ICT Rep takes on ‘Amadeus’ in stage production

As a teenager, Julie Longhofer’s go-to movie wasn’t a rom-com or action-adventure.

It was “Amadeus.”

“When I was in high school, I was obsessed with the film,” she recalled. “It really changed the way that I thought about acting. I watched that film, like, on repeat, trying to kind of learn how all those actors worked.”

Reminded it was the 40th anniversary of the movie’s winning the Best Picture Oscar, Longhofer, artistic director of Wichita Repertory Theatre, looked back at the script of the 1979 stage version inspired by the rivalry between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri.

“It’s a great stage play, and the stage play isn’t done very often, because it’s really intensive in terms of the production and what you need to put it on,” she said. “I felt like I could do it. It was a reach, kind of a challenging reach.”

ICT Rep stages “Amadeus” for two weekends, Oct. 10-12 and 17-19, at the Oliver Place event venue, formerly New Zion Baptist Church.

Longhofer said she sees the stage version of “Amadeus” differently than the movie.

“It falls into the category of a thriller on stage. It’s a psychological thriller, so it’s not like a mystery where who has motive, means and opportunity, and who is going to get convicted in a courtroom kind of a thing. You already know who’s doing what, but it’s a psychological thriller to see why people are behaving the way that they are, and it’s got a lot of nice suspense in it, and a lot of plot.

“As a film, it’s so cinematic and filmed beautifully in Prague, and a really nice period piece. But on stage, it’s highly theatrical. It’s a little bit epic, because it covers Vienna, 1781 through 1791. So, you’ve got this epic scope, and it’s the backdrop of history.”

Cody Proctor, who plays Salieri, said he was hooked on “Amadeus” the first time he saw the movie.

“I was just kind of blown away by the storytelling and the scope of it in the performances,” he said. “Being an actor, I’m aware of some of, like, the big pieces of theater. Also knowing that some big names have played these roles in the past, like with the original Broadway company, having Ian McKellen playing Salieri and Tim Curry playing Mozart in those productions. I mean, there’s some big shoes to fill both in the characters and some of the actors that have played it.

“And then also just having Julie trusting me and offering me this role, knowing that I would be challenged, but also knowing that I would be up to the challenge of it.”

Although Mozart and Salieri’s music is the crux of “Amadeus,” the music is not written into the script. Longhofer’s staging for ICT Rep incorporates Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro,” “The Magic Flute,” “Don Giovanni” and “Cosi Fon Tutte” and pieces of “Requiem” into the performance.

With a suggestion from Longhofer’s husband, Stan, ICT Rep’s managing director, she contacted Alan Held, renowned opera singer and director of opera studies at Wichita State.

Eighteen bachelor’s and master’s music students voice the Citizens of Venice.

“I just crash into their class every week, and I teach them some staging,” Longhofer said. “They appear in the play kind of from the beginning to the end.”

‘AMADEUS’ BY WICHITA REPERTORY THEATRE

When: Oct. 10-12, 17-19; 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays

Where: Oliver Place event venue, 2512 N. Oliver

Tickets: $15-$25, from ictrep.org or 316-612-2543