FAYE DUNAWAY in MASTER CLASS

Faye Dunaway starred as Maria Callas in the national tour of Terrence McNally's Tony-winning play "Master Class," 1996.
Joining Dunaway on the tour were Suzan Hanson (Sharon), Melinda Klump (Sophie), Kevin Paul Anderson (Tony) and Gary Green (Manny).

[@pamblum2000]

Saw her live in Palm Beach sometime in the 1990’s. I’ll never forget this play with Faye Dunaway!

[@SDoesNotKnow]

Watching this after seeing the nearly half-hour video with Zoe Caldwell, it's amazing how Caldwell managed to land so many of the lines causing the audience to erupt with laughter or to react in comparison to Dunaway who one would think would have the stature and confidence of Callas but doesn't seem to be as secure with the line deliveries, and you can hear it with the muted or delayed audience responses. Caldwell was just able to use her voice and body better to truly sell the character and the lines and it was like a master class in of itself.

[@TheBeverly7]

I agree!!! Zoe Caldwell was divine!!

[@kingamitrowska]

SDoesNotKnow I totally agree Zoe Caldwell is amazing.

[@johnflynn9619]

Dunaway was Magnificent on stage. But, not as Magnificent to her fans.

[@unclealand]

Dunaway can’t do comedy. She misses all the humor in this play. And at no time is this anyone but Fay Dunaway.

[@ilovemovies725]

Well ..."the look" thing elicits laugh from the audience regardless of who plays the part anyway, here just like everywhere..

[@Heyjay454]

I saw this in LA several years ago and she was indeed fantastic top of her game! I did not see any of the other actresses so I have nothing to compare it to but I know that I was thrillingly captivated. I too wish she had people around her who could keep her balanced because she is a talented actress!

[@pamblum2000]

Saw Faye Dunaway in Masterclass at the Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach, in the late 1990’s, or so. She was fabulous!

[@eduardodifarnecio2336]

They’re all so wonderful. What great performances. Thank you for posting.

[@victoriaindigo]

Thanks for posting! Faye looked great at the Oscars, I wish she would do another Broadway play!

[@sjcohen4444]

victoria grant She didn't do this on Broadway. The Broadway Callases were Zoe Caldwell, Patti LuPone, and Dixie Carter. I think Faye did it in L.A. and maybe on tour.

[@chrisjacobs7417]

@@sjcohen4444 you are correct about the tour. I saw her in Detroit

[@wandawilcox]

I didn't get a chance to see this when it was on tour, but I can do that now, thanks for posting it.

[@ed7hanke]

Saw this at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale and I thought Faye was every bit the consummate tour-de-force talented diva on stage as the woman she was portraying. 👏 I wish I could relive it and I'm so sorry Faye couldn't get the movie made... 💔

[@1NYCHombre]

Glorious! Thank you! 👏❤️👏

[@DerryPope]

Nice to see Joan Crawford working again.

[@J33-k3s]

Lol

[@bmbutler2]

This is really awesome

[@this_Joe_Smith]

Loved the evidence of videotape at 16:55 ....i used to work at a movie theater before digital took over and i get nostalgic to see old film damage, the scratches & dirt specks from having run through projector equipment. 💕 even videotape scumbles like these make me sigh happily.

[@harty4653]

Faye was amazing as always

[@cliff9685]

Faye is so fantastic in this! So upset by what happened to her face. When she got those new teeth it totally altered her appearance. She looked pretty great at the oscars last night. Looks like she has the size of the caps reduced. Just a shame she doesn't get the high caliber roles of say a Shirley MacLaine or even a Jessica Lange or Susan Sarandon. I mean Faye is only 6 years older than Sarandon! Faye seems relegated to Hollywood has been status which is a shame because this woman has a lot of talent and class.

[@Ninafan68]

I agree. The proof is here : she is a great talent. Maybe she is difficult to work with? I see no other reason why she is forgotten because she has real talent.

[@melvinfulton7485]

@@Ninafan68 It is indweed MIss Dunaway's ego and bad attitude that has ;caused her to miss out on so many films and theater roles.

[@paulcanaday-elliott9834]

I saw Faye Dunaway perform this role in San Francisco. She was perfect. The role was perfect for her. But watching this clip now, is it just me or does she remind anyone else of Ru Paul in this performance? The matter-of-fact, imperious look of hers - I can’t help but see Ru Paul! I halfway expect her to say, “You’d better work!”

