Amadeus - NT

Well I just loved this. It's long, and you start to feel it a little in Act 2, but it's absolutely gorgeous. The language is so beautiful, so dense and delicious, and it's delivered and performed here superbly by all, not least in the incredible contrasting central performances of Msamati and Gillen. Msamati can more than hold the Olivier in the palm of his hand, having as all laugh out loud or as quiet as mice. Gillen is a grotesque and irritating Mozart, and totally captivating. He errs completely on the right side of a caricature of a real person, giving him the exact right amount of humanity to make him believable. Other stand outs for me were Karla Crome as Contanze & Tom Edden as Joseph II.

The look is gorgeous, costume & lighting are sumptuous, the Southbank Sinfonia and the singers are just sensational.

Don't know if I'd stretch to a full 5*, but 4* without hesitation.

Agreed. He's been wonderful in everything I've seen him in, so was taken aback at the negative responses here. Obviously shaping it in previews I think (which is what they are for). Can't wait now.

I'm sure it was nowhere near as long in Chichester; wonder what has made such a difference this time?

It wasn't as long in Chichester. I could not work out why this production was so lengthy other than some of the transitions between scenes were sluggish getting the orchestra on and off. The running time may shorten as the run progresses.

As usual the critics have gone overboard with 4 and 5 stars for this. The production certainly had it's moments - the staging at the end of Act One for example and hearing the music played live for the first time in any production to my knowledge was great but some odd directing choices and generally a cluttered production I thought.

At the risk of sounding a bit tin foil hat I do think a combination of the NT (Rufus) being too big to fail, the busted up drum, the bold decision to have a black leading man (who isn't a household name) and the author of the piece dying recently means this was never going slated however bad it was. Despite my ranting it definitely had 4 star potential but the NT never gets taken to task over bad productions. Damned by Despair still got three stars!

I mean, we don't *need* to imagine the fuss if a white actor were to play Martin Luther King, someone did actually try that not so very long ago. Of course, the difference is that almost any narrative concerning Martin Luther King will by its very nature be *about* race, whereas Amadeus is a slightly more universal tale that has literally nothing to do with the colour of anybody's skin. If we can colour-blind cast Shakespeare's Histories, we can colour-blind cast Amadeus, after all it's about as based in true historical fact as the Shakespeare.

Enjoy your bunker, but one might suggest that if one isn't so interested in having a discussion, then maybe there could be steps taken that aren't, I don't know, posting on a discussion board.

I think the casting works in Amadeus, Saileri is an outsider-an Italian in an Austrian court and Msamati is, for the most part, an outsider on the stage. I am still of the belief (and maybe as a mixed race person I notice it more) that parts aren't written for black people in the way they have been for white so we need to come along and claim the good ones. Most modern writing is colour blind. I think Linda at the Royal Court is a great example of this and that is why the last minute casting change worked. It is no more offensive than English accented people in Macbeth.

I have absolutely no time for "What about if whites did it" argument. They have and if the actor is good enough I have no problem with it but I doubt they have the urge to play black roles when they have so many roles for Caucasian actors at their disposal.

Just returned a £15 dress circle seat for this on Tues night, if anyone wants to keep an eye out for it on the system. Booked too far ahead and, as a result, couldn't go!

He is acting the part as written. Fine, say Mozart was a calm, reserved guy if you like but that isn't the part Schaffer has written. Same Richard III, might have been a lovely chap, loved children, ideal husband but that isn't what Shakespeare wrote. 

I liked this. I thought Salieri and Mozart were excellent, less impressed by Constanze, her accent grated more than any of Mozart’s ranting and raving. The orchestra were great, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea to have them continually coming to and from the stage. Presumably the chair shifting and scenery changing has got a lot smoother than it was during the previews but it still seemed pretty clunky to me. The whole thing might have been a bit less frantic had the orchestra been permanently situated on the elevated section at the back of the stage leaving the actors to get on with it at the front – though having said that I liked the effect when they lowered the drum to replicate a proper orchestra pit.



In general though, a quintessential Olivier cast-of-thousands (well, dozens at least) production and a good night out.

Anyone know when the next booking period will open please ?

Thanks in advance.