ABOUT THE PLAY

 

It is a cold winter evening and a houseman attempts to rouse his master, former glorified Vienese court composer Antonio Salieri. Being unsuccessful knocking, they force Salieri s bedroom door opne and find him on the floor, bleeding from a knife wound to the neck. They carry him to a mental hospital, where his wound is bound up, and a priest comes to see him the next day. The priest attempts to get him to explain why he would try to take his own life and the play flashes back, with Salieri narrating, to how he met Mozart and became insanely jealous of his talent.

 

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CAST & CREATIVE (London)

Antonio Salieri - David Suchet

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -  Michael Sheen

Constanze Weber -  Lucy Whybrow

Joseph II - Charles Kay

Count Johann Kilian Von Strack -  Peter Blythe

Count Orsini-Rosenberg -  Christopher Benjamin

Baron Van Swieten -  Karl Johnson

Venticelli - Ken Sabberton

Venticelli - Jake Broder

Major Domo, Servant - Paul Stewart

Salieri's Valet, Servant - William Sleigh

Salieri's Cook - David Brierley

Guiseppe Bonno - Peter Gordon

Teresa Salieri - Leda Hodgson

Katherina Cavalieri - Chloe Davis

Servants - Nick Atkinson, Andrew Joseph,

Stuart H. Lang, Lawrence Mcgrandles

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Author - Peter  Shaeffer

Director - Peter Hall

Designer - William Dudley

Lighting Designer -  Paule Constable

Sound Designer -  Matt Mckenzie

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CAST & CREATIVE (New York)

Antonio Salieri - David Suchet

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Michael Sheen

Constanze Weber - Cindy Katz

Joseph II David McCallum

Count Johann Kilian Von Strack - J.P. Linton

Count Orsini-Rosenberg - Terence Rigby

Baron Van Swieten - Michael Keenan

Venticelli - Jake Broder

Venticelli - Charles Janasz

Major Domo, Servant - John Rainer

Salieri's Valet, Servant - William Ryall

Salieri's Cook - Robert Machray

Guiseppe Bonno - John Towey

Teresa Salieri - Glynis Bell

Katherina Cavalieri - Kate Miller

Servants - Jeffrey Bean, Geoffrey Blaisdell,

Dan Mason,Kevin Orton,Brian Rardin

Antonio Salieri (Standby) Rocco Sisto

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Author - Peter  Shaeffer

Director - Peter Hall

Designer - William Dudley

Lighting Designer -  Paule Constable

Sound Designer -  Matt Mckenzie

 

QUOTES & REVIEWS (London)

Amadeus is back in town; and very welcome too. It is highly theatrical, superbly directed and boasts a star performance by David Suchet  The Guardian

A cracking night out  Daily Telegraph

Amadeus is the perfect example of the theatrical...it is theatre that smells of theatre  Sunday Times

A lavish impressive revival...music to die for  Mail on Sunday 

Excellent  Times

Supreme  Sunday Independent

A riveting spectacle...enthralling  Evening Standard

Bewitching  Observer

Gripping   Daily Telegraph 

Spine tingling  Independent on Sunday

Outstanding  Daily Telegraph

Superlative revival  What’s on

You must go  News of the World

Top drawer Entertainment Express

Astonishing... A great, great revival  BBC Radio Three

Theatrically daring, intellectually rigorous and emotionally heartbreaking  What’s on

This Amadeus has the power to move as well as amuse... leaves you craving more  Time Out

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David Suchet is  first class.. Superb...a performance of terrific precision and controlled passion...wonderfully compelling  Daily telegraph

David Suchet at his peak...to miss one of his performances now is to be deprived of a great experience  Jewish Chronicle

His performance has an almost olivier-like quality strong and beautifully detailed throughout  Sunday Telegraph

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Sheen’s remarkable Mozart is like a bright star  Evening Standard

Michael sheen s transfixing virtuoso performance spans the octaves of emotion and hits all the right notes Mail on Sunday  

He establishes himself as a young actor of the first rank  The Times

Michael Sheen is  blisteringly brilliant  What’s on

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Peter Hall's production is staged with huge style.. A director at the height of his powers  Daily Telegraph

Hall at his best....the new production is even better than the original  Sunday Telegraph

Highly theatrical, superbly directed The Guardian

Peter Hall's production is an immaculate piece of staging Sunday Times

Peter Hall's stunning revival, as close to perfection as you’ll find anywhere  News of the World

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Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus  stands the hard test of time  Evening Standard

William Dudley’s design is ravishing  Observer  

Breathtaking Daily mail  

Exquisite  Evening Standard

A modern masterpiece... An evening as uplifting as any Mozart symphony  News of the World

Wickedly enjoyable...endlessly fascinating  What’s on

Brilliant.. Pure genius.. Theatre of outstanding quality  Jewish Chronicle

Rarely does one witness a spontaneous genuine standing ovation  News of the World

 

QUOTES & REVIEWS (New York)

 

Nominations: 2000 Tony Award® Best Revival of a Play and 2000 Tony Award® Best Actor in Play/David Suchet

 

Certain actors seem haloed in heat, even in cold climates. In the less than fiery new revival of Peter Shaffer's ''Amadeus,'' which opened last night at the Music Box Theater, a 30-year-old Welshman named Michael Sheen projects the kind of air-warping waves given off by blacktop in the August sun.

