8 / 10
As directed by Stephen Wadsworth, Daly combines the character's tough exterior and emotional ferocity with pitch-perfect comedic timing, the theatricality of a diva, and apparent signs of insecurity and vulnerability. Sierra Boggess ('The Little Mermaid'), Alexandra Silber and Garrett Sorenson make charismatic turns as Callas' brave students and offer impressive vocal renditions from several bel canto operas.
9 / 10
During the intermission, I found myself wondering how Daly and her excellent director, Stephen Wadsworth, would keep all this intellectual and emotional splendor aloft. Though they’d captured my heart with the first half, there was the worry that exhaustion or lack of imagination would cause the acting or the directing to topple ... What Daly understands about her role as Maria Callas is that Callas can’t put herself on: she doesn’t distinguish between her life and her performance. Her life is a career, and her career is her life—a fact that becomes even clearer in the second act, when she must deal with a strong-willed diva-in-training, Sharon Graham (the appropriately haughty Sierra Boggess).
| 1995 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| 2012 | West End |
West End |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Tyne Daly |
| 2012 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Tyne Daly |
| 2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Manhattan Theatre Club |
| 2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Lynne Meadow |
| 2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Barry Grove |
| 2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Max Cooper |
| 2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Maberry Theatricals |
| 2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Marks-Moore-Turnbull Group |
| 2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Ted Snowdon |
| 2012 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Master Class |
