Amadeus, Amadeus
Last night I had what may quite possibly end up being the best theater experience of my life.
I saw Amadeus performed at Wilton's Music Hall, directed by John Doyle and starring Matthew Kelly as Salieri. I wasn't sure what to expect; many of the reviews aren't raves. It's only doing 30 performances for the 250th Mozart anniversary, and it's way off Broadway - all the way in the East End. I went anyway, because my classmate Kevin got 20 pound tickets, we're the only ones not in the Theater in London class and we didn't want to tag along with them to see some one-man performance piece that night.
The space alone, first of all, gave me chills. The East End is awesome - train tracks, graffiti, strange housing subdevelopments, vaguely artsy types living with extremely sketchy types. And then Wilton's itself - oh my god. It's beyond believably beautiful. It's the oldest music hall left in the world, from 1858. Most of it is unrennovated for lack of money; it only reopened in the 90s. Exposed brick and plumbing, small, weirdly shaped rooms, peeling paint, gorgeous ceilings. I would go there again just to watch someone do laundry, it's that exciting a space to be in. It was open seating, and Kevin and I got there early enough to snag center seats, second row - not bad for 20 pounds. And the hall only held maybe - maybe - 150 people. There was smoke wafting from the stage, and all the staging was done around two large drums, a keyboard and 10 gold painted chairs, with tarnished mirrors hanging all around in the background. Already I was so excited.
Then it started.
The staging is BRILLIANT. It was absolutely magical and innovative and there was no weak member of the cast. Kelly is phenomenal - his facial expressions alone could have carried the play and scared you and made you cry. The lighting was so simple but so effective, using shadow and the small space to such great results. I can't even describe it yet - I'm still digesting so much of what Doyle did to turn a 3-character opera into a concert-esque, chorus driven play.
Kevin and I didn't talk for a good twenty minutes after we left. We were 2 of three people in the audience to stand at curtain call (the Brits aren't into standing o's, apparently - this is the first I've given in years), and Kelly winked and smiled at us. We walked to Tower Hill tube and just looked at each other and said "oh my god." Shaffer's script works on so many levels, there is so much there that was for the taking - Catholicism, tensions between musicians on an ethnic level, talent as punishment, talent as reward, mediocrity as the greatest sin. Maybe it's because I haven't seen the movie in a few years but I just couldn't believe how much more there was to the script than I got from the movie.
In short: last night I saw a show that changed the way I see theater, especially musical theater, and in a space that made me want to literally squeal with joy. If you are in any - ANY - kind of position to see this show before it closes October 14, do so. And expect me to go on about it much more at length in real life, because there is so much more than what I've said here.
<3 resa
I saw Amadeus performed at Wilton's Music Hall, directed by John Doyle and starring Matthew Kelly as Salieri. I wasn't sure what to expect; many of the reviews aren't raves. It's only doing 30 performances for the 250th Mozart anniversary, and it's way off Broadway - all the way in the East End. I went anyway, because my classmate Kevin got 20 pound tickets, we're the only ones not in the Theater in London class and we didn't want to tag along with them to see some one-man performance piece that night.
The space alone, first of all, gave me chills. The East End is awesome - train tracks, graffiti, strange housing subdevelopments, vaguely artsy types living with extremely sketchy types. And then Wilton's itself - oh my god. It's beyond believably beautiful. It's the oldest music hall left in the world, from 1858. Most of it is unrennovated for lack of money; it only reopened in the 90s. Exposed brick and plumbing, small, weirdly shaped rooms, peeling paint, gorgeous ceilings. I would go there again just to watch someone do laundry, it's that exciting a space to be in. It was open seating, and Kevin and I got there early enough to snag center seats, second row - not bad for 20 pounds. And the hall only held maybe - maybe - 150 people. There was smoke wafting from the stage, and all the staging was done around two large drums, a keyboard and 10 gold painted chairs, with tarnished mirrors hanging all around in the background. Already I was so excited.
Then it started.
The staging is BRILLIANT. It was absolutely magical and innovative and there was no weak member of the cast. Kelly is phenomenal - his facial expressions alone could have carried the play and scared you and made you cry. The lighting was so simple but so effective, using shadow and the small space to such great results. I can't even describe it yet - I'm still digesting so much of what Doyle did to turn a 3-character opera into a concert-esque, chorus driven play.
Kevin and I didn't talk for a good twenty minutes after we left. We were 2 of three people in the audience to stand at curtain call (the Brits aren't into standing o's, apparently - this is the first I've given in years), and Kelly winked and smiled at us. We walked to Tower Hill tube and just looked at each other and said "oh my god." Shaffer's script works on so many levels, there is so much there that was for the taking - Catholicism, tensions between musicians on an ethnic level, talent as punishment, talent as reward, mediocrity as the greatest sin. Maybe it's because I haven't seen the movie in a few years but I just couldn't believe how much more there was to the script than I got from the movie.
In short: last night I saw a show that changed the way I see theater, especially musical theater, and in a space that made me want to literally squeal with joy. If you are in any - ANY - kind of position to see this show before it closes October 14, do so. And expect me to go on about it much more at length in real life, because there is so much more than what I've said here.
<3 resa
posted by Theresa at 12:34 PM
1 Comments:
wowww.
theresa, i have read and heard so much about this production (because i do love me some john doyle) but your post/ review was the most beautiful of all.
i love that type of semi- speechless writing after one has been stunned by the (musical) theatre ;-)
it sounds like such an incredible experience and i am jealous!
i wish there was going to be more of a life for this production... i know there was a show at wilton's music hall a few years ago that actually transferred to the west end... and with john doyle and matthew kelly attached...?
aw well. i won't get my hopes up. but that's so awesome that you got to seeeee it!!!!!
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