 

It's not just that in this popular drama's title role, that of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mr. Sheen is often in a state of manic motion; it's that his body temperature would seem to be several degrees higher than that of anyone else on stage. Watching him trace Mr. Shaffer's conception of a child prodigy grown up into prodigious childishness, you start to appreciate the derivation of the term star. This actor is so luminous it's scary.

 

It is hard, however, to imagine anyone not shrinking into the shadows before the white-hot Mozart of Mr. Sheen, who recently scored a critical triumph in London in John Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger.'' The perspiration that bedews him here as his character slides toward his early grave has the look of glitter, just as in his earlier scenes the glittering embroidery on his jacket (also designed by Mr. Dudley) seems as organic as sweat. Attention producers: if you're looking for someone to give physical credence to the romantic idea of the flame that consumes itself, Mr. Sheen is definitely your man. New York Times – Ben Brantley

 

a dazzling piece of theater, an original and extravagantly enjoyable style piece and popcorn costume-drama that holds a commercial stage as few works without dancing scenery can manage these days. Hall has put together an elegant production, designed by William Dudley with a dark mirrored back wall, golden chandeliers and costumes both handsome and ridiculous. Suchet, best known in this country as Hercule Poirot in PBS' "Mystery," plays Salieri as a superficially urbane but internally coarse hawk of a climber-not a bad fellow but a conflicted soul who thinks goodness is a trade-off with God and ultimately plots the destruction of his genius competition with the gusto of a vampire anticipating an especially juicy artery. If Salieri is Dracula, the prey he calls the "creature" is more of a Chucky. Sheen, a blazing talent is all that performance promised. His Mozart seems genuinely possessed by his gifts, a channeler from what Salieri sees as "God's music," unequally unable to control his obnoxious outbursts and his musical splendors. Newsday – Linda Winer

 

David Suchet, as Salieri, commands the stage for the full two and a half hours of the play, and leaves us only wanting more. The sheer energy and range of his performance is dazzling, the ultimate effect emotionally shattering. We laugh as he eagerly confesses the ironies of his life, sympathize and understand as he makes then breaks his deal with God, glory in and shudder at every little detail of his machinations, but we do not pity him. Pity requires distance and we have none, having by evening's end completely identified with his all too human and fallible portrayal.

 

If David Suchet's performance can be termed an elegant and masterful dance with fate, which it is, then Michael Sheen's Mozart provides the necessary contrast, combining social gaucheries, raw nerves, genuine innocence, and a wilful credulity in a performance as astonishing and incendiary as fireworks. Michael Sheen is an actor who confidently plays with human emotions, especially fear, as a cat plays with a mouse, producing audible gasps from the audience. He's still too young for us to know for sure, but I suspect, in Mr. Sheen, the theatre might have a worthy successor to Olivier.

 

Sir Peter Hall's direction is as trustworthy and insightful as it ever was. The production design of William Dudley is simple, appropriate and effective, and shown to advantage by Paule Constable's artful lighting. The sound design by Matt McKenzie is adequate.

 

People will be discussing this production and these performances for a long time to come. It will be recognized and honored come Spring's awards. And, rightly so.

TalkinBroadway – Thomas Burke

 

Direct from it's hit London run where it was nominated for five Olivier Awards, with a production starring the magnificent David Suchet as Antonio Salieri, the successful and assured composer who finds the demonic genuis and infantile character of the young Wolgang Amadeus Mozart, played by the brilliant young actor Michael Sheen, a challenge not only to his self-esteem but also to his faith in the goodness and justice of God. Suchet who is best known for his portrayal of Hercule Poirot on MYSTERY!, is witty and showy yet subtle in his performance. It is amazing to watch him go from a young man of 31 to an old man of 75ish and back again in a flash right before your very eyes. He also has one of the most beautiful speaking voices I have ever heard. It is worth it to see Suchet and Sheen play off one another. The Director is the famous Sir Peter Hall who opened the original Amadeus in London 20 years ago. Epinions.com

 

 

Every once in a great while, a production comes along that reminds me why I fell in love with the theatre. I have just returned from a staggering production that literally left me trembling and weeping with grateful delight. (And no, I am not  kidding!) What a wonderful, glorious thing to feel genuine awe in a theatre … While the entire production is exquisite, it is the shattering performances of the two leads that make this a historic event.  again!  Musicals101 - John Kenrick

 

David Suchet from the delightful Poirot Mystery series on PBS. This longtime veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company makes his Broadway debut as Suchet takes us along the multi-level emotional paths of this character in a performance that is in turns both understated and bravura – a masterpiece of stagecraft that reveals some of the darkest corners of the human soul. Michael Sheen is nothing less than astounding as Mozart, giving one of the most riveting and original performances I have ever seen - on Broadway or anywhere else. I will venture to say that, with only days to spare, the 20th Century has added one final name to the world's roster of great actors. But in the end, David Suchet and Michael Sheen are what make this Amadeus one of the greatest events of my theatre-going lifetime. I was not merely moved - I was blasted to bits. I urge you, beg you to do whatever you have to and see these incomparable men in Amadeus. If you truly love the theatre - not the tourist kind, but the earthshaking kind - then this production is one you will never forget. Musicals101 - John Kenrick

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