Masterpiece Theatre saw similar success in international territories, where it reached the top thirty in Germany and Switzerland only, resulting in the release of no further singles next to "Riddle" and their departure from Elektra Records.

[2] In preparation for their next album, remaining members Terry Ellis, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones reteamed with their founders, duo Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy to work on new songs.

With the intention of recording "off-guard" material,[3] the producers took famous classical music from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Sergei Rachmaninoff, mixing them with contemporary R&B and pop elements.

[4] Originally set to be titled Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Cool, the album was later retitled Masterpiece Theatre, alluding to the same-titled drama anthology television series, known for presenting adaptations of contemporary and classic novels and biographies.

"[7] British music journalism magazine NME declared the sample-heavy results as "spectacular and deranged and even once the bow-tie operatics are over they stay inventive [...] Their absence of attitude in the lyrics lets them sound formulaic [...] but nobody can beat En Vogue for vocal technique, and the rhapsodic experiments are neo-camp genius.

"[9] Rolling Stone wrote that with Masterpiece Theatre "En Vogue still put on one hell of an act," noting that "the trio can be both polished and down-to-earth," while "lacing smooth R&B tracks with feisty lyrics.