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Amadeus
By Peter Shaffer
Directed by Gary Griffin
At Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Navy Pier
Chicago, IL
312-595-5600, www.chicagoshakes.com
Tickets $54 - $70
Tuesdays at 7:30 pm
Wednesdays at 1 & 7:30 pm
Thursdays at 7:30 pm
Fridays at 7:30 pm
Saturdays at 3 & 8 pm
Sundays at 3 pm
Running time is 2hours, 45 minutes with intermission
Through November 9, 2008
Fantastic acting and wonderful script make “Amadeus” one of 2008’s finest productions.
Director Gary Griffin’s tight staging and marvelous casting catapults “Amadeus” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater into a theatrical treat of the first order! Anchored by the in depth and nuanced work of Robert Sella as Antonio Salieri and Robbie Collier Sublett as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, “Amadeus” brings us into the tumultuous world of Mozart as he strives for fortune and fame in Vienna at the court of Hapsburg Austrian Emperor Joseph II (Lance Baker). This is a drama of historical fiction.
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“Amedeus” is told in flashback as court composer Antonio Salieri, a dying old man in 1826, rants on about ‘killing Mozart’ in 1791. Salieri narrates this memory play from his time as a young man when Salieri made a pact with God to serve Him by creating music. As hard as he tried, Salieri realized that he was a mediocre composer—at best. Once he met and heard Mozart’s music, he realized that God had betrayed him by making Mozart the true genius composer. Adding to Salieri’s torture was the fact that he alone—a composer—realized early Mozart’s talents. Salieri’s obsessive jealousy forced him to both war with God and subtly destroy Mozart as a man and composer. Salieri hated Mozart as an “unmannered fool” and as an uncouth immature slob. Robert Sella delivers several heart wrenching speeches speaking to the nature of jealousy, the creative process and the nature of envy and the relationship of man toward God. Sella gave a tour de force performance capturing the conflicting emotions and self-realizations of a vain man. He wears his guilt marvelously through his intense eyes and body language. Robert Sella is an actor’s actor.
Robbie Collier Sublett played Mozart’s many faceted personality traits expertly. We see Amadeus as a crude, sexual boy, as an arrogant artist and as a trusting soul dedicated to the creation of divinely inspired music. Collier Sublett’s manic energy, his quirky charm and general mischievousness and creative obsessions gave Mozart a fully developed character. Collier Sublett was quite effective in act two as he deftly showed Amadeus come apart from drink, sickness and despair. We see that Mozart seeks truth from the beauty contained in music. Mozart’s vulgar, infantile and boastful behavior aided Salieri in his bitter maneuvering toward Mozart’s downfall.
The most striking self-realization for Salieri is his understanding that he gained fame but that, in reality, he is only a mediocre composer. He realizes that the worst sin is to be average—that the world is ruled by mediocre folks.
Wonderful costumes by Virgil Johnson, terrific sound design by Rob Milburn and Michael Booden featuring samples of Mozart’s music together with effective lighting by Philip Rosenberg, gave “Amadeus” expert production values. The supporting cast featured Lance Baker (Joseph II), Roger Mueller (von Strack). David Lively (Orsini-Rosenberg) and John Reeger (van Swieten) with terrific work from Elizabeth Ledo as Mozart’s wife Constanze.
The main elements of great theatre are in play here: Peter Schaffer’s powerful and profane script, tremendous acting especially from Robert Sella and Robbie Collier Sublett, and flawless production values. “Amadeus” is among the finest productions of 2008. Chicago Shakespeare should be proud of this magnificent theatrical achievement. The power of live stage to reach audiences is at work here. Don’t miss this incredible show!
Highly Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: September 17, 2008
Jeff Recommended
Amadeus
Reviewed by Beverly Friend
A debt of gratitude to Barbara Gaines and Gary Griffin for mounting this brilliant play in Chicago
A tall, slim man stands alone on the stage, clasping a folder. It is composer Antonio Salieri (Robert Sella), holding a sheaf of the original handwritten copies of the extraordinary compositions of his colleague and rival Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Robbie Collier Sublett).
Scrutinizing each sheet, Salieri paces angrily. The compositions are unmarked. That nothing is crossed out, annotated or corrected, attests to the fact that Mozart composes the work in his head so perfectly that when he sets down the notes he doesn’t need to make any changes. In frustration and anguish, bitterly jealous Salieri tosses each page to the floor, covering the stage with the papers that prove his own comparative
mediocrity.
What a brilliant scene in an equally brilliant play, with Sella portraying the tormented Salieri with luminous intensity. A Broadway veteran, Sella makes his Chicago debut in this role -- brooding, saturnine, mercurial. What can we do to persuade him to stay here? Perhaps the highly merited standing ovation he got at the play's end will provide a lure. Certainly, he is perfect for this role as the tormented Salieri who makes a Faustian
pact with God, bargaining for talent and fame only to see himself eclipsed
by a youngster to whom it all comes effortlessly.
One of the most noteworthy features of Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus," is that it is not simply a tale of evil versus good. Both composers are imperfect. Mozart may be a musical genius, but he is also an immature, amazingly crude, womanizing braggart. Salieri, who is filled with hatred of his young rival, led an exemplary life before giving in to the temptation to
bring his young colleague to ruin. Life isn't fair!
The audience watches with fascination as Salieri plans, manipulates and undercuts the unsuspecting Mozart, speaking against him to all the nobles who might offer succor: Emperor Joseph II of Austria (Lance Baker), Opera Director Count Franz Orsini-Rosenberg (David Lively), Count Johann Kilian von Strack (Roger Mueller) and Baron Gottfried van Swieten (John Reeger). He even attempts to seduce Mozart's young, winsome wife Costanze (Elizabeth Ledo). Throughout, no matter what Mozart's personal poverty and the hardships he endures, the music goes on ” with only Salieri able
to appreciate it.
Kudos to Gary Griffin for superb direction, Dan Ostling for Scenic Design,
Virgil Johnson for costumes, and to a superb supporting cast. "Amadeus," told in flashbacks, opening in the last hour of Salieri's life-- 31 years after the death of the genius he hounded to despair -- and filled with bitter ironies, premiered in London in 1979 and received five Tony Awards (including Best Play) when it opened on Broadway in 1980. The 1984 film version received eight Academy Awards (including Best Picture).
Many thanks to Barbara Gaines who suggested the play to Griffin, and to Chicago Shakespeare Theater for staging it. If you see nothing else this year, don't miss this extraordinary production!
Highly Recommended
Beverly Friend
friend@oakton.edu
Date Reviewed: September 17, 2008
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