Elemental's pared-down Amadeus will have live Orchestration
Channing Gray | Providence Journal Arts Writer | Thursday, October 29, 2009
It was five years ago when actors Alexander Platt and Max Vogler, two Trinity Conservatory grads, got together at New York’s St. John The Divine to read “Amadeus,” Peter Shaffer’s imagined rivalry between Mozart and the cunning but mediocre court composer Antonio Salieri. Just when Salieri rails against God for short-changing him in the talent department, a real-life lightning storm erupted outside the Gothic cathedral.
“From the moment we read it,” said Platt, “Max said, ‘This has to happen.’ ”
Now it has. Elemental Theatre, of which Platt is artistic director, is staging “Amadeus” at Beneficent Congregational Church on Weybosset Street in Providence. The play opens in previews Thursday and runs through Nov. 22.
It is the most ambitious project to date to come out of the fringe-y theater company, which usually puts on shows written by company members. The theater is even using a ticket agency for the show, and will be taking credit cards, no less.
Instead of the usual cast of 15 actors and elaborate recorded sound, Platt, who is directing the show, has pared the players to six and has brought in a small group of live classical instrumentalists and vocalists. Salieri and Mozart are each played by a single actor, and four ensemble actors perform the other 13 roles.
“We wanted to boil the play down to its barest elements,” said Platt. “We also felt that because music is one of the most important elements, we didn’t want to just hear the music, we wanted to feel it. And the only way to do that was to have the music being performed in the room with the audience.”
To come up with a workable musical score, Platt contacted Joseph Amante, Community College of Rhode Island’s head of choral activities, and asked if there would be a way to have the music in “Amadeus” be performed by a group other than a full orchestra. Amante set to work and came up with a score for chamber instruments and a vocal quartet, all made up of CCRI students and faculty.
The play is being produced by Elemental Theatre Collective, in association with Big Table Productions, a group of educational and business leaders, students and theater artists who have come together to make the play possible. The project has involved high school and college students in just about every aspect of the show, except the acting. Students from Johnson & Wales University have been involved with the marketing and promotion. One student is taking the production photos, said Platt.
The play is being presented in the Round Top Center in the church, with alley seating — the audience lined up on either side of the action.
“We don’t want to alienate the audience,” said Platt. “It’s important that Salieri connect with the audience.” “Amadeus” is essentially a memory play, Platt pointed out. It is told by an aged Salieri, who is half crazed and looking back on his painful rivalry with Mozart.
Vogler, who is based in New York and returning for this production, plays Salieri, while Bryan Kimmelman, a newcomer to the area, plays Mozart. Platt said the “Amadeus” project is allowing Elemental Theatre to “flex” in different directions. In the future, he said, he’d love to stage Shakespeare.
“I hope this is setting the table for that,” he said.
www.projo.com
The URL link to this article is no longer functional. We have reproduced the text of the article here. Any errors are the responsibility of Elemental Theatre.
It was five years ago when actors Alexander Platt and Max Vogler, two Trinity Conservatory grads, got together at New York’s St. John The Divine to read “Amadeus,” Peter Shaffer’s imagined rivalry between Mozart and the cunning but mediocre court composer Antonio Salieri. Just when Salieri rails against God for short-changing him in the talent department, a real-life lightning storm erupted outside the Gothic cathedral.
“From the moment we read it,” said Platt, “Max said, ‘This has to happen.’ ”
Now it has. Elemental Theatre, of which Platt is artistic director, is staging “Amadeus” at Beneficent Congregational Church on Weybosset Street in Providence. The play opens in previews Thursday and runs through Nov. 22.
It is the most ambitious project to date to come out of the fringe-y theater company, which usually puts on shows written by company members. The theater is even using a ticket agency for the show, and will be taking credit cards, no less.
Instead of the usual cast of 15 actors and elaborate recorded sound, Platt, who is directing the show, has pared the players to six and has brought in a small group of live classical instrumentalists and vocalists. Salieri and Mozart are each played by a single actor, and four ensemble actors perform the other 13 roles.
“We wanted to boil the play down to its barest elements,” said Platt. “We also felt that because music is one of the most important elements, we didn’t want to just hear the music, we wanted to feel it. And the only way to do that was to have the music being performed in the room with the audience.”
To come up with a workable musical score, Platt contacted Joseph Amante, Community College of Rhode Island’s head of choral activities, and asked if there would be a way to have the music in “Amadeus” be performed by a group other than a full orchestra. Amante set to work and came up with a score for chamber instruments and a vocal quartet, all made up of CCRI students and faculty.
The play is being produced by Elemental Theatre Collective, in association with Big Table Productions, a group of educational and business leaders, students and theater artists who have come together to make the play possible. The project has involved high school and college students in just about every aspect of the show, except the acting. Students from Johnson & Wales University have been involved with the marketing and promotion. One student is taking the production photos, said Platt.
The play is being presented in the Round Top Center in the church, with alley seating — the audience lined up on either side of the action.
“We don’t want to alienate the audience,” said Platt. “It’s important that Salieri connect with the audience.” “Amadeus” is essentially a memory play, Platt pointed out. It is told by an aged Salieri, who is half crazed and looking back on his painful rivalry with Mozart.
Vogler, who is based in New York and returning for this production, plays Salieri, while Bryan Kimmelman, a newcomer to the area, plays Mozart. Platt said the “Amadeus” project is allowing Elemental Theatre to “flex” in different directions. In the future, he said, he’d love to stage Shakespeare.
“I hope this is setting the table for that,” he said.
www.projo.com
The URL link to this article is no longer functional. We have reproduced the text of the article here. Any errors are the responsibility of Elemental Theatre.