Amadeus takes the stage at Cornell; international actor to play Salieri

Roshan Seth as Antonio Salieri, back, and Benjamin Williams as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Peter Shaffer's haunting play Amadeus, on stage at the Schwartz Center April 26-May 5. Call 254-ARTS for tickets. Charles Harrington/University Photography

What is genius? Russian poet Alexander Pushkin tackled this question in his dramatic poem Mozart and Salieri. Playwright Peter Shaffer continues the debate 150 years later with his play, Amadeus.

This Tony Award-winning play is a spectacular season finale for Cornell theater. Amadeus opens April 26 at 8 p.m. in the Kiplinger Theatre of the Sheila W. and Richard J. Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. Performances continue April 27-28 and May 2-5 at 8 p.m. One matinee will be offered May 5 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $7 (students/seniors) and $9 (general). There will a discussion with the actors and members of the production team after the May 4 performance. Box office hours are 12:30-5:30 pm, weekdays, 254-ARTS.

Set in the splendor of 18th century Vienna, this haunting and often wickedly funny play pits driving human ambition against heavenly genius.

"Shaffer has woven historical detail into a dramatic experience that bursts with theatricality and invention. His Salieri is a remarkable creation: a man who battles God in a vain attempt to silence Mozart's genius," said director David Feldshuh. Feldshuh is the artistic director of the Schwartz Center and most recently directed The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Amadeus is told through the eyes of Salieri and Cornell theater has brought talented international actor Roshan Seth to play this challenging leading role. Seth has worked extensively in India, Britain and the United States in film, television and theater. His major films include Vertical Limit, Such a Long Journey, Gandhi, Mississippi Masala and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He has toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company's A Midsummers Night's Dream and performed as The Fool opposite Anthony Hopkins' King Lear at the National Theatre in London.

Seth joins a talented cast of Cornell students and residents professional actors. Students in primary roles include Ben Williams as Mozart, Kristina Watkins as Katherine Cavalieri, Shari Perkins as Teresa Salieri, Jess Heley as Constanze Weber and Ben Shiffren as Van Swieten. RPTAs in this lavish production include Marc Moritz as Joseph II, Bill Richert as Von Strack, Brian Russell as Venticello and Tim True as Rosenberg.

Designing Amadeus' rich and opulent costumes is guest costume designer Susan Branch. Branch has designed costumes for Griffelkin for the New York City Opera, many off-Broadway productions, the Utah Shakespeare Festival and Yale Rep, among others. Rounding out the design team are Kent Goetz (scene design), Ed Intemann (lighting) and Warren Cross (sound).