“Master Class,” May 4-June 11, MetroStage, 1201 North Royal St. http://www.metrosta…">www.metrostage.org/
MetroStage loves to showcase actors. In fact our legal incorporated name is American Showcase Theatre Company Inc., and since 1984 one of our primary missions has been choosing work that showcases actors who then in turn will transport our audience. This production of “Master Class” is no exception. We are delighted to welcome Ilona Dulaski, making her MetroStage debut as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally’s valentine to “La Divina” and his love of opera. Ilona is a much loved actor in this town and has played major roles in theatres all over the D.C. metro area as well as regionally. And now joining Ilona on stage in this master class, inspired by the master classes that Callas held at Juilliard in 1971, are three students, all representing the very fine music departments in our area universities: University of Maryland, Catholic University and George Mason University.
In “Master Class” you will be treated to the remarkable story of Maria Callas and her life as an artist, her art form that is opera, her career highlights and troubles, and her personal life which may have been as dramatic as the roles she played on stage. Her motivation in offering these master classes near the end of her stage career seems to be to impart an understanding to the students of both the artist as performer and the artist as human being. They are inseparable, and Callas is an extraordinary example of how they are inextricably bound. Theatre should expand one’s vision or view of one’s self and role in the greater universe. “Master Class” shares that vision of a remarkable art form and an incredible artist with the mission of MetroStage and our commitment to elevating, empowering and enriching our world from our stage.
We connect our artists on stage and the stories they tell with an audience open to a transforming, transfixing experience where they have an opportunity in the intimacy of this communal setting to celebrate the art form and the experience being offered to them from the stage. There is nothing quite like the performing arts experienced live. It will live with you, challenge you and shape your world. Experiencing Callas in performance certainly impacted her audience with the power of her emotions and artistry and this “master class” will enrich her young students and our audiences as well.