It is almost certain now that Antonio Salieri did not kill Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
But, even today, the myth remains because we’re still not sure what actually did cause his death. That, and it’s pretty fun to think about.
It must be.
The highly fictionalized dramatic account of the two great composers’ supposed rivalry — based in fact on a different short play, not a biography — and Salieri’s eventual murder of the prodigious prodigy has captured the imagination of theatergoers since 1979. Peter Shaffer’s “Amadeus” is one of the most enduring musicals of our time and the basis for the renowned 1984 film of the same title, which ultimately claimed more than 40 industry awards including eight Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor in a Leading Role — F. Murray Abraham as Salieri — among others).
The madness, murder and the music will come to the Bainbridge Performing Arts stage this month, helmed by returning director Kate Carruthers.
Luke Walker plays Mozart, with Nelsen Spickard starring as the homicidally-envious Salieri.
In the story — which Carruthers describes as “like an urban legend” — prominent young composer Salieri, who has made a deal with God to live piously and righteously in return for becoming a renowned composer, meets the wildly famous young prodigy Mozart and is unable to reconcile that such brilliance could possibly come from such a vulgar, lascivious man. He conspires to sully the genius’ reputation and, ultimately, to take his life in a kind of war against the God he feels betrayed and shortchanged him. Though, the modern idea of Salieri being somehow an inferior artist is not a fair depiction of the man’s work, Spickard said.
“He was well-respected in his time,” he said.
Salieri was quite famous and renowned, even during his own lifetime, and his students included such luminaries as Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonio Casimir Cartellieri, Franz Liszt and Franz Schubert.
The play, which Shaffer has rewritten several times since the movie adaptation, now reflects a much more realistic depiction of Salieri, Spickard said.
“There’s some profound changes that change a bit of the dynamic from the movie,” he explained. “In the movie, it almost seems like he’s a malevolent force hounding Mozart. He stalks Mozart. That stalking doesn’t happen in the play. He doesn’t try to drive him mad.”
“He does plot against [Mozart] in the play, but not as overtly as he does in the movie,” Carruthers agreed. “He’s terribly conflicted.”
The point of the story, Carruthers added, is much more profound and universal than what Salieri may or may not have felt about Mozart anyway.
“[Shaffer] wrote it for a reason and I think it was a device to highlight the majesty of Mozart’s music, told through the story of someone who recognizes its greatness and wanted it for himself,” she said. “So it’s the story of genius versus the mediocre. And then, in this particular story, what it does to the man who doesn’t have the gift.”
Rounding out the cast is Melissa Fenwick, Dara Lillis, Frank Buxton, Geoff Finney, Lee Ann Hittenberger, Jennifer Pippin-Montanez, among others in a cast which also boasts a live chamber group and choral ensemble.
The production opens Friday, March 11 and runs through Saturday, March 26 at Bainbridge Performing Arts (200 Madison Ave. North) with performances at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays as well as 3 p.m. Sundays. A special Pay-What-You-Can Preview is planned for 7:30 p.m. Thursday,
March 10. Tickets, $27 for adults, $22 for seniors and $19 for students, youth, military and teachers can be bought at 206-842-8569 or www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org.
Rock us, ‘Amadeus’
What: “Amadeus,” a Bainbridge Performing Arts production featuring a live chamber group and choral ensemble.
When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays as well as 3 p.m. Sundays; Friday, March 11 through Saturday, March 26, with a special Pay-What-You-Can Preview at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 10.
Where: Bainbridge Performing Arts (200 Madison Ave. North).
Admission: Tickets, $27 for adults, $22 for seniors and $19 for students, youth, military and teachers can be bought at 206-842-8569 or www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org.
