Here a Callas, there a Callas
“The warring divas,” in the words of director Simon Levy, have arrived.
Three productions of Terrence McNally’s “Master Class,” about opera legend Maria Callas, are currently running in Los Angeles County. Levy’s staging at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood opened first, in November. Last weekend, it was joined by one production to the north, at Santa Clarita Repertory Theatre, and another to the south, at Long Beach Playhouse. All three “Classes” are scheduled to close the same weekend in mid-April.
The three theaters each have fewer than 100 seats. They’re also sufficiently distant from one another that neither Levy nor the other shows’ producers appear concerned about the competition.
“It’s just a coincidence,” said Gigi Fusco Meese, the Long Beach producer. “All three companies have really good taste.”
Kimberly Valkenaar, the Santa Clarita producer, called the situation “one of those weird, wacky things in L.A.”
Levy suggested jocularly that perhaps the three actresses could have lunch and then “a contest, with each of them doing the same monologue.”
The Callas-thenics will continue, albeit outside the county, when Rita Moreno takes on the role at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in May.
-- Don Shirley
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