Develop a #grownladycrush on Maria Callas during ‘Master Class’ at the Dr. Phillips Center this weekend

There was a hashtag on Twitter last week, #grownladycrush, that trended briefly after being mentioned on NPR. And after everyone got done nominating their moms and grandmas, some pretty admirable ladies were named: Elizabeth Warren, Gloria Steinem, Emmylou Harris. But there was something missing among the worthy women, a certain lack of badassery, that could’ve been remedied if anyone had included this #grownladycrush: Maria Callas.

Scandal, controversy and myth accrued around the life of the operatic soprano known as La Divina, the iconic bitch-goddess who was immortalized not just in the recordings she left behind or the still-told tales of her legendary feuds and stormy love affairs (including the central one of her life, with Aristotle Onassis pre-Jackie O), but also in the Terrence McNally play Master Class. Sung music by Verdi, Bellini and Puccini ornaments Florida Opera Theatre’s first theatrical production, a Tony Award-winning show that uses the framing device of a Juilliard class taught by Callas near the end of her career to explore the Everest-peak highs and Mariana Trench lows of her life. The members of audience are the “students” to whom the diva lectures, so look sharp: You might get called on.

8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13-16 | Alexis and Jim Pugh Theater, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. | 844-513-2014 | drphillipscenter.org | $33.75-$69.75 

This article appears in Nov 11-17, 2015.