Theater Review : Salieri Helps Undermine ‘Amadeus’

When Peter Shaffer was young, he wanted to be a composer and conductor but was sidetracked into playwriting. His “Amadeus,” like all his plays, reflects that early love. It is written like a piece of music--in this case, naturally, Mozart.

In staging this drama about composer Antonio Salieri and Mozart, about mediocrity and genius, about asking God for the wrong thing and suffering for it, director Kent Johnson of the Huntington Beach Playhouse has provided a visually effective piece. Tom Phillips, Jude Lucas and Larry Watts’ costumes look grand, and Martin Eckmann’s setting (though his lighting often is too bright) is attractive and workable for Johnson’s interesting blocking.

But Johnson has not heard the music in the writing. Particularly in this play, the action must flow continuously, whether brightly or somberly, once the rhythms of Shaffer’s gossiping “Little Winds” set the tone. Too often even slight pauses between movements, alien tempi and unwarranted arias destroy the playwright’s melody line and his dramatic counterpoint. It is a generally ponderous production, rather like Herbert von Karajan conducting Ravel.

Part of the problem is the stentorian performance by John Parker as Salieri, generally a one-note affair. He rarely gives a clear view into the character’s fear and sense of guilt, of the turmoil of Salieri’s struggle to reconcile the fame God has given his mediocrity and the godlike musical voice He has bestowed on nasty boy Mozart.

*

The one performance that helps give some semblance of musical shape to the production is Roger Shank’s as Mozart, the foul-mouthed, giggling, lascivious creator of some of the world’s most beautiful music. Shank’s senses of timing, and of the light and shade in Mozart’s slow decline, are impressive. He is funny, vibrant and, at the end, heartbreaking as he calls out in terror on his deathbed.

Melinda Zommick is very good as Mozart’s greedy, thoughtless wife, Constanze; Nick Cook is outstanding and subtle in the supporting role of Emperor Joseph II, and Peter Balaskas, David Cramer and Donald H. Faye are quite good as the Viennese courtiers who help Salieri destroy Mozart with as little concern as they would wash out his tacky mouth with soap.

* “Amadeus,” Huntington Beach Central Library, 7111 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach. Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Oct. 30. $10-$12. (714) 375-0696. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.

John Parker: Antonio Salieri

Roger Shank: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Melinda Zommick: Constanze Weber

Nick Cook: Joseph II, Emperor of Austria

Peter Balaskas: Count Johann Kilian von Strack

David Cramer: Count Franz Orsini-Rosenberg

Donald H. Faye: Baron Gottfried Van Swieten

A Huntington Beach Playhouse production of Peter Shaffer’s drama, produced by Catherine Ann Stip and Robert Inch, directed by Kent Johnson. Scenic/lighting design: Martin Eckmann. Costume design: Tom Phillips, Jude Lucas, Larry Watts. Choreography: David S. Monge. Stage manager: Paul Millet.