Skip to main content
AMADEUS

            Antonio Salieri (Ian Merrill Peakes) pleads with God 
Theaters are known to have ghosts. I saw one last night at  the Folger Theater.  It was Antonio Salieri,  in the starring role of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus. 
As in his life, he played the bitter court composer at odds with the brilliant Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  Once again, as in his life, he is not given credit as he always felt was his proper due for the program notes credit Ian Merrill Peakes as Salieri.
In Amadeus, Salieri is a ghostly figure who in his last hours before dying re-lives the story about how he is responsible for Mozart’s death.  Peakes is more than superb as the 18th century Viennese court composer whose rivalry with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is the stuff of this all consuming bitterness. Indeed Peakes is a strong actor for sure, but it is truly Salieri who takes over the stage in angry moments when he rages at God for placing  musical genius in a person such as the silly Mozart.
As the giddy Mozart,  Samuel Adams is also splendid—so alive, vibrant, fun —until his end when he isn’t of course.  Peakes and Adams are in sync in portraying these two who are opposite in every way from their manners to their music.
The staging was perfect.  What better way to set the tone for a drama about composers then place it in the inners of a giant musical instrument.  The strings that stretched to the height of the stage created perfect paths for the cast:  Justin Adams, Louis Butelli, Lilli Hokama, John Taylor Phillips, and Deidra LaWan Starnes to weave in and out of the scenes.
The story behind Amadeus  is suppose to be fictious.  An evening at this remarkable performance by Peakes and company—and with those solo moments by Salieri acting as himself— totally convinced me that it is all true.
Folger’s production of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus.  Performances will run through December 22.
CREDITS: Photography by C. Stanley Photography


Popular posts from this blog

  Once is here again!   The Brooklyn Gallery Players reach into the treasure chest of great musicals to bring Once alive and on stage in Brooklyn (until to December 17, 2023). Director Mark Gallagher , and Music Directors David Fletcher and Brendon McCray have crafted a vibrant production, seamlessly integrating the 15 member cast in roles  as both actors and musicians. Set in Dublin, the  formula for the poignant love triangle  is simple. Patrick Newhart  plays Guy, an Irish musician who has given up  on love as he sings the award winning classic  Falling.  Newhart mastered the bombastic busking guitar style and performed each of his songs with intensity and passion Sophie Smith-Brody  is Girl,  a Czech woman  who will inspire him to try again both in  love and with music. Smith-Brody performed each of her disparate songs with aplomb,  from the opening classical piece to her plaintive solos – If You Want...
Read more
  Sarah Ruhl’s Orlando — sparkling wit and ageless wisdom —   at   Constellation Theatre — gone but not forgotten In Virginia Woolf’s Orlando A Biography ,  the eponymous hero undergoes many changes over the centuries— from roles in society and relationships to sex change.  Since the time travel gender bending work was published in 1928, this his/her story has continued to undergone adaptions to its original form, from analytical scholarly critiques to crowd pleasing  movies and stage plays.  Constellation Theatre Company continued  the tradition with its amazing presentation of Sarah Ruhl’s narrative play Orlando .    Five actors  take on dozens of roles as characters or in the  chorus to keep the story at its rapid pace,  condensing events spanning almost five centuries into 100 minutes.   Orlando (Mary Myers) is  ever the aristocrat whether as a page in the court of  Queen Elizabeth I (Alan Naylor)...
Read more
From EUGENE ONEGIN  to  DER ROSENKAVALIER  (Or Everything you want to know about love is at the MET OPERA) Great music and great literature meet on a great stage at the Met Opera’s production of Eugene Onegin on the big screen on April 25, 2017.  The words are Pushkin’s from his  Russian novel-poem.  The music is by Tchaikovsky  for what he termed “lyrical scenes.” Tchaikovsky’s music is forever embedded in our consciousness  with his fantasy ballets like  Nutcracker   and Swan Lake .   Pushkin’s work has provided the inspiration for dozens of musical works, including another famous Russian opera, Boris Godunov.     This team of Tchaikovsky and Pushkin is a sure thing but while there are many scholarly interpretations of Pushkin’s work, there is none that so gets it at its core as this opera. Using the very words from Pushkin’s poem,  Tchaikovsky built the opera through a series of powerful co...
Read more