Musical theater star Joan Almedilla delivers a tour-de-force performance as opera legend Maria Callas without even singing a note in Terrence McNally’s Master Class at Sierra Madre Playhouse.

 McNally takes as his inspiration a series of master classes which an approaching-50 Maria taught at Juilliard in the early 1970s, i.e., long past her glory days at La Scala, London’s Royal Opera House, and The Met, and though she was still capable of commanding a stage, it was no longer as a singer, her legendary soprano having become (in McNally’s words) “a cracked and broken thing.”

In what is virtually a one-woman-show, Callas can’t resist cutting short her caustic critiques of aspiring singers for a tormented trip down an often hellish memory lane.

She flashes back to the days of World War II and her daily treks to the conservatory, a self-described “fat, ugly girl” with bad skin and no proper shoes on her feet.

She proudly recalls her debut at La Scala and the thirty-seven curtain calls an adoring audience insisted that she take.

 She takes sly digs at Joan Sutherland (“she does her best”) and Renata Scotto (“know your limitations”), whom others dubbed her “rivals” (as if Maria Callas considered anyone good enough to rival her).

Along the way, she interacts with us as her Juilliard audience of students and spectators, cautioning us that there is to be no applause, berating certain of us for not having the kind of “look” that will set us immediately apart from others, and again and again leaving us wanting more with a throw-away, “But that’s another story.”

 And because there can be no Master Class without human guinea pigs, McNally brings on two sopranos and a tenor to serve as victims of La Divina’s lacerating tongue.

Finally, and most dramatically, McNally gives us two extended flashbacks, one in each act, which have Maria reliving her tempestuous love affair with Aristotle Onassis, for whom she left her husband only to have the Greek tycoon insist that she abort the child he himself had asked her to have.

The original Broadway production of Master Class won Zoe Caldwell a Best Actress Tony, and it’s no wonder. Rarely has a play with a half-dozen speaking characters been more of a solo show nor has a part offered an actress more meat to chew on than Maria Callas.

It may not be necessary for Master Class’s Maria to be a singer herself (I can’t find a single musical in Caldwell’s lengthy resume), but when it’s Joan Almedilla playing her, simply knowing that this Maria Callas has dazzled in such iconic musical theater roles as Miss Saigon’s Kim, The King And I’s Lady Thiang, and most recently Assassins’ Sara Jane Moore adds an extra layer of verisimilitude to the stunning star turn she delivers under Tim Dang’s incisive, intelligent direction.

Alternately acidic and agonized, self-absorbed and sympathetic, and possessed of a wicked sense of humor, Almedilla commands the stage like nobody’s business, and when Callas descends into memories of the emotional battering and sexual humiliation she endured from her billionaire Greek lover, expect to be both riveted and moved.

 Joanna Kim is an absolute delight as Sophie, Callas’s first deer-in-the-headlights victim, and when Maria finally lets shy Sophie show off her crystal-clear soprano, you can see Kim is going places in the opera world.

Kurt Kanazawa is preening perfection as “I’m runway-ready and I know it” tenor Tony, the multi-hyphenate (actor, stuntman, tenor) revealing operatic pipes to be reckoned with.

Most memorable of all among Maria’s victims is Francesca Ling’s Sharon, who overcomes her initial trepidations to give La Divina a piece of her mind after Ling sings the bejeezus out of Lady Macbeth.

Music director Joshua Foy not only accompanies two sopranos and a tenor on piano, his “Manny” proves the ideal straight man for Maria’s one-liners, and Ricardo Mota (who understudies Tony) has amusing moments as a stagehand who either doesn’t know or doesn’t care how legendary this Maria Callas lady is.

Christopher Scott Murillo has designed a just-right Juilliard recital hall set which Lily Bartenstein has lit to dramatic effect. Sound designers Foy and Joshua Payuan-Cruz allow us to hear the voice Maria Callas once had in historic recordings accompanied by black-and-white photos of La Divina’s greatest roles. (Having snapshots from Maria’s personal life provide photographic evidence to accompany her tormented, memory-packed monologs is another inspired touch.)

Mariah Rae understudies the roles of Sharon and Sophie. Kit DeZoit understudies the role of the Stagehand. Leo Hall is assistant lighting designer. Peyuan-Cruz is stage manager and Jaycee Luther is assistant stage manager. Kanazawa is Italian language consultant. Libby Huebner is publicist.

 I’ve been a Joan Almedilla fan since the Rubicon Theatre staged Jason Robert Brown’s Songs For A New World almost exactly twenty years ago and I still consider her Lady Thiang to be the best I’ve ever seen.

Even without treating us to her glorious Broadway soprano, Almedilla is never less than masterful in Master Class in a production you don’t have to be an opera lover to love.

Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre. Through March 9. Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00. Sundays at 2:30.
www.sierramadreplayhouse.org

–Steven Stanley
February 14, 2025
Photos: Jason Williams

Tags: Los Angeles Theater Review, Sierra Madre Playhouse, Terrence McNally