FAMED PLAY ABOUT CALLAS OPENS TONIGHT.Byline: Daily News LANCASTER - ``Master Class,'' a Tony-award winning play about opera singer Maria Callas, opens tonight at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center A performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is a multi-use performance space that can be adapted for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre. . The play creates a vivid portrait of Callas, portrayed by local vocalist Alis Clausen, and her students, complete with music from some of her most famous roles. ``I knew the gossip about Callas - her relationship with Aristotle Onassis, both before and after he married Jackie Kennedy,'' said director Barbara Coates. ``But this play really shows why, 25 years after her death, Callas' recordings and videos are still in great demand. She was one of the great artists.'' ``Master Class,'' written by Terrence McNally, opened on Broadway in 1995 and garnered three Tony Awards in 1996, for best play, best actress and best supporting actress. Maria Callas was born to Greek parents in Queens, N.Y., in 1923. She began studying piano and voice at the age of 7, and by 11 was winning amateur radio contests. She made her professional debut in Puccini's ``Tosca'' at 18. She died of an apparent heart attack at 53 in Paris. The Cedar Street Theatre production will feature six local performers who have decades of musical experience among them. Clausen has been a voice instructor at Antelope Valley College Antelope Valley College is a comprehensive community college located in Lancaster, California, USA. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District, with a primary service area of 1,945 square miles covering portions of Los Angeles and Kern counties. for over 20 years and has made many appearances in local musicals. As a voice student at the University of California, Santa Barbara History The predecessor to UCSB, Santa Barbara State College, focused on teacher training, industrial arts, home economics, and foreign languages. Intense lobbying by an interest group in the City of Santa Barbara led by Thomas Storke and Pearl Chase persuaded the State , Clausen had the opportunity to observe similar master classes with the legendary Lotte Lehmann. At UCSB UCSB University of California at Santa Barbara UCSB University of Casual Sex and Beer , Clausen was directed by Covent Garden star Joan Cross and Ruth Michaelis, studied with Metropolitan Opera star Marcial Singher at the Music Academy of the West The Music Academy of the West is a music conservatory located in Montecito, California near Santa Barbara, California. Every year, it hosts a summer music festival for the community highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composers, conductors, and artists. , and with noted coach Dean Verhines in Los Angeles. Currently a representative of Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE: EIX), is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 11 million people with electricity. , the Lancaster resident was the news director and anchor for the Channel 3 News for more than 10 years. Mary Zimmerman has a long history of accompanying musical groups and soloists in the Antelope Valley - a perfect choice for a character that accompanies the students on stage in the play. A pianist for the Antelope Valley Master Chorale and Symphony Orchestra, and organist for Lancaster United Methodist Church United Methodist Church, in the United States, religious body formed by the union in 1968 of the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church (see Methodism). , Zimmerman is also a piano teacher. Tehachapi resident Sherry Brands plays Sharon Graham, an aspiring opera star. A member of the Antelope Valley College Master Chorale and a student in the Applied Music Program, Brands has been seen in leading roles in ``Red Hot and Cole,'' ``The Mikado mikado (mĭkä`dō), a former title of the emperor of Japan used chiefly in the English language. ,'' ``H.M.S. Pinafore'' and the ``Gondoliers.'' Jeffrey Sheehy and Linda Brown are also members of the Master Chorale. Both also work at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - Brown as assistant to the executive director of the Flight Test Center, Sheehy as a senior research scientist, propellants branch chief at the Air Force Research Laboratory. The show is scheduled for 8 tonight and Saturday at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center, 750 W. Lancaster Blvd. Tickets are $15. For more information, call (661) 723-5950. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Alis Clausen, kneeling, assumes the role of singer Maria Callas, with Mary Zimmerman at the piano, in the play ``Master Class,'' which opens tonight. |
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