Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...this is a rich, deftly cast, fully realized and emotionally honest production that deserves to do very well for Chicago Shakespeare and that contains a pair of very strong central performances."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...This is a crystal clear, visually ravishing, fully glorious version of a play most audiences know only from its less-than-ideal movie incarnation. And if Chicago Shakespeare were not on such a tight subscription schedule it easily could run for a year."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...As the antihero of this marvelous production directed by Gary Griffin, Robert Sella is engaging, just fey enough to make you wonder whether Salieri's real problem isn't repressed homosexuality, and better at considering the cosmic joke that is his life than at emoting over it. He's supported by an accomplished cast and jawdroppingly splendid designers."
Windy City Times
- Highly Recommended
"...With playwright Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, director Gary Griffin illuminates the tortured despair and twisted lives that spring from such understanding. Shaped by Griffin's deep reservoir of insight and humanity, Amadeus is visually ravishing and emotionally ravaging. Thankfully, it is also leavened with humor, something indispensable in a tale this darkly intense. In all, Amadeus is a stunning fugue for virtuoso performers."
Chicago Free Press
- Highly Recommended
"...It’s always a treat when a theater company kicks off a new season with a triumph, and that’s exactly what Chicago Shakespeare Theater has done with its thrillingly accomplished “Amadeus.” With a confident vision, director Gary Griffin notches up the ribald humor on this famously speculative biography but never undercuts the soul-shattering, life-or-death stakes of the drama."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"...The new season has started at Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier and based on the current production-"AMADEUS", theater audiences are in for one heck of a season. This is a brilliant production and although it is almost three hours in duration, it doesn't come close to feeling that way."
Copley News Service
- Highly Recommended
"...There have been few revivals of “Amadeus,” in spite of its reputation as one of the great plays of the last century. It’s a daunting work, requiring much pageantry, a large cast, and two star performances. There are lots of quality theaters in Chicago but the Chicago Shakespeare Theater is uniquely qualified to take on the play, with its classical aura. And the CST seizes the moment."
Edge
- Highly Recommended
"...Director Gary Griffin has done a brilliant job of seeming to leave the primary "direction" of the story to his Salieri. It works. However pitiful, the life dissected in "Amadeus" is not that of the brilliant Mozart, but of the colossal failure Salieri, and should be "directed" by the actor revealing this sad truth as a flashback on his adult life. Sella maneuvers his story and his "muses" with grace, aptitude and the dark brilliance that only the vengeful can engender. He is good. Quite good. At being bad, that is."
Chicago Stage Review
- Highly Recommended
"...Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents a beautifully complete and dramatically satisfying production of this incomparable script. Lavish design, astute direction and a wonderful cast create an extraordinary rendition Shaffer’s masterpiece."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...Though he may be better suited as Salieri ten years from now, Sella is a technically proficient actor whose mechanisms don’t become clear until well after we’ve left the theater. But it’s Sublett, as Mozart, who astonishes. Eschewing imitation of Tim Curry in the Broadway premiere or Tom Hulce in the film, Sublett portrays Mozart not as a manic caricature but a damaged child prodigy, disdainful of societal strictures but still looking for validation."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...The main elements of great theatre are in play here: Peter Schaffer’s powerful and profane script, tremendous acting especially from Robert Sella and Robbie Collier Sublett, and flawless production values. “Amadeus” is among the finest productions of 2008. Chicago Shakespeare should be proud of this magnificent theatrical achievement. The power of live stage to reach audiences is at work here. Don’t miss this incredible show!"
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...It subsequently went on to become an Academy Award winning film taking home nine Oscars in 1984, including best picture and best actor. The play is as classic as the subjects it depicts and has been mounted in full grandeur at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre on Navy Pier, directed by the renowned Gary Griffin."