[@ah7910]

Rue who?

[@J33-k3s]

"Christinaaa! Christopherrrr! Damnn iiiiit!"

[@this_Joe_Smith]

❤ i will forever defend her for that role. I read the book and i defend the movie. And Faye was the Greatest.

[@baritonebynight]

I don't remember this part about Sutherland in Masterclass. Ironically, during the real Callas masterclasses in the early 1970s...Dame Joan was in her prime and probably the highest paid singer in the world...and would continue for nearly another twenty years before she retired in 1990. Here they speak of her in the past tense.

[@pmurraymusic]

Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford as Maria Callas!

[@johnflynn9619]

No - Faye is using a Greek Accent as Maria. But, used her own voice when she played Crawford.

[@jessedalton2387]

revisiting this makes me so disappointed in her attitude and behavior and the fallout with the Hepburn show. She's magnetic onstage and so striking. shame she couldn't put her ego down.

[@neuberg7315]

completely agree

[@neuberg7315]

completely agree with Jesse Dalton, that is.

[@jmcdonald7867]

I was Faye's assistant in Boston on the National Tour There are stories!

[@johnpickford4222]

Well, a**hole, what are they? You slight Faye Dunaway and then don’t follow through. What are these deep and dark secrets of ‘tales from the crypt’? With a**holes like you always dogging her, no wonder she has issues. Oh, and you may think you’re being sincere, but you have no look.

[@jameswyatt6648]

I was there for the sunset boulevard fiasco faye lied terribly ALW messed up with many decisions but Faye flat out lied she was horrible from 1st to last rehearsal

[@bradwills3368]

jmcdonald7867, I was in the National Tour of ANNIE that played the Colonial after MASTER CLASS had been through. We all heard the stories about how cruelly she treated poor, sweet Ida, the local dresser. Ida's daughter, our mens ensemble dresser, said that Ida was still having nightmares months later. And our second set of company managers had been on that tour, as well. Stories indeed!

[@jmcdonald7867]

@@bradwills3368 Yes Ida had trouble with Faye. Not sure her daughter Angie did as I was on the show and also a dresser. I dont remember Angie coming on to replace her mom. But nevertheless she really was very tough and rude to many. Myself included but as one of the managers on the road said to me " J you are the first person to yell back at her taking her off her pins" He felt that is why I had success with her. The stories continued on the road for sure. Too many to list here. :)

[@bradwills3368]

@@jmcdonald7867, Alan H. and Amy W. were our company managers for that leg of the tour after they were done with MASTER CLASS, and Amy had soooooooooo many stories. And how anyone could be mean to Ida is a mystery to me. I never got to know any of the local dressers, usually spending only a week with them, but Ida was unforgettable.

[@AAwildeone]

The Jack MacFarland school of acting

[@johnpickford4222]

@AAwildeone: Spoken like a graduate and current Dean of Admissions. Oh, who is Jack McFarland? Does he have a look because you don’t.

[@clefnoteproductions6695]

Why are light sopranos cast to sing Vieni t'affretta? Aren't there actresses with dramatic voices?

[@hanatawil]

It’s indicated in the script that the singer is overly ambitious in bringing in Lady Macbeth & dramatic rep. At the end of the scene Maria tells her “you should work on something more appropriate to your limitations. Mimi or Micaela maybe.” I also didn’t get this until I read the full script fairly recently!

[@railehtdoe2907]

I feel bad for the Sharon here. After hearing Audra, I feel like she’s got a lot working against her. And I was so startled to see her wearing the same dress! The other versions had their Sharons wearing different gowns. I don’t know why this was so jarring for me.

[@johnpickford4222]

@railehtdoe2907: It is jarring for you because, I mean this kindly, but you have no look. So you are easily frightened by one who does. I’m sorry and certain you’re a nice person but you have no look. (This was the national tour and the set was duplicated along with the costumes.)

[@johnflynn9619]

Faye is a Brilliant Actress - none better. But. Her well documented bad reputation didn't help her to find top projects as she got older.

[@coolfinetime]

actually this is not Greek accent, more like Italian accent...

[@victordunson719]

The Sharon was no Audra McDonald 😕

[@garyglaser4998]

Duh.

[@melvinfulton7485]

I was waiting for Faye Dunaway to suddenly lose in place in the role and saying "and the winner for Best Picture is "La La Land"

[@clarequilty4962]

As usual, Faye is too heavy handed and left all the humor out of Callas.

