Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
#2Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 8:29amCool. Love Meryl but she seems to be in everything these days lol.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#3Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 8:47amWow! She's going to be great in this.
#4Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 8:47amDoes Faye still have the film rights to "Master Class"? Did she ever manage to film "any" portion of MC?
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
skylight2
Stand-by Joined: 6/13/14
#6Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 8:57amI know Meryl is an amazing actress and I'm sure she'll be great, but aren't there other actresses in her age bracket who could take on this or other parts she's played?
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#7Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 9:08am
I understand why people sometimes feel a bit of Meryl fatigue when it comes to play-to-screen adaptations, but she is not only widely considered the greatest actress of her generation, she is undoubtable the biggest box office draw of actresses her age, and I begrudge no studio for wanting to sign her.
As for MASTER CLASS -- this is one instance in which I can't really think of anyone else who would be a better fit for the role, so count me excited. And Mike Nichols directing? Wowza.
But a hats off salut to Ms. Dunaway, who spent years trying to get the film made, but just wasn't able to make it happen.
And to answer questions about the rights -- clearly, Ms. Dunaway's option on the material expired, and even though there were reports that some footage had been filmed, obviously not enough to grant an extension on the material when her option was up.
Some sources cited Ms. Dunaway as saying that 2/3 of the film was finished, but I think if that were true (and the material shot were usable) Terrance McNally would have granted, even on good faith, an extension on their rights agreement to let her finish.
HBO seems to be picking up the mantle of late on long gestating screen adaptations (see THE NORMAL HEART). And for that I say good.
Updated On: 6/18/14 at 09:08 AM
#8Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 9:27amThey should at least let Dunaway play Sharon!
#9Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 9:32am
"As for MASTER CLASS -- this is one instance in which I can't really think of anyone else who would be a better fit for the role, so count me excited. And Mike Nichols directing? Wowza."
I am excited as well, but I can't help being sorry that Tyne Daly wasn't doing it. She has the name that they would need. I guess because she might not handle the closeups well. Still, I thought her performance of the role on stage was perfect and I can't help but feel sorry that it won't be preserved for film.
Thank God for Bootlegs.
Updated On: 6/18/14 at 09:32 AM
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#10Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 9:45am
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. The Inevitable Meryl. She'll trot out that Standard European Accent, slap on a wig and eyeliner, and snag yet another batch of awards. Enough already.
I'd rather see Penelope Cruz, or Marion Cotillard in the role. Anybody, even.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
Updated On: 6/18/14 at 09:45 AM
#11Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 9:46amSo relieved Dunaway's not doing it. The only worse choice would have been Sean Young.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#12Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 9:46amWhoever plays Sharon I hope and pray it isn't Emmy Rossum
#13Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 9:47am
Daly was wonderful but probably not a big enough name at this point to green light a film version.
I wonder if Dunaway be given a token producer credit on the project.
#14Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 9:49amI once harbored hopes of Anjelica Huston doing it.
#15Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 10:00amIt would be amazing if she nabbed an Oscar nomination for this...considering it's on HBO.
"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#16Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 10:00amNow Angelica Huston would have been interesting.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#17Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 10:05amI think this is a role that's perfectly suited to Streep, and she makes fantastic work with Nichols. Can't wait to see this. And oh my God, they better not cast Emmy Rossum in this! That'd be terrible.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#18Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 10:08am
I doubt she'd get an Oscar nomination for a TV movie... 
Also, I wouldn't say Tyne Daly has "the name they would need." The average viewer just knows her from Cagney & Lacey 30 years ago... Can't see HBO able to do a marketing blitz on just her name like they can with Streep.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#19Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 10:11am
"zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. The Inevitable Meryl. She'll trot out that Standard European Accent, slap on a wig and eyeliner, and snag yet another Oscar nomination. Enough already."
This says it all. What more can be said? At this point, I'd rather see Nathan Lane play it. At least Nathan would play it like a human being, and not the way Streep plays every role as if she is playing high art in the the-uh-tuh!
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Updated On: 6/18/14 at 10:11 AM
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#20Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 10:18amI understand that HBO needs a big name to sell a play about an opera teacher teaching a class. It's a story that only reaches a niche audience. I would have rather HBO chose someone who could do the role justice (and not chew the scenery like Streep will do) and let it be a quiet, unassuming piece of artistry. Streep will blow it up into something it is not. And she'll do her "laughing behind her hand" act like she did in Doubt.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#21Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 10:33amYeah, I hadn't seen that it's being done on HBO. So she'll snag a bunch of TV awards just because she's MERYL STREEP and all -- same difference.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#22Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 10:33amHaving seen Master Class with Zoe Caldwell, Patti LuPone, Faye Dunaway, Tynne Daly, and a few lovely regional productions... I've never seen a production that could accurately have been described as a "quiet, unassuming piece of artistry."
Jesus saves. I spend.
#23Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 10:42am
MASTER CLASS, while a hugely entertaining showcase for an actress of a certain age is more or less silly, exploitive theatrical trash. Callas's real masterclasses at Julliard showed her to be exacting, insightful and hugely supportive to the students -- in other words, nothing like the almost pseudo-drag queen portrait of her in McNally's script. McNally's play is really just an excuse for a diva actress to chew scenery for two hours, and on that level it works.
#24Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 11:01amI have been suffering from Streep Fatigue for years now. However, I would be lying if I said this was not perfect casting. Hopefully she doesn't sh*t the bed with this role the way she did with Sister Aloysius and Violet Weston. (In my opinion.)
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#25Meryl takes on Callas in MASTER CLASS
Posted: 6/18/14 at 11:23am
Agree about the play. It has not aged well at all.
Love Meryl, but she's about as Mediterranean as a J. Crew catalogue.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
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