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EINE KLEINE NACHTMUSIK
John F. Kennedy was a profligate adulterer.
Alfred Hitchcock was a closeted sadist. Jerry
Lee Lewis married his 13-year-old cousin.
Judy Garland was addicted to pills. Whitney
Houston was addicted to crack. William S.
Burroughs shot his wife. Ezra Pound was an
Axis propagandist. Michael Jackson molested
young boys. Elvis... let's not get started on
Elvis.
While we have been told since childhood
that each of us is special in his or her own
special way, the hard fact is that most of us
are destined to live out our lives as worker
bees, one or two paychecks away from skid
row and taking our simple pleasures where we
can. We lack the crucial mix of talent and
ambition that leads to extraordinary lives
of brilliance and fame. It follows then that
people who do achieve these heights are wired
differently than the rest of us in all sorts of •
bizarre and shocking ways. In order to appre
ciate genius, it is often necessary to separate
the artist from the art.
The inability to do this very thing is
the tragedy that drives Peter Shaffers play
Amadeus. For those unfamiliar with the play
or the Academy Award-winning 1984 film, it
is the story of the rivalry between Wolfgang
Mozart, the wunderkind prodigy who com
posed some of the most enduring music of
all time, and Antonio Salieri, composer for
the court of Austrian Emperor Joseph II,
who discovers that his rising star has been
eclipsed by a vulgar, giggling man-child who
possesses a talent that dwarfs his own, caus
ing him to declare war on God.
Music, empire, blasphemy
and revenge. It takes a sure
hand and serious skill to bring
these themes to life, and the
Town & Sown Players' produc
tion of Amadeus does not dis
appoint. Director Terrell Austin
and her cast and crew have put
together a remarkable show,
or.e that will please the eyes
and challenge the mind.
Told in flashback by an
aged Salieri (Allen Rowell) in
his last hour of life, the play
opens with the highly antici
pated arrival of Mozart (Patrick
Naijar) in Vienna. Having
gained fame as a child with
his ability to play blindfolded
and compose concerti, the
adult Mozart is preceded by
rock-star buzz. Salieri, eager
to learn what all the hype is
about, is blindsided at a party when he dis
covers Mozart rolling around on the floor with
his girlfriend Constanze (Chelsea Toledo) and
then hears one of his compositions, a work of
such wondrous ability that Salieri is convinced
it must be a fluke. He soon discovers, how
ever, that Mozart is the real deal, a fact that
he alcne in the court of the tin-eared Emperor
(Tim Dowse) and his conservative lackeys
realizes. Maddened by envy, Salieri curses God
for afflicting him with personal mediocrity
and a torturous appreciation for Ms rival's
unique acumen. He vows to destroy God's
unworthy vessel and dares the Creator to
stop him. Unfortunately, despite his talent,
Mozart's unwillingness to compromise and
kowtow to the court, coupled with his egoma
nia and wretched excesses, makes him fairly
easy to destroy.
This is a flat-out gorgeous production. The
set is stately and baroque, done in gold and
burgundy and faux marble. Scene changes are
accomplished through the movement of furni
ture and the use of a giant picture frame with
changing images appropriate to each scene.
Ai is to be expected, the costumes are bright
and brocaded approximations of period dress
(I want Salieri's second-act coat so badly it
hurts) and, amazingly, nobody's powdered wig
looks ridiculous.
As for the performances, the rest of the
cast is very good. Naijar is appropriately
over-the-top as he puts his Mozart through
his giggling, petulant paces, and Toledo is a
charming ingenue; they make a cute couple.
Dowse is wonderfully dense as the Emperor,
and the courtiers conduct their intrigues
with the requisite pomposity. The play,
however, belongs to Salieri,
and this production belongs
to Rowell. Onstage for virtu
ally the entire play, shifting
visibly between Salieri's older
and younger selves, and run
ning the gamut from rage to
remorse while hitting all the
stops in between, Rowell deliv
ers an intense and mesmer
izing performance that put
me very much in mind of John
Malkovich when he's eaten his
Wheaties. Never mind that this
is community theater; there are
professionals who couldn't pull
off this role so well. Seriously.
Fair warning to parents: this
is a long production, clocking
in at over two hours, and it
incorporates some adult lan
guage and situations. This is
definitely a play for grown-ups,
so find a sitter if you have to,
but make plans to see Amadeus.
John G. Nettles
Amadeus w\\ continue at Athens Community Theatre
Thursday-Saturday, Apr. 19-21, at 8 p.m., and
Sunday, Apr. 22, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15, $8 for stu
dents with ID on Thursday. For reservations call (706)
208-8696.
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10 FLAGPOLE.COM APRIL 18,2012