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The Rep kicks off its 43rd season with the dark and delicious confection of Sir Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus. Austrian court composer Salieri cannot stand Mozart’s impudence, but what’s worse is his genius. Overcome by envy, Salieri schemes to kill the prodigy. The drama features outrageous costumes, fancy wigs, ignorance, genius, comedy, death, eros, and plenty of ethereal music. Let’s run the numbers...
600+
Number of works composed by Mozart
35
Age at his death
1,181
Number of performances of original 1980–83 Broadway run of Amadeus
7, 5
Number of Tony Award nominations and wins, respectively, for the original Broadway production, including Best Play
11, 8
Number of Academy Award nominations and wins, respectively, for the 1984 film adaptation, including Best Picture
19
Cast members in the Rep production
70
Costumes, designed by Dorothy Marshall Englis
30
Wigs
28
Performances (September 9 to October 4)
0
Number of years’ age difference between Amadeus playwright Sir Peter Shaffer and playwright Anthony Shaffer, who wrote Sleuth, the second play in the Rep’s Mainstage season (They are twins. Anthony died in 2001; Sir Peter survives.)
2
Number of weeks Austrian pop musician Falco (aka Johann “Hans” Hölzel) spent in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1986 with his single “Rock Me Amadeus”
Amadeus runs September 9 through October 4 at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Loretto-Hilton Center, Webster University campus, 130 Edgar, 314-968-4925, repstl.org. Call for times and prices.
