presented by Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, June 26, 2011

Terrence McNalley's 1995 fantasia of Maria Callas conducting a master class at the Julliard School in the 1970s returns to Broadway courtesy of Manhattan Theatre Club. 

Playing La Divina is an unlikely Tyne Daly, whose Callas simmers and seethes through the thinnest of skins, bristling at the smallest perception of a slight to a star of her caliber.  Ms. Daly masters the intricate diction of the singer beautifully, though she felt occasionally less than clear as she navigated the memory segments, interacting with her first husband, then Onassis.  Callas was a consummate acting singer - a novelty in opera at the time.  As she coaches each of the three "victims" (her word), she sends each one back to their score to find the answers in the composer's music and text.  (It's a solid performance/coaching/directing technique best and most recently demonstrated by David Cromer's recent productions of "Our Town" and "Brighton Beach Memoirs.")  Ms. Daly's Callas is not subtle though she strives for elegance.  The narcissistic fragility interrupts too often.

The first victim, Sophia De Palma (Alexandra Silber) whimpers and gushes through interruption after interruption of her aria from La Sonnambula. Awed by Callas, Sophie takes every verbal jab and asks for more.  Ms. Silber holds up well.

Next is Sharon Graham (Sierra Boggess in the role which won Audra MacDonald her first Tony).  She doesn't even get her first note out before fleeing in humiliation.

Anthony Candolino (Garrett Sorenson), the tenor, strides on next and in stereotypical tenor form, pushes back on every shove from Callas.  Her disdain melts as he sings Cavaradossi's first aria from Tosca. Visibly shaken by it, she dismisses him with the same advice to focus on the score.   The classically trained Mr. Sorenson does indeed have the voice that Anthony claims.  And, like Anthony, he still needs to work on the acting.

Sharon returns to prove herself, setting off a veritable battle of Lady MacBeths, as she sings the entrance from Verdi's opera.  Ms. Boggess gives it her best, and for the most part succeeds.

This is Mr. McNalley at his best, juxtaposing the rejected, fading diva against three vocal students whose chosen material strikes careful parallels to her own life and relationship with Aristotle Onassis.  Sophie's aria echoes Callas' memory of the news that Onassis had married Jackie Kennedy.  Tony's aria prompts the memory of how Onassis first loved her.  It is Sharon's that gets the most interesting.  In it, Lady MacBeth begins her plot to push her husband into actions that would make him king.  As she coaches and intimidates Sharon, Callas becomes Lady MacBeth and Sharon, MacBeth, the target of her machinations - it's brilliant writing.

Master Class is on a limited run through August 14.  Get ticket information here.

Anything Goes

"The Ritz" presented by Roundabout Theatre Company at Studio 54, September 18, 2007

One of Terrance McNally's earlier plays, I'm sure it was quite shocking in 1975. With the evolution of cable TV, the shock value is seriously lacking anymore.

The premise is that Gaetano Proclo's father-in-law has made a deathbed order to have Gaetano killed. Gaetano jumps in a cab and asks to be taken to the last place anyone would look for him, which turns out to be a bathhouse, The Ritz.

Eccentric homosexuals, twinky boyfriends, chubby chasers and leathermen abound as the farce evolves. Even a bizarre musical sequence sung by the unintelligible Rosie Perez as Googie Gomez, while entertaining, doesn't raise us beyond the level of early HBO attempts at a TV series.

Kevin Chamberlain's Gaetano comes across a little too passive about the threat to his life from the outset. He never seems particularly resistant to, or shocked by much beyond the chubby chaser who takes a shine to him.

Brooks Ashmanskas has an absolute blast as he tries to push every line and gesture further and further over the top as Chris, the bathhouse regular who realizes that Gaetano is a little more than out of his element.

As Googie Gomez, the no-talent Puerto Rican with dreams of a Broadway career, Rosie Perez completely unintelligible. It was 20 minutes after her first entrance that I could understand anything she said. It's too bad, too. I'm sure she had some pretty good lines that got away. She did have a grand time, like Mr. Ashmanskas, and is pretty fearless as a performer. In one scene where she thinks Gaetano is a Broadway producer, watching her try to climb him like a greased mountain was pretty funny.

The play must have been revised since its opening in 1975, since one of the songs (in one of the most delightfully dreadful medley) was "Tomorrow" from "Annie." Just to give you a taste, the medley included not just that, but "Rose's Turn" (Gypsy), "Shall We Dance" (King and I), "Sabbath Prayer" (Fiddler on the Roof), "People" (Funny Girl), "I Could Have Danced All Night" (My Fair Lady) and "Magic To Do" (Pippin).

The farce element of the play seems to have been disregarded by director Joe Mantello. Just about every plot point was pretty well-telegraphed, leaving little room for surprises.

Scott Pask's multi-level set smacked nicely of the '70s with the metallic and flocked wallpapers accented by the innumerable red doors. William Ivey Long's talents go untested in this production, save for one or two of Googie's frocks.

