Master Class Tickets

Stephen Wadsworth first presented Terrence McNally’s play “Master Class” to audiences when the production premiered on Broadway in 2011. It had a lot going for it thanks to the star power it boasted in Tyne Daly, best known for her role in the television series “Cagney & Lacey”, and on the back of its successful run at the Manhattan Theater Club it now makes its way to the Vaudeville Theatre in London’s West End. In doing so Daly will be following in the footsteps of her “Cagney & Lacey” co-star Sharon Gless after her performance in “A Round-Heeled Woman” over Christmas 2011/12 and the production is likely to attract plenty of attention.

Terrence McNally penned “Master Class” in the mid-1990s and it premiered in Philadelphia before its Broadway arrival in 1995. It was his latest in a long line of plays that date back to 1964’s “And Things That Go Bump in the Night” and also includes the likes of “Bad Habits” from 1974, “Frankie and Johnny in Clair de Lune” from 1982, “Love! Valour! Compassion!” from 1994 and “Deuce” from 2007. The playwright has also penned operas, musicals such as “Catch Me if You Can” and films such as the adaptation of his own work in the form of “Frankie and Johnny”.

With “Master Class” he presents the character of Mara Callas (Daly), a funny and extroverted diva who works as a pedagogue, providing voice master classes to her students. It is clear that she has a mixed bunch studying under her, with some impressing her and others causing her concern, but the real focus of “Master Class” is her life leading up to this moment. So we follow her thoughts as she reflects back on her interesting life, which included an affair with the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, best known for his marriage to Jackie Kennedy.

Those with theatre tickets will see a recognisable face with Tyne Daly, who not only boasts “Cagney & Lacey” as one of her credits but has also appeared in movies like “The Enforcer” and other television series like “Judging Amy”. Meanwhile, her career on Broadway is wide ranging and includes a Tony Award-winning appearance in “Gypsy: A Musical Fable” as well as roles in “The Seagull” and “Rabbit Hole”.

“Master Class” makes its appearance at the Vaudeville Theatre from Tuesday 7th February 2012 (with previews from Saturday 21st January 2012) and continues to Saturday 28th April 2012.