Phillyist Reviews... Amadeus

Walking into the Wilma Theater's transformed auditorium, draped in white fabric with cardboard chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, all drawn aside and covered in artificial cobwebs, it's impossible not to feel completely immersed in the world of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, thanks equally to set designer Robert Pyzocha, costume designer Janus Stefanowicz, and lighting designer Jerold R. Forsyth. Soon enough, you'll discover that it's intentional: you feel a part of the play because you are. Antonio Salieri (Dean Nolen) will be addressing you this evening, invoking you, his visitors from the future, to bear witness to this, his final night. It's only fitting that you should be attending on his whims from within his decrepit home.

But unfortunately, the stage is so elaborate that the production itself seems to fall by the wayside. It's as if director Jiri Zizka (whose work we've admired many times in the past) was so preoccupied with trying to make everything work on the set, he just "directed" by handing his actors DVD copies of the film version of Amadeus and asking them to imitate the action.

That may be unfair: Nolen did an impressive job in a role that doesn't permit him the chance to leave the action of the play for more than a few seconds at a time. He was slightly F. Murray Abraham-ish, but displayed enough talent and uniqueness so as to exempt himself from too much criticism on that front. Mary Rasmussen carried herself well as Constanze, making the role of Mozart's wife a sympathetic one – "Stanzi," the only woman in the cast with any lines to deliver, is too often portrayed as simple and needy, but Rasmussen made her defiant and fiery. And Jared McLenigan and Peter Pryor are excellent as Salieri's Venticelli (although their vinyl overcoats were baffling – aren't plastics a twentieth century invention?). Having previously played brothers (in last year's production of The Pillowman), it's no wonder that the two performers are so in synch and so quick to take up each other's cues.

The true standout in the cast, however oddly enough, is actually Christian Kaufmann, whose Emperor Joseph II is subtly stupid in the most brilliant of ways. It's a small role, and some would argue an easy one – but it's also an easy one to do badly, to take too far over the top. This is never a problem in Kaufmann's case: he plays the emperor's ignorance straight, allowing the reactions to it, rather than the acting of it, to show the audience his low IQ.

But unfortunately, all this is simply not enough. It can't be, when your title (albeit not your lead) character is a bad caricature of Tom Hulce's portrayal of him in the film. Hulce was already annoying enough, and while I like the movie overall, sometimes, I find his Mozart grating. Drew Hirshfield, playing the role at the Wilma, took this to the extreme – so much so that were I sitting in an aisle seat, I might have been tempted to leap from it and slap him. Here's the problem with the role: you're supposed to be able to relate to Salieri's resentment of him, to agree with Salieri when he calls Mozart vulgar. However, Salieri is the lead, but he's no hero. So we're not supposed to be glad when Mozart meets his early demise – which I think much of the audience was.

Amadeus has long been a favorite play of mine, but, like many great plays, it is still flawed. The biggest flaw, perhaps, is its length – not necessarily the length of the script, but the length of many productions. Although much of the play is told in flashback, Salieri still begins and ends the production as his elderly self – an elderly self who speaks. Very. Slowly. (To my recollection, this is not indicated in the script, but is a convention adapted by most who produce the play.) Nolen jumped between old and young in this part quite admirably, but at the same time, several minutes of the play might have been shaved off had the older Salieri, by all accounts (as you discover later) fit for his age, spoken a bit more quickly. Not so quickly so as to diminish the distinction between young Salieri and old – just quickly enough so as to remove the audience from its constant state of antici... pation. And as elaborate as the set is, it's not enough to distract you from the sometimes poor pacing of the piece as a whole, especially at the beginning and the end of the play.

I've long been a supporter of the Wilma, and I very much look forward to the rest of their season. So it pains me to say this, but I think that, unless you've got a lot of time to spend looking at an outstanding set, this production might not be your best bet in Philadelphia theatre right now.

Just don't sit on an aisle. Homicide in a theatre is very de classe. Just ask John Wilkes Booth.

The cast of Amadeus, by Jim Roese Photography, courtesy of the Wilma. Amadeus runs through October 27.