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Theatre 2000 Regent Centre Christchurch September 2004 The audience, whom Callas addresses throughout, is given an insight into techniques of stagecraft and voice production as the semi-retired opera diva re-lives her career through her pupils and reflects, often bitterly, on her rivals, the scandals of her love life and her days as opera’s greatest star. And if it isn’t quite the emotional roller coaster that one might expect, the fault can only lie in the script and not in this most enjoyable production. Tracey Barrington is ideally cast as the glamorous, demanding, larger-than-life Greek-American, dominating the stage through the sheer force of her personality, although it is a pity that the script allows us to hear so little of her superb voice. Her ‘victims’ - Helen Walton, Neil Maxfield and Liz Ferrie, all perform well and Liz, especially, sings thrillingly. But I was a little bemused that, of the three, only Neil attempted an American accent, while both on-stage accompanist Manny (Neil Sissons) and stage-hand (Martin Mansfield) were also obviously immigrants from across the pond. But let that pass. A Greek accent did Callas no harm. Linda Kirkman Courtesy of the Bournemouth Daily Echo 
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