Way back in 1998, a young Michael Sheen took to the Old Vic stage to play the title role of Peter Shaffer’s brilliant 1979 drama Amadeus, a masterpiece that followed the catastrophic, one-sided rivalry between the young, brilliant composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, his contemporary and rival who’d been largely forgotten by history until the play came along and made him infamous (possibly unfairly).
It scored great reviews – running for 18 months – and clearly stayed with Sheen because a few years back he took on the older role of Salieri in a limited run Australian production. And now he’s aiming for a hat-trick!
In case you missed it, Sheen has turned his back on Hollywood in order to focus on his new Welsh National Theatre company, which launched earlier this year with an acclaimed production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. Other productions have been announced – a new play called Owain & Henry will run in Cardiff in November. But the next one we’re getting will be the third production of Amadeus he’ll have starred in, as he reprises the role of Salieri opposite rising Welsh star Callum Scott Howells’ Mozart in a new production from director Jeremy Herrin for the Welsh National Theatre.
After debuting in Cardiff, this new Amadeus will transfer to the Noël Coward Theatre, where it will be Sheen’s first performance in a