Boise State and Opera Idaho Collaborate on Terrence McNally’s Tony Award-winning play Master Class

8 p.m. Jan. 21-23 and 28-30 and 2 p.m. Jan. 24 and 31 in the Morrison Center Recital Hall

Tickets $15 general admission/$10 Boise State students at Select-a-Seat or at the door.

Master Class Home Page

Idaho Stateman Article -

Press Release provided by BSU.

Veteran actress Lynn Allison (right) invokes the spirit of iconic opera singer Maria Callas in a production of Terrence McNally’s award-winning play, “Master Class”.  Allison is joined by an all-professional cast, including pianist Del Parkinson (center), singers Leslie Mauldin (left) and Ryan Olsen and actress Valerie Baugh. Photo by Allison Corona

Veteran actress Lynn Allison (right) invokes the spirit of iconic opera singer Maria Callas in a production of Terrence McNally’s award-winning play, Master Class. Allison is joined by an all-professional cast, including pianist Del Parkinson (center), singers Leslie Mauldin (left) and Ryan Olsen and actress Valerie Baugh. Photo by Allison Corona.

The departments of Music and Theatre Arts are partnering with Opera Idaho to present Terrence McNally’s Tony Award-winning play Master Class at 8 p.m. Jan. 21-23 and 28-30 and 2 p.m. Jan. 24 and 31 in the Morrison Center Recital Hall. Tickets are $15 general and $10 for Boise State students at Select-a-Seat outlets or www.idahotickets.com. Tickets also may be purchased at the door. The play is intended for mature audiences.

Master Class is based on a series of Juilliard master classes given by the great opera singer Maria Callas, one of the most compelling and controversial artists of our time. Vividly and often comically, McNally’s play captures the essence of Callas as she alternately destroys and inspires three eager Juilliard opera students with her brutally honest critiques, recollections of her illustrious career and turbulent life, and unwavering commitment to the sacrifices artists make for their creations.

The collaborative production involves Boise State’s departments of Music and Theatre Arts and the Idaho CoOPERAtive, a professional development group for singers housed in the Music Department and co-founded by associate professor and head of voice studies Laura Rushing-Raynes. Thanks to a College of Arts and Sciences Community Engagement Grant and sponsorship by Opera Idaho, it is a professional production starring Boise favorites Lynn Allison in the lead role of Maria Callas and Boise State piano professor Del Parkinson as her master class accompanist.

Allison is a celebrated actress known best for her work with the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Boise Contemporary Theater. The upcoming performance of “Master Class” is the realization of a long-smoldering pipe dream she shared with Rushing-Raynes in 2001. Boise State had an ideal venue and a pool of faculty and community talent, and Allison had the clout and inspiration to spark what promises to be a thrilling evening of theater and music.

“There is a lot of talent in the area and not a lot of places to put it, so it makes sense to share resources and find ways to do ‘environmental’ theater,” said Allison, referring to the fact that the Morrison Center Recital Hall is a natural backdrop for a play about students in a music class. Not only does it take advantage of an existing resource, it also adds a dimension that a set cannot, blurring the line even more between real and imagined.

Also blurring that line is the fact that Callas speaks directly to the audience, suggesting (and sometimes demanding) they do their own reflecting on the meaning of art and what happens when an artist surrenders to passion and the pursuit of greatness.

“While the play is incredibly funny, it also is deeply reflective, forcing Callas to ask, ‘What have I done? What have I sacrificed? What have the rewards truly been?’ ” said Rushing-Raynes.

“Her memories and the music feed on each other, and her personality informs the performance. She is a force,” Allison said. “The play is about her frustrations as well as those moments when she surrenders to the beauty of her students’ voices, when they finally understand.”

The cast also features singers Leslie Mauldin and Ryan Olsen (a member of Boise State’s adjunct voice faculty) as well as actress Valerie Baugh (a member of Boise State’s adjunct theatre arts faculty). The production will be directed by theatre arts professor Ann Hoste and musically coached by Rushing-Raynes. Stage management will be provided by Opera Idaho, for which Rushing-Raynes recently conducted Amahl and the Night Visitors, with Baugh as assistant-director. Mauldin is singing in Opera Idaho’s upcoming production of Rossini’s Cinderella, further underscoring the partnership.

“The message of the Community Engagement Grant is, whatever you’re doing, be effectively outreaching and interfacing with community members and organizations,” Rushing-Raynes said. “This project fulfills that message, and we hope it will be the first of many more such collaborations.”

Following the two Sunday matinee performances on Jan. 24 and 31, the cast will invite the audience to participate in a discussion and demo of an actual master class, featuring Boise State voice students being taught by cast members Mauldin and Olsen, both accomplished voice teachers.

For more information, visit the Master Class Home Page