Natalie Cordone gives masterful turn in Lyric Theatre’s ‘Class’
Lyric Theatre’s first production of the Tony Award-winning play “Master Class” proves a veritable workshop on masterful casting.
In her Oklahoma City debut, Natalie Cordone gives a towering performance as she portrays complicated opera icon Maria Callas in the 1995 play. “Master Class” was penned by celebrated playwright Terrence McNally, who died last year of COVID-19 complications.
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Lyric Theatre is continuing its 2021 all-outdoor season with nighttime performances of “Master Class” through Oct. 3 on the Myriad Botanical Gardens’ Water Stage.
Neither splashing fish nor quacking ducks could diminish one iota from Cordone’s stunning lead turn at the Sept. 15 opening-night performance. McNally’s play demands a performer who can not only do justice by one of the most beloved opera singers of the 20th century but can also practically carry the entire show — and Cordone manages to do both splendidly.
“Master Class” boasts a stellar pedigree: McNally based the play on the real-life master classes Callas gave at Juilliard in the 1970s, just a few years before her death in 1977 of a heart attack.
Through flashbacks, monologues and student-teacher interactions, McNally mesmerizingly relates Callas’ triumphs, tragedies and scandals without ever leaving the confines of her class.
Playing an iconic diva
Although she was just 53 when she died, Callas is still lauded as one of the most magnificent operatic sopranos of her generation, known for her roles in “Tosca,” “Madea,” “La traviata” and more. Born in New York City in 1923 to Greek immigrant parents, the diva survived an impoverished, war-torn childhood, a reputation as a difficult artist and a sordid love affair with shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis — who eventually left the diva for Jacqueline Kennedy — and seemed to seek solace, vindication and even vengeance through her achievements on the stage.
Cordone never leaves the stage once she makes one of Callas’ signature grand entrances. Theatergoers become the attendees for Callas’ class, as the star sets out to share her passion for the art and craft of singing, to brag about her hard-won successes while denying that she’s boasting and to ex
coriate her rivals with a smug smile.
Her Callas is mercurial, charismatic and wickedly funny, and the rest of the characters revolve around her like planets around a fiercely bright sun. She soon shows she can be callous and dismissive or grateful and gracious with the mild-mannered accompanist, Manny (Jan McDaniel, who plays piano, acts and serves as the show’s musical director), the harried stagehand (Josiah Brooks) and her students.
The play spotlights Callas’ interactions with three students, and Baron has cast different performers to play that trio every week of the three-week run. For the opening week, Oklahoma City University students Jennie Rupp co-starred as sweet-natured soprano Sophie De Palma, Christopher Richie as cocky tenor Anthony Candolini and Macey Trussell as nervous potential powerhouse Sharon Graham. When they’re not being interrupted by Callas — despite her promises not to interrupt — they sing beautifully.
Lyric Theatre’s ‘Master Class’
When: Through Oct. 3.
Where: Myriad Gardens Water Stage, 301 W Reno Ave.
Tickets and information: https://lyrictheatreokc.com or 405-524-9312.
Free staged reading
Lyric Theatre will present a free world premiere staged reading of the play “Concerto” by Alan Olejniczak at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28 on the Myriad Botanical Gardens’ Water Stage. The play chronicles the professional and personal struggles of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The reading will be presented by Olejniczak, Lyric Producing Artistic Director Michael Baron and Oklahoma City Philharmonic Music Director Alexander Mickelthwate. For more information, go to https://lyrictheatreokc.com.