Shelley Cooper in “Master Class" at the Black Box Theatre -- May 15 through 24.
Friday, May 15, through Sunday, May 24
The Black Box Theatre, 1623 Fifth Avenue, Moliine IL
Hailed by the New York Times as "rich, vivid, satisfying theatre," Terrence McNally's Tony Award-winning Master Class makes its long-awaited area debut at Moline's Black Box Theatre May 15 through 24, this opera-themed comedy a show that, according to The Hollywood Reporter, "will be talked about for years to come whenever people point to theatre experiences that genuinely deserve to be labeled by the overused word ‘great.’”
McNally's 1996 Tony winner for Best Play, Actress (Zoe Caldwell), and Featured Actress (Audra McDonald) finds operatic legend Maria Callas teaching a master class in front of an audience. She’s glamorous, commanding, larger than life, and drop-dead funny. An accompanist then sits at the piano, and over the course of this class, students enter and Callas instructs them by reaching into the recesses of her mind and regaling them with stories from her life and career. What started out as a class becomes a platform for Callas to expound on her own career, dabble in opera gossip and flat-out seduce the audience. Lauded by the Star-Ledger as "mesmerizing theatre," Master Class is not merely a comedy about the entertainment industry, but also about the sacrifices one chooses to make in the name of art.
With the Moline production produced in partnership with Opera Quad Cities, Master Class is being helmed and co-produced by area favorite Ron May, a frequent music director for the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse (Chicago, Come from Away, Irving Berlin's White Christmas) whose Black Box credits include the popular holiday musical All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. Portraying the iconic Maria Callas is Shelley Cooper, Augustana College's associate professor of theatre arts who directed this past spring's Company and has enjoyed leading Black Box roles in Hello, Dolly! and Cooper's self-written one-woman shows Jenny Lind Presents P.T. Barnum and, playing her Master Class protagonist, La Divina: The Last Interview of Maria Callas.
Black Box co-owner and artistic director Lora Adams serves as the show's producer and costume/scenic designer; Reader theatre reviewer Alexander Richardson acts as lighting and sound designer; and Erin Elizabeth Ann Gelm is the show's stage manager.. The Master Class ensemble, meanwhile, is completed by Sarah Lounsberry as First Soprano; Brent Behrens as Tenor; Maddy Baez as Second Soprano; Michael Turczynski as Stagehand; and Michelle Crouch as Accompanist.
Master Class runs in Moline from May 15 through 24, with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Admission is $25, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)284-2350 and visiting TheBlackBoxTheatre.com.
