Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep is set to star in Master Class for HBO Films. Oscar winner Mike Nichols (The Graduate) is directing the film version of Terrence McNally’s Tony winning play about the iconic Maria Callas, with McNally adapting his own work.
“We are delighted to welcome back the incomparable Mike Nichols and the gifted Meryl Streep, whose collective brilliance shone on HBO with Angels in America almost ten years ago,” said Michael Lombardo, President of HBO programming. “Terrence McNally’s riveting play about the iconic Maria Callas is the perfect platform for these two consummate talents.”
“It is a terrific play written with awareness of a great artist’s process,” stated Nichols, “and it will be one great artist playing another.”
Filming will take place early next year.
The Plot:
Originally mounted for the stage in 1995 and starring Zoe Caldwell, the Tony Award-winning Master Class was inspired by the legendary master classes that operatic great Maria Callas gave in the early ‘70s at the Julliard School. Amidst these classes with her hand-picked students, the indomitable Callas challenges her pupils while giving insight into the nature of her art and revealing the highs and lows of her storied life with passion, humor and deep emotion.
