AMADEUS to Make Shaw Festival Debut With Tom Rooney and Michael Therriault

Amadeus will lands onstage at the Shaw Festival for 2026. Written by Peter Shaffer and directed by Shaw Festival artistic director Tim Carroll, this legendary historical drama overflows with suspense, humour, heated rivalry and courtly intrigue. This new production takes to the Festival Theatre stage starting July 8.  

In 1780s Vienna, composer Antonio Salieri’s (Tom Rooney) brilliant career at the court of the Emperor Joseph (Graeme Somerville) is threatened by the arrival of talented newcomer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Michael Therriault). Though boorish and ill-mannered, young Mozart is blessed with the kind of God-given genius Salieri can only dream of. And yet no one else in Vienna seems to recognize it. Enraged, Salieri sets out to sabotage Mozart’s career and destroy his marriage to Constanze (Kristi Frank), even as he acknowledges the one thing he can never truly destroy: the musical greatness which has been denied to Salieri forever.

The production also features the stellar ensemble of Andrew Broderick, Julia Course, Cosette Derome, Allison Edwards-Crewe, Sochi Fried, Allan Louis, David Andrew Reid and Savion Roach.

The classical world of Amadeus is brought to life by Judith Bowden’s set and costume design, lighting design by Kevin Lamotte, music supervision by Paul Sportelli and movement direction by Alexis Milligan. The stage management team includes stage manager Allan Teichman with assistant stage managers Michael Duggan and Liz King.

Onstage at the Festival Theatre (10 Queen’s Parade) from July 8 to October 4 (available for review beginning August 8), Amadeus is recommended for audience members 13+. Running time is approximately 2 hours 35 minutes including one 20-minute intermission.