Master Class

by Terence McNally
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre
August 2014

directed by James Zager and Jill Anna Ponasik
Brian Myers, Music Director
Lighting Design by Eric Appleton
Scenic Coordinator/Props Designer, Dana Fralick
Sound and Projection Designer, Chris Guse
Costume Design by Shima Orans
Judy Martel, Stage Manager

Preset.

The first soprano attempts Amina’s aria.

“This is how we talk to God.”

The grand nights at La Scala; the first act monologue begins.

Maria steps down to the footlights.

Color and templates in the house for the moment Visconti brings up the houselights at the end of the aria.

One last note to sing.

Top of the second act, Manny awaits Maria’s entrance.

The second soprano — “Are you sure you want to sing that?”

Maria tells the tenor where he is and what he’s painting.

The tenor begins to get it.


The second soprano reads the letter.

The second art monologue; Maria remembers Macbeth.

Maria asks Ari for a child.

Maria, increasingly alone.

Maria, rejected by Ari, at the end of the monologue.

The second soprano rejects Maria’s ‘dangerous world.”

Maria’s final words.

The stage under work lights.

Drafting the plot.