[@organboi]

Since when did Maria Callas have an accent?

[@johnpickford4222]

Maria Callas spoke what is called, with the ascension of Charles III, “the King’s English”. Though born in New York, she moved to Greece when 13, back to America briefly when 23 and then to Italy in 1947 for her Italian debut in Verona.

[@golden-63]

She definitely had an accent.

[@rossmerchant8435]

She was born in Greece, grew up in New York, moved back to Greece, spent much of her adult life speaking Italian in Italy, and then lived in Paris so her accent was a mishmash.

[@lestermatos2989]

After zoe i think she was the best

[@jvcurtis]

So interesting (or ironic?) that both Patti LuPone and Faye Dunaway found themselves fired from Sunset Boulevard in some capacity and both ended up in Master Class.

[@johnpickford4222]

@jvcurtis: WOW, is that what the tea leaves told you? You called the Psychic Hotline and for $50 Dionne Warwick told you this and then asked “If you knew the way to San Jose”? You’re an idiot. LuPone should not have been fired from SUNSET BOULEVARD and Dunaway should never have been hired. They used her name and histrionic reputation to promote the show. Only after she was hired was it found she couldn’t sing. This must have been former Warner Bros. executives that “hired” Lucille Ball for MAME before running film to she what she looked like (blurred) or hearing her sing. That they both did MASTER CLASS was smart: they’re intelligent women who deserved better. And you don’t have a look.

[@jayhartbarger2793]

she just doesn't seem to connect with the audience. Her line readings have uneven timings and her accent seems to be unable to settle on an interpretation.

[@organboi]

Exactly. It's horrendous.

[@johnpickford4222]

@ jayhartbarger2793: That may have been lack of rehearsal and poor direction than her. She was on fire and excellent in Detroit Michigan. Also, someone is making a bootleg film and not capturing her at her best. She was smart enough to buy the film rights!!

[@johnpickford4222]

@@organboi: Evidently you don’t use the most organ, the brain, for comprehension and thought pros. And “boi”, you don’t have a look or are good looking!

[@stephentaylor8339]

@@johnpickford4222 i saw her in Columbus, Ohio and she was amazing! I don't get some of the hate from other people in this comment section.

[@ErnestoSanchezNeto]

So removed from Callas … Patti Lupone was better in her mannerisms, Zoe was better in her accent. The best one were the Mexican actress Diana Bracho and France’s Fanny Ardant, their mise en scene were 10 times better too, McNally and Foglia were impressed with what they did overseas.

[@richybruce1]

She's horrid.

[@williammazur3099]

She can’t do the voice. She’s always Faye, this isn’t Callas

[@lesrolon40]

Patti Lupone does her better

[@michaelisennock8391]

Terrible. She is imitating the imitators. Zoe WAS Callas.

[@roberthorn1838]

I have the julliard masterclasses on CD. In my opinion this is a badly written play, leaning on the obvious and the vulgar and not capturing the essential Callas at all. Dunaway has done much splendid work, but not in this, in my opinion. She is certainly not helped by the play

[@trikywu]

I'm sure she was great in this. But she must have been a nightmare to work with.

[@fkrgebs6773]

Somehow she is too American for this part. She is too light in her appearance. One doesn’t believe her the big career. She doesn’t have the posture of a singer.

[@johnflynn9619]

Wrong Faye was Magnificent in the role.

[@fkrgebs6773]

@@johnflynn9619 Honey! …. Get a Look! 🙃

[@DianaDistorted]

This is so wonderful to see! Suzan Hanson (singing "Vieni t'affretta") was my voice teacher in community college for about 3 years and not only is she a wonderful performer with a great career still, she is a great teacher and literally the sweetest, kookiest, most wonderfully supportive lady on the planet. She believed in me unfailingly, even when I didn't. I adore her and it's so special to see this footage of her. Faye isn't bad either. ;)

[@foteinisoultanaki6474]

Diana Pinto Beans

[@detoxmuscle]

She’s a brilliant actress. ❤

[@Axel-hw6hk]

One of my dream roles. Faye embodied Callas more than anyone. Even the way she spoke matched how Callas did.

[@miltsar]

sorry but Callas did not speak like that...Callas, who originally spoke a New Yorkese accent cultivated an upper-class accent with a slight mid-European pronunciation..Dunaway does a middle of the road , cliched great lady accent...

[@nondescript2892]

​@@richardmayora1289as opposed to Callas who was a native New Yorker?