AMADEUS Plays Chautauqua Amphitheater, 7/22

Chautauqua Theater Company Artistic Directors Vivienne Benesch and Ethan McSweeny are proud to announce two singular concert performances of Peter Shaffer's Tony Award winning play (on which the Oscar winning film was based) Amadeus. The production, directed by Ms. Benesch, will be performed first on July 22 at The Chautauqua Institution's Amphitheater with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stefan Sanderling and featuring vocalists from Voice Department of the Chautauqua School of Music (free admittance with gate pass). On July 24, Amadeus will be performed once again, this time at Lewiston's Artpark. This new venue represents the first time that Chautauqua Theater Company has performed off the Institution's grounds. The Artpark performance will feature JoAnn Falletta conducting the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. (Tickets at www.bpo.org)

Golden Globe nominee Michael Stuhlbarg (for his starring role in the 2009 Coen Brothers' film, A Serious Man) plays the role of Antonio Salieri, the composer tormented by Mozart's genius. On Broadway Stuhlbarg has played featured roles in The Pillowman; The Invention of Love; Cabaret; Taking Sides; Saint Joan; Timon of Athens; The Government Inspector; Three Men On A Horse. In addition to dozens of Off-Broadway and regional theater production appearances, Stuhlbarg is currently cast in director Martin Scorcese's HBO series Boardwalk Empire. Broadway veterans Philip Goodwin, playing the Emperor, and Daniel Pearce, playing one of the Venticelli and other roles, complete the guest artist company of the production.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is played by conservatory member Blake Segal. A native of Brunswick, NJ, Segal returned to CTC following last season's appearance in Arcadia and The Winter's Tale. Entering his third year at Yale School of Drama, he is a graduate of the University of Virginia's Program in Political and Social Thought. Segal will be joined by conservatory company members Irene Sofia Lucio as Constanze and Jimmy Kieffer as one of the Venticelli and other roles.

"These two extraordinary actors bring to the stage raw emotions of competition, envy and striving which so often are exorcised in the political correctness of our daily lives, and yet are so contemporary and vivid and true. How fortunate we are to have Michael and Blake in the Theater Company's ambassadorial debut off the Chautauqua grounds and how privileged we are to experience the talents of Maestro Falletta and the incomparable Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. ‘

Ms. Benesch is in her sixth season as Artistic Director of Chautauqua Theater Company and her fifteenth at Chautauqua Institution. Since 1989, when she began as a member of the Conservatory, she has returned to direct : Rx, Sick, Much Ado about Nothing, Measure for Measure, A Soldier's Tale, New Burlington, Skin of Our Teeth, Power of Three, Love by the Water, The September 11th Project, In addition, she has performed in Arcadia, Reckless, 100 Saints You Should Know, Iphigenia and Other Daughters, Waiting for the Parade, No Exit, Lysistrata. Ms. Benisch is also a principal Conservatory teacher.
As a director, Ms. Benesch's most recent non-CTC credits include Arms and the Man, A Month In the Country, The Seagull and Getting Out for the Juilliard School and a highly acclaimed production of Richard III for the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (Star Ledger, Top Ten). She is a graduate oF Brown University and NYu's Graduate Theater Program.

Stefan Sanderling was born in the former East Berlin, Germany. In his youth, Sanderling played the piano and clarinet. His early university experience was in Halle, Germany. At the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, Sanderling studied with the conductors Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Temirkanov, Edo de Waart and John Nelson.
His first professional position was in Potsdam, Germany. In addition, he has been the Music Director of the Staatstheater and the Philharmonic Orchestra Mainz. In 1996, he became chief conductor of the Orchestre de Bretagne and served in this capacity until the end of the 2003-2004 season.

In the US, Sanderling was appointed the Music Director of the Florida Orchestra in May 2002[3], and he officially assumed this position in the 2003-2004 season. In June 2006, Sanderling extended his contract with the Florida Orchestra through the 2010-2011 season[4]. In the US, Sanderling has also held the posts of principal guest conductor of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra since 2003, and principal conductor of that ensemble since 2004. Sanderling became music director of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra at the start of the 2008 summer season.