Mastering the Class: L.T. Kirk 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. Following the run at Darkhorse, 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 some years ago, 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.

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.

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.

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.

Next up is L.T.Kirk, who plays Tony Candolino-the part's a natural fit for Kirk, after all he's an accomplished singer-and has been seen on Nashville stages in a variety of roles, including his starring role in Street Theatre Company's Hairspray, playing the role of Edna Turnblad (opposite director Dan McGeachy as Wilbur), and STC's Chess in Concert and Ragtime in Concert, as well as ACT 1's acclaimed staging of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. His years of experience as an accomplished singer make his perspective on Callas, Master Class and the fictional characters all the more compelling…

What's been your biggest challenge in bringing Master Class to the stage? For this production I have faced two significant challenges; the first being that I am starting to transition into directing and this was my first opportunity to serve as AD; and the second has been getting my operatic chops back in good shape as I have not been able to use them much during the past several years.

What's your favorite Maria Callasism? What advice does she offer to her "students" that strikes most closely to home for you? My character, Tony "tight pants" Candolino, takes the stage expecting to wow Maria Callas with his raw talent and charm, without having done his "homework" to fully understand what he is singing about. Maria calls him out on this, dismissing him with anger as someone who, and I quote her, "...so little treasures his art." So often in this business we see really talented people who turn in good performances, yet with just a little research and a better understanding of just what it is that they are performing, they could truly become artists!

Why should people come see Master Class? There are a lot of people out there that think that they don't like opera, yet they've never been to one. Even stranger still is that most of them know of Maria Callas and/or Pavarotti. While this is indeed a play, not an opera, it gives the audience a taste of what opera is about and how closely it is related to almost every other genre of performance art! Add to that the fact that Master Class' exploration of the life of a truly remarkable woman, how she overcame obstacles, how she made her mark in history, and how she affected people around her is a fascinating journey to take!

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

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