BWW Reviews: Annette Miller Gets an A+ in MASTER CLASS at Shakespeare & Company

In the Berkshires of Massachusetts, the redoubtable Annette Miller has a field day with legendary Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's Master Class, a delightful though somewhat dishonest caricature of the soprano everyone called la divina. In real life Callas was complicated and rough around The Edges, but nobody can deny that she was indeed, a true diva. Then too there is that other play about Callas, The Lisbon Traviata, also written about McNally.

But who doesn't revel in a bit of celebrity gossip, and McNally's Master Class is a great vehicle for actors and audiences of a certain age to take for a joy ride around the stage. Purportedly based on actual classes that Callas held at the Julliard School in 1971, the withering criticisms she makes of the singers are not really what happened when she taught, but a dramatization. Certainly recounting her La Scala days is the filet mignon section of her life, but focusing on that ignores the decades she spent at the smaller opera houses as she worked her way up the food chain to become a Prima Donna Assoluta.

To ready for this summer-long engagement, Annette Miller applied her usual six degrees of investigation into the role she plays. This is clear not only from the week's delay in the opening but also from the instant she first enters onto the stage, imperiously pointing out that the pillow she requested for her chair is not in place, while impeccably pronouncing every opera reference, Italian language phrase and witty line with forza and passione.

To say that Miller herself is a prima donna is no flattery, for she has successfully plumbed the depths of such wonderfully complex people as Golda Meir, Ann Richards, DIana Vreeland and the Allergist's Wife. She has worked with director Daniel Gidron on Golda's Balcony and Full Gallup at Shakespeare & Company. In the program Gidron notes that the play deals as much with stagecraft as it does with music.

As McNally has Callas listen to the singers who arrive in her master class, we find the great lady isn't as much interested in rounded vowels or when to breathe as what these young artists know of the role they are playing,, the exact meaning of the words they sing, and how and why they have arrived at this moment. In this regard McNally got the singer exactly right: the fans of Callas were not falling all over themselves because of her "perfect" technique, or even her stunning high C's and high F's. Rather we were bowled over by her willinness to sacrifice perfect pitch for dramatic effect that caught the ear. At La Scala the general manager had problems with her focus on interpretation rather than tempo. McNally has her explain that she was nearsighted so she couldn't see the conductor anyway, and that was just as well. Made sense to me. The conductor should be following the singer, not the other way around.

So when one of her young charges gets scolded for her lack of understanding the role she is singing, she says that she is not an actor, but a singer. This of course sets Callas off,since this is a play about drama, not singing.

Like Callas, Miller has the ability to embrace the audience and make it her captive. She talks with them, asks them for their feedback, even points out they need to dress more memorably, and in so doing the play opens up to beyond the diminutive legend in the black suit with ravishing scarf on stage. Like an irascable Nero pacing back and forth over the ashes of her formerly glamorous life, she muses about Ari (Aristotle Onassis) and his demands of her, a relationship she eventually lost along with her voice.

As the lights around her dim, Callas's thoughts turn inward, Miller closing in on herself as she shares her most troubling and personal thoughts, the ones that not only opera singers, but all of us rarely reveal to anyone else. The lighting goes to total darkness, only the singer shining in the light. It is in these moments of anguish, humiliation and anger that we see the arsenal of facial expressions, character tics and vocal mannerisms Miller has invented for this role. Her range of voice, volume and inflection is amazing to watch. They mesmerize.

The performance shows Miller - just one of the many greats who are associated with this 36 year old theatre company - has never let up in her dedication to each role she plays. She has already established herself as one of the most flexible actors of this company, the likes of which we are fortunate to have in our midst.

The play has short bursts of singing, and I don't think it is too much of a spoiler to mention that while, Miller - as Callas - mostly spoke the words of various arias, but there was one short phrase she sang full out, perhaps four or five notes, embellishing her character with authenticity. For most of the play however, when we heard Callas sang it was an actual historic recording. This raised mixed feelings since there when times that her words spoken mirrored those being sung to good effect; but at other times the music made it difficult to clearly understand what she was saying during the sotto voce passages..

The plain and sinple set was functional, a grand piano stage right, the small podium and chair for Callas at stage left. Much of the area on the back and side walls have a new cladding of hard wood which - whether by accident or design - have solved the sometimes muddy sound problems that have plagued the Bernstein Theatre since its beginning. Those hard surfaces are like the walls of a concert hall and reflect the sound without breaking it up into a dozen tiny pieces, adding to its clarity while providing just a hint of reverberation. the audience on three sides then become the way the sound is dampened, as it should be. I hope they let these new walls remain, it is a clear improvement.

Master Class may not be a perfect history of the great Callas, but it makes for a fine evening of theatre, enjoyable whether you are familiar with opera or not. The interludes with the pianist and three students practicing their entrances and interacting with the legendary singer offer a glimpse at three very talented singers as a sort of bonus. Her piano player Manny (Luke Reed) runs his fingers over some pretty demanding notes as the actorly side of him also delivers the sort of tentative in-awe performance his character requires. Nora Menken as Sophie the first soprano, is totally blindsided by the legendary teacher. Deborah Grausman's Sharon in turn gets so severely traumatized that she leaves the room to make another entrance and simply does not come back. Until the second act. As the tenor Tony, Alec Donaldson was in great voice and gets to sing the most of the three. But the most delectable role of all goes to Josephine Wilson who gets several brief walk-ons as the indifferent stagehand who isn't cowered by anyone's fame.

Annette Miller's star turn in Master Class demonstrates that Shakespeare and Company and its players are able to bring works that are not its normal style to the stage with artistry and professionalism. See for yourself. Take in this Master Class. It's more than just acting and singing, but an illuminating and entertaining life lesson, as well.

Shakespeare & Company presents Master Class by Terrence McNally, Scenic Design by Patrick Brennan, Costume Design by Govane Lohbauer, Lighting Design by James W. Bilnoski, Sound Design by Michelle Pfeiffer, Stage Manager - Maria Gray, Directed by Daniel Gidron. Cast: Luke Reed as Manny (Accompanist), Annette Miller as Maria Callas, Nora Menken as Sophie, Josephine Wilson as Stagehand, Deborah Grausman as Sharon, Alec Donaldson as Tony. Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, Lenox, MA. May 24 - August 18, 2013. About two hours and twenty minutes including one fifteen minute intermission. www.shakespeare.org Box Office: 413-637-3353

Photo: Kevin Sprague

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