Wine County Theatre presents Amadeaus
Salieri, played by John Laird, destroys Mozart, played by Ayrton Parham, leaving the musical genius destitute and on the verge of madness in Wine Country Theatre’s production of Amadeus.
–Wine Country Theatre, a professional-caliber community theatre based in Paso Robles that presents plays at the Park Street Ballroom, will be presenting Peter Shafter’s Amadeaus, opening Nov. 18 and running through Dec. 4. Amadeus is suitable for a PG-13 audience. Wine, cheese, desserts and snacks are available to purchase and may be enjoyed during the performance. Tickets are $25 General and $15 for Students. For tickets and information go to the website: www.WineCountryTheatre.com or call 1-800-838-3006.
Featuring a cast of thirteen local actors, including John Laird as Salieri and Ayrton Parham as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the play is,” Considered to be the most ambitious play we’ve done yet,” states Wine Country Theatre Executive Director Cynthia Anthony. “It is a modern classic, set in a revolutionary time. A few years after Mozart died, the French Revolution began. Mozart himself was revolutionary, and many around him did not understand the changes and transitions represented in music and culture. Most of all, the play is exceedingly human and timeless.”
About the play
Set amidst the opulent splendor of late 18th-century imperial Vienna, Shaffer’s thrilling, often wickedly funny play pits the righteousness and narrow ambitions of a mediocre musician against the dazzling aura of a heavenly genius. Amadeus is a provocative work that combines the confrontation between mediocrity and genius into a dramatically powerful tale of the brilliant composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his rival Salieri.
In the court of the Austrian Emperor Josef, Antonio Salieri is the established composer. Enter the most brilliant musical talent of all time: Mozart. Salieri has devoted himself to God in order to realize his sole ambition to be a great composer. Mozart is a young, foul-mouthed oaf who has that one quality which is well beyond Salieri’s envious grasp: Genius. Envy, scandal, comedy and murder are the result of a mediocre man’s attempt to destroy the God given talent of another. Combined with the astoundingly beautiful music of Mozart and the darkest of jealousies, this complex story has been lauded throughout the world, having won the Tony Award for Best Play and the Academy Award for Best Film.
