Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo as Maria Callas in May’s must-see stage event

Experience the brilliance of Maria Callas through the unforgettable performance of Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo this May.

Long before a Filipino audience revisits the formidable persona of opera legend Maria Callas onstage this year, the world has once again been reminded of her mythic presence. This time, through Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie. 

In the 2024 biographical film “Maria,” Jolie stepped into the role of the legendary soprano, often called “La Divina.”

For Philippine theater audiences, the memory of Callas carries a more personal resonance. Years ago, the late Cherie Gil delivered a haunting portrayal of the diva in the play “Master Class.” Now, another powerhouse actress is stepping into the demanding role: Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo.

As part of the silver anniversary celebrations of the Philippine Opera Company, the stage production returns with Lauchengco-Yulo portraying the formidable opera icon in a new staging directed by Jaime del Mundo. According to Lauchengco-Yulo, she was asked to play Callas by producer Karla Gutierrez.

A role once inhabited by Cherie Gil

Lauchengco-Yulo admits the memory of Gil’s portrayal still lingers. “Cherie was a wonderful Callas. I still remember her performance,” she said. But she is careful not to treat the role as imitation. 

“Of course, my attack will be different because we are two different people to begin with. But we are playing a real person. I will not try to mimic Callas, but get the essence of Callas and what she represents,” she said in an exclusive interview with Radar Entertainment.

The complicated woman behind the legend

Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Terrence McNally, “Master Class” imagines Callas late in life, conducting a singing master class in the 1970s. Alternately dismayed and impressed by the students who parade before her, she retreats into recollections about the glories of her life and career: her fierce rivalries, the unforgiving press, triumphs at La Scala, and her relationship with Aristotle Onassis.

The role requires an actress capable of embodying both authority and vulnerability, something Lauchengco-Yulo believes resonates deeply with performers. “I can empathize with Maria Callas because all artists, particularly women, as we get older, the quality of our voice, looks, and physical energy start to deteriorate,” she reflected. “So it definitely starts to get harder to perform. That’s why we tend to branch out and do other things—teach, write, direct.”

Still, she acknowledges that Callas’ life carried a far heavier burden. “I am lucky that my life has not been as difficult as Maria Callas,” she added. “I have certainly had my share of good and bad reviews, but I always take them to better myself.”

Bringing the diva back to the stage

For context, other actresses who have taken on Callas include Fanny Ardant in “Callas Forever” (2002) and Tyne Daly on Broadway and the West End, while Marina Abramović explored the soprano through performance art in “7 Deaths of Maria Callas.”

“Master Class” opens May 15 and runs throughout the month at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium inside RCBC Plaza in Makati, with Friday and Saturday evening performances and weekend matinees. 

For audiences, it is a chance to encounter Callas once again—not through the lens of Hollywood, but through the immediacy of live theater, where the legendary soprano’s brilliance, insecurities, and contradictions can unfold in real time.

 

 

I am lucky that my life has not been as difficult as Maria Callas. I have certainly had my share of good and bad reviews, but I always take them to better myself.

Menchu Launchengo-Yulo

 

 

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