What: Master Class (drama) by Terrence McNally

 The Story:  The doors of the recital hall swing open: in sweeps the diva, taking the stage with nothing less than divine right. "No applause," she warns, throwing up a halting hand. "We're here to work." And work she does! McNally constructs this buoyant crash course in how life and love inform one's art with an imaginative recreation of  the real-life master classes undertaken in 1971and ‘72 by the great diva herself, Maria Callas. The glorious voice has long since deserted her; she is left humanized, if not notably humbled, by the life lessons she picked up during her amazing, meteoric career. These she bestows on her students and on us, as she spins her tales of art and love, world approval and heartbreaking abandonment.

 Special Note: The role of Maria Callas in Master Class is traditionally played by a non-singing actress. In this Cinnabar production, the role is played by Elly Lichenstein, herself a retired opera singer and Callas devotee. We are excited to bring this heretofore missing element to Master Class!

 Stage Director:  Elizabeth Craven

 Dates/Times:  May 26 (8:00), 27 (8:00), June 2 (8:00), 3 (8:00), 4 (2:00), 9 (8:00), 10 (8:00), 11 (2:00), 16 (8:00), 17 (8:00)

 Single Tickets: $22 general admission/$20 for seniors and students

 Pre-show opening night gala: May 26, 7:00p.m.  Catering donated by Negri’s Restaurant (add $10 to ticket price for gala)

 To purchase tickets: Call the Cinnabar box office: 707.763.8920    

 Venue Address: 3333 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma, CA 94952

Featuring:  
Adrian Boyer as the accompanist, Manny Weinstock (SF)
Rebecca Brown as the first soprano, Sophie de Palma (SF)
Codrut Birsan as the tenor, Tony Candolino (SF)
Kathleen Sisco as the final soprano, Sharon Graham (SF)
Elly Lichenstein as Maria (Petaluma)

 BIOS

 Elizabeth Craven  
(Director) is a theatre artist, administrator and educator whose life’s work is international artistic exchange.  A member of the International Theatre Institute for ten years and a veteran innovator in the global performance network, Elizabeth has been introducing American audiences and artists to extraordinary and little known performances and performing artists for more than twenty years. She has worked closely with the Artistic Director of the German State Theatre, the Hungarian Minster of Culture, many of the Continent’s nationally appointed artistic directors, and United Nations’ UNESCO chair in Romania.

Elizabeth has recently ended her tenure as Head of the MFA International Performance Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and as resident director of the Clarence Brown Theatre Company which was founded by Sir Anthony Quayle and the late Ralph Allen. Formerly she was co-artistic director of Western Union Theatre Company (1984-1994) in Sonoma County and a founding member of The Play Group Theatre Ensemble (1972-1979).

Recently Elizabeth has been involved in numerous international projects that have played in New York, Hungary, The Slovak Republic, Romania and Venezuela. In May she returned from a two-month artistic exchange with TransARTlantica, a consortium of professional theatres in Italy, France, Russia, Germany and several Scandinavian countries.

Elizabeth has been involved in the founding of Porchlight Theatre Company in Ross, California, where she has directed productions of A Month In The Country, Wild Honey, cited by the Bay Area Critics for Outstanding Production of 2003, and The Seagull. Recent among her seventeen professional credits at the Clarence Brown Theatre are: Athol Fugard’s Road To Mecca, Wole Soyinka’s The Bacchae, Chekhov’s Three Sisters, Steve Martin’s Picasso At The Lapin Agile, and the 1996 professional premiere of John O’Keefe’s Brönte Cycle. Two of her college productions, Mark Rozovsky’s Strider and Stephen Dietz’ God’s Country performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.  Her most recent directing credits include Laughing Wild at Cinnabar Theater and The Underpants at 6^th Street Playhouse, where she is the newly installed Executive Director. 

Elly Lichenstein

(Maria) Elly Lichenstein began working with Cinnabar in 1975 when, after a short career as principal cellist with Belgium’s Antwerp Chamber Orchestra, she joined the Cinnabar Opera Theater. Studying voice with Marvin Klebe, Cinnabar’s founder, drama with Fred Curchack and Richard Blake, and movement with Ann Woodhead, she sang at least 50 roles with the company and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area until she retired in 1999, none of which coincided with the work of the late Maria Callas. 

Elly became General Manager of the theater in 1979 and assumed her present role as Executive Director in 1997. In 1999, upon the death of founding Artistic Director Marvin Klebe, Elly assumed the head of Cinnabar’s opera program, for which she has directed Falstaff, Dido and Aeneas, La Boheme, The Medium, The Cunning Little Vixen, The Spanish Hour, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata (chosen Best Musical Production of 2004 by the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle), The Marriage of Figaro and The Telephone.  

An accomplished actress, Elly created three roles in world premieres for playwright John O’Keefe: Laura Riding in Glamour, Meta Wolff in Crystal Night (now known as Times Like These) and Rebecca in Queer Theory. Her latest performance credit was Marie in The Most Happy Fella.