Announced on what would have been Maria Callas' 87th birthday, no less!
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/145526-Tyne-Daly-Will-Offer-Diva-Talk-in-Broadways-Master-Class
I loves me some Tyne, but think this is just wrong.
It doesn't seem like a perfect fit, but her reviews in DC were excellent.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
There are some of us that remember what Maria Callas looked like...and it ain't Tyne Daly. Maria had a grace about her. Tyne is like a truck driver. I could believe Tyne as Merman, but never Callas.
I think it's far more important that Daly can embody Callas rather than resemble her. She's a terrific actress, and I wouldn't understimate her. I don't think she's like a truck driver at all, I think she's an actress who has notably played overbearing women (Cagney & Lacey, Judging Amy, Gypsy).
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/03
Tyne Daly will surprise a lot of people. I was quite pleased with her performance in DC. She makes the character her own.
The supporting cast was pretty damn good too. Not at all like the three students in the Broadway original. Wait until you see and hear the tenor--a former pro football player no less.
The show will work better on the smaller Biltmore stage than the wide Eisenhower.
Tyne may not BE a truck driver, but she carries herself like one.
The show is being recast. The three students from DC will not be returning.

Well first of all Tyne's reviews were extraordinary. Second of all, from the photographs of her in the role she resembles Callas at least as much if not more than any of the woman who did this on Broadway originally.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
How could anyone top Zoe Caldwell or Patti LuPone in this role?
Swing Joined: 5/17/10
I saw Tyne Daly in this production last spring. I was very impressed by her performance. I haven't seen any other productions of Master Class to compare it to, but my family and I really enjoyed it at the Kennedy Center.
Lots of great women have played the part. People loved Dixie Carter in it on Broadway too.
Yup, I saw Carter and thought she was fantastic.
I still kick myself for missing Faye Dunaway though.
Nice wig.
LuPone wasn't great in the role. She was, as Miss Brodie might put it, serviceable.
NO ONE can touch Caldwell... that was a performance for the ages.
Seriously.. it was the kind of performance that made stock brokers want to take acting classes. Just like people wanted to play golf after Tiger Woods came on the scene.
Caldwell was beyond words extraordinary.
Dunaway was a bad joke. It was like she spit venom and sour milk every time she opened her mouth.
I've "heard" Daly's performance and was impressed. Of course, the effectiveness of a performance can only ultimately be judged seeing it live, but from what I've heard I'm more excited.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
"No, no, I don't want to sing. I don't want to make love. I dooon't want Patti LuPone to replace me in Master Class. However, I won't have a word said against her, BUT, a Maria Callas from Long Island? I ask you!"
Never got to see Caldwell, but I saw LuPone in the role twice. She was mesmerizing. She had a presence that commanded your attention from the moment she stepped on stage. It was my first experience seeing LuPone perform live (I've seen her numerous times since), and Master Class is still the best work I've seen from her.
Later, I saw Maria Dearest on tour and left at intermission. Dunaway was a clumsy, wooden mess. I would LOVE to see Daly in the role so I can expel the most recent memory of the show from my brain.
I saw both Tyne Daly at the Kennedy Center and Barbara Walsh do the role at Papermill in the span of a year or two. Let's just say Walsh was way more effective for me. I will not be revisiting the production on Broadway with Daly. I mean, she was fine, but that's about it.
If any of the Kennedy Center's pieces from their festival last season should transfer, it should have been the Lisbon Traviata.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
>>>"I saw LuPone in the role twice. She was mesmerizing. She had a presence that commanded your attention from the moment she stepped on stage."<<<
I couldn't have said it better.
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