Master Class by Terence McNally

“Equity actress Suzan Hanson brilliantly channels Callas whose brief reign as the toast of the opera world became a Greek tragedy in later life. Her performance is marvelously complex and multifaceted.As Callas, Hanson is haughty and indifferent to the feelings of the students who endure her criticism on one hand, yet warm and humorous in asides to the audience on the other. Only when Callas temporarily retreats into stream of consciousness reveries does Hanson allow us to see the opera star’s vulnerability and anguish over a lost career and love. Regardless of which of those personas Hanson might be wearing at any given moment in “Master Class,” she still relentlessly pursues McNally’s theme of weighing the price artists are willing to pay for fame. In one of the play’s most electrifying moments, Callas asks a promising soprano if she would be willing to kill for a career or a man.” Charlie Schill, hjnews.com