“Mediocrities everywhere – now and to come – I absolve you all.” Spoken by Antonio Salieri, the musical rival who torments Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart throughout Peter Shaffer’s “Amadeus”. This play, the reimagining of the lives of both 18th century composers, crackles with jealousy, betrayal, and perhaps even murder. With the glorious music of Mozart as a backdrop, this Tony Award winning play weaves a fascinating tale told in a series of flashbacks laced with humor, intrigue, and personal insight. AMADEUS examines these two men – one consumed with jealousy: the other, blissfully unaware of his extraordinary gifts. Is there a difference between talent and
genius?
In the court of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II (Zach Curtis), Antonio Salieri (Jan DeAngelo) is the established composer. Enter the greatest musical genius of all time: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Erik Young). Salieri is a tortured artist, overwhelmed by the injustice he feels at seeing God ignore his pious prayers for inspiration, only to bestow musical genius on Mozart, a silly, immature, and seemingly ungrateful vessel for such divine gifts.
Vienna is a town run on gossip, provided by the well-paid Venticelli (Foster Beach, Atticus Fauci) and with each tidbit of news, Salieri’s envy grows and he does everything he can to destroy the life of Mozart, such as attempting to seduce his young bride Constanze Weber (Marjorie Loughran) and squash his career by turning the royal men of Court: Baron van Swieten (Rick Mertens), Count Orsini-Rosenberg (Jarod Hinton), Chamberlain Johann von Strack (Rob Egan) against the young yet brilliant musician.
Under the stage direction of Kate Murray with exquisite costumes by Shannon Roma-DeAngelo a sumptuous set by Sonny DeWitt, an intense sound scape by Michael Kane and kaleidoscopic lighting palette by Gabrielle Button this show shall be a feast for the eyes, ears and soul as BLAST: Bold Local Artists of the Southern Tier immerses the audience into the Venetian Court of the 18th Century on Fridays and Saturdays January 20-21 and 27-28 at 7:30pm as well as on Sundays January 22 and 29th at 2:30pm.
Six performances only at the Cider Mill Stage, Your Hometown Theater, 2 Nanticoke Ave, Endicott, NY. All tickets are $25 and may be obtained by visiting cidermillstage.com or by calling 607-321-9630 to reserve your seats today.
