The Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre gave a bold presentation of the play, "Amadeus"." Amadeus" is thought to be a fictional account of the relationship between composers, Salieri and Mozart. Mozart was Salieri's rival. The resentment of Salieri to Mozart's musical talent turned into an intense hatred of Mozart's genius. Peter Shaffer's play is overly long, but the Civic's production did not seem so. In a conversation with the director, Robert Sorbera, he jokingly referred to the play as a" three hour Salieri monologue".
John Michael Goodson was superb as Salieri. Talking to the audience for much of the show is a difficult task.
At times he started his monologues too high and loud. Thus he had no place to go. Goodson carried the show wonderfully. As Mozart, Jeremy Allen Brimm, gave an energetic and delightful performance. Adam O. Crowe was authoritative as Count Orsini- Rosenberg. Alan Whaley was royal and funny as the emperor. Mikayla Anne Reed was a fiery, Constanze, Mozart's wife. Members of this talented cast had to speak many languages, but did it with ease.
The technical side to this ambitious production was very difficult. The set and lighting design by Ryan Koharchik was excellent. The costuming by Jean Engstrom was lavish. Robert Sorbera expertly blended the technical with the acting to make a very successful result.
