Mastering the Class: Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva from ACT 1's MASTER CLASS cast

Dan McGeachy directs Nashville actress Pat Rulon as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's Master Class, opening this Friday night, January 20, and running through January28 at Darkhorse Theatre. The production will be revived in February, for a special two performance run February 10 and 11, appropriately, at Nashville Opera's Noah Liff Opera Center.

McNally's Master Class, which McGeachy previously directed in a production for Circle Players, features incidental music by Verdi, Puccini and Bellini, and focuses on Callas and her interactions with three aspiring opera singers during "master classes" conducted by the diva late in her career.

An award winning classic, Master Class won both the 1996 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play and the 1996 Tony Award for Best Play. At its core it is a lesson in life with the diva Maria Callas-a glamorous, commanding, larger-than-life, caustic and, surprisingly, drop-dead funny pedagogue-holding a voice master class.

The play is loosely based on Terrence McNally's actual experience of attending a series of master classes given by Maria Callas at Julliard in 1972. In the play, Maria, alternately dismayed and impressed by the students who parade before her, retreats into recollections about the glories of her own life and career. Included in her musings are her younger years as an ugly duckling, her fierce hatred of her rivals, the unforgiving press that savaged her early performances, her triumphs at La Scala, and her affair with Aristotle Onassis. The play culminates with a monologue about sacrifice taken in the name of art.

Playing opposite Rulon as Sophie, the first soprano, is her daughter Emily Apuzzo, a well-known actress and singer in her own right, who is a member of the Nashville Opera Chorus. Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva plays Sharon, the second soprano, and L.T. Kirk is cast as Anthony Candolino. John Todd doubles as musical director for Master Class and plays Manny, the accompanist. Patrick Goedicke completes the cast as a stage hand.

With such a small, focused cast and crew, camaraderie abounds as the company immerses itself in "hell week" aka "tech week" prior to this weekend's opening. Yet, somehow, they've pulled themselves away from the hell of tech week to give us some insight into the production.

First up is Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva, one of the Nashville's most sought-after actresses, who in 2011 made headlines with her performances as MotorMouth Maybelle in Street Theatre Company's Hairspray and in the all-star cast of Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's latest iteration of Annie, which ran last summer. She capped that off with a knock-your-socks-off performance at The First Night Honors, delivering a soul-stirring rendition of "Random Black Girl" that still has people talking.

What's been your biggest challenge in bringing Master Class to the stage? Finding the right pace for the lines vs. the music. Because so many lines overlap one another, and with the music on top of it, finding the right pace has been difficult

What's your favorite Maria Callasism? What advice does she offer to her "students" that strikes most closely to home for you? My Favorite is "Art is Domination."

Why should people come see Master Class? I think that this show is really special. The characters are real, and very easy to relate to. Opera is an entirely different kind of experience, and I know a lot of people just are not used to it, or have not actually seen any. This show is a wonderful start, to give you a  peek into the classical music realm.

For tickets, go to www.ticketsnashville.com or visit the ACT 1 website at www.act1online.com.

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