It's a fun show with plenty of cheap laughs, but I wouldn't recommend it as a priority for anyone with limited time to see shows right now.

Perfect Form(ula), Bitter Outcome

"Deuce" at the Music Box Theatre, April 24, 2007

It has all the pieces one needs for a smash. Two award-winning leading actresses, an award-winning director and an award-winning author with 11 Tony wins, 11 Tony nominations, 10 Drama Desk Awards, 14 Drama Desk nominations. How could it go wrong?

Sadly, and much to the pain of theatrical producers, there is no formula to stage a hit on Broadway. The producers of "Deuce" certainly had the right parts of what successful shows have.

Sadly, too, there is no hit here.

Mr. McNally, who has displayed such brilliance in the past with the books for the musicals "Ragtime" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and the plays "Master Class" and "Love, Valour, Compassion" seems to have phoned this one in. Even his "Some Men" currently running at Second Stages is stronger than this effort. His tale of former tennis doubles partners meeting for what may be the last time in their lives never rises above mildly amusing and occasionally descends into cheap jokes and bathroom humor. He pulls from his regular bag of tricks, expository monologues in the middle of the action from featured characters, asides and observations from peripheral characters, as well as a pair of inane commentators.

Sometimes a particularly talented cast can keep a play from collapsing from its lack of structure. Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes would certainly seem to be two actors up to that task, and yet, they both display their own weaknesses. At the top of that list is stumbling over lines. This was my first opportunity to have seen either of these fine actors in a live performance. There has been a certain amount of buzz about the problems with the show. I was hopeful that by the time I attended that many of this issues would be solved.

They weren't.

And sadder still, most of the negative buzz referred to Ms. Lansbury's missing lines while Ms. Seldes was steadfast holding up her side of the show, supporting Ms. Lansbury as best she could. Tonight it was Ms. Seldes that missed the first of many of her own lines. Ms. Lansbury matched her in that category. When one is pulling so hard for performers to do well, it can be difficult to observe characterization. A weak script does little to help.

There is a line near the end of the play which has been mentioned in several other blogs. "We shall not see the likes of these two again." (paraphrased) It was very obviously a larger statement about the two women than just an observation of the two characters. And, he's right.

"We Owe Barbra Streisand So Much"

"Some Men" at the Second Stage, March 4, 2007

Terrance McNally's newest play about gay men and where their lives lead them has premiered at the Second Stage Theatre Company.

A series of vignettes and scenes relating to nine men attending the wedding of two of their friends covers a veritable history of gay men from the 1920s to the present. Like his "Love, Valour, Compassion" Mr. McNally has compiled a cross-section of gay characters, from military man to married man to circuit boy to aging queen to gay activist to early drag queen and beyond. He shows all this, not so much to either justify or sabotage the concept of same sex marriage. I think he does a clever job without taking one side or the other.

The cast is solid, with each actor finding at least one moment to shine. Frederick Weller as Paul, attending the funeral of his fellow soldier and lover who was killed in Iraq makes a painfully constricted confession to the dead man's father, also military. Don Amendolia as Aaron, gets one of the funnier opening lines, "When did I become the oldest everywhere I go?" He also gives a funny turn in the internet chat sequence as "Buffed in Chelsea."

Bernie is the married man into whose life we see the most. To him, Kevin AuCoin brings a fresh vulnerability to every scene, from his first encounter with a hustler, to meeting Carl (Romain Fruge) who would become his life partner, to the argument he has with his gay son Perry (Jesse Hooker) who has hired a surrogate mother to bear a child for him and his lover Marcus (Michael McElroy).

As the Stonewall Riots rage outside, David Greenspan appears in a quiet gay bar as Roxie. Roxie isn't quite the typical drag queen, and is abused a bit by the clientele and bartender since cross-dressing was one thing that drew the police to raid gay bars at the time. Judy is a topic of
discussion in this scene - one of the patrons observes that Judy should have done the film version of "Gypsy" (a casting choice I've always thought would have been unbeatable). He wins his place in the bar with the statement, "When I look in the mirror, I see an ugly woman, but a fabulous drag queen. We owe Barbra Streisand so much!" End the scene, he sings a very tender "Over the Rainbow" as both tribute and confession.

Michael McElroy travels back in time to Harlem in the 20's as Angel Eyes, the emcee. He shares his story of the men who have loved and treated him well, nicely capturing the style and flair of the period. Pedro Pascal gets the "hottie" roles with turns as Bernie's hustler and internet RandyHunk. Randy Redd rounds out the cast, providing piano accompaniment and other supporting roles.

DirectorTrip Cullman moves the scenes along well and allows just enough time to ponder moments before moving on. Mark Wendland's set is particularly flexible with excellent lighting by Kevin Adams.

I'm glad to see Mr. McNally back with a solid theatre work. I thought his book for "Chita Rivera: A Dancer's Life" was a bit thin and glossy. Even less impressive was the scenario he created for the NYC Gay Men's Chorus a couple of years ago.