By Anthony Ellison
New Review Chicago Reader
AmadeusIt’s possible to pull off Amadeus on a shoestring budget–strip away the Hapsburgian frippery and there’s a seething, human core to Peter Shaffer’s 1979 historical drama in which court composer Antonio Salieri finds himself on the wrong end of a rivalry with Mozart. But Doug Long’s production fails to tap into the play’s raw fury. And despite the shoddiest set and worst wig jobs this side of RuPaul’s Drag Race, it doesn’t rise to the level of camp, either. That’s a shame, because Long has a fine Salieri in Larry Garner, who’s found the right mix of pathos and drollery. The other members of the cast almost manage to be charming. Almost. Oak Park’s Village Players really needs to up its game. –Leon Hilton
Breakdown of Leon Hilton’s review of Amadeus:
Leon was apparently operating on much more than a “shoestring budget” using million dollar references like the old faithful adjective ‘Hapsburgian’ in the first sentence. And thank god too, because he really dressed up the far too ambiguous noun ‘frippery’. But I was thinking to myself, “Whoa, Whoa, Whoa Leon! You busted out the literary hammer on my brain way too early! How are you going to keep up this fripperian pace?” Then in vintage Hilton fashion, he drops the “raw fury” bomb right on our foreheads, to remind us that Leon criticizes for passion, not glory.
By choice, Leon chooses to throw a paradox right at our Fripperial Cortexes by belittling the wigs and the set 50 words after he declared it ‘possible’ and almost forgiving to put up a low budget, respectable version of Amadeus. So just stop trying to figure Leon out and trust me when I say that he is a man who knows to expect a low budget costume and set display from a small theatre putting up a period piece. And even though, he forgot to really tell us anything about the actual acting or direction, he made his way around to mentioning everyone’s favorite current transvestite, RuPaul. Because Leon, I agree. The world has not heard enough about him. Almost charming? No, Leon, you can color me all the way charmed.
So Cheers, Leon! Here’s to putting the ‘r’ back in front of the ‘e’, in theater!
Join us every Friday for this new satirical series by Sponsored Troupe Member Anthony Ellison. You can see Anthony perform with Counter Productive Lover in our Comedy Showcase. Check www.cicomedy.com for listings