Word: traviatas
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
McNally wrote a play, "The Lisbon Traviata," in which the main character is obsessed with Callas. Then one night he had an epiphany and a vision for McNally's current play was born. "'Master Class' is actually more about me than about Maria Callas," he said...
...performance is strong enough to make you overlook the play's shortcomings. Master Class has a less gratifying shape than what may be McNally's best play, also Callas inspired, The Lisbon Traviata (it's also less well constructed than last year's uneven Love! Valour! Compassion!, which nevertheless won a Tony last year for best play). There's no organic reason for Master Class to run the two acts it does; the second act doesn't deepen--it merely extends. And McNally's attempt to drive it toward an old-fashioned theatrical climax (one of the students ultimately mutinies...
Leads Laurie Ann McGowan (who will alternate performances with Alexis Zeiff Martin) as Mimi and Frank Ragsdale as Rodolfo are warm if low-key lovers. Vocal prowess combined with comfortable English diction compensate for somewhat subdued interaction on both parts. (Those who saw "La Traviata" last year can't help but feel a pang of deja vu as McGowan lies dying of tuberculosis in the fourth act with Ragsdale clasping her palm...
...example of extreme bad taste and lazy greed. What was wonderful in Rome in 1990 was awful in L.A. as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras sight-read their way through arias and show tunes on a set that included a waterfall. And no, the Brindisi from La Traviata -- the sequel's intended Nessun dorma -- did not fly to the top of the charts...
...Identify the character in La Traviata who sings the aria Sempre Libera...