Quick Review: Master Class
When Philippine Opera Company first staged Terrence McNally’s Master Class in 2010 with Cheri Gil as Maria Callas, I missed it. So when POC mounted the Tony Award-winning play with Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo as La Divina, I said to myself that if I missed this one, I am sure to regret it. So I saw it on its premiere at the RCBC Plaza and was I in for a roller-coaster ride, witnessing the highs and lows of the legendary soprano as masterfully portrayed by Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo. Maria Callas is a complex character. She was one of a kind. A dramatic soprano with the range and agility of a coloratura, she almost single-handedly brought back the bel canto repertoire — Bellini's Norma, Donizetti's Lucia, Cherubini's Medea. Bernstein called her The Bible of Opera. But the woman behind the voice never felt enough. Her mother called her the fat, ugly, talented one. The Italian press said the same about her weight. She lost 80 lbs in a year, remade herself for Onassis, and still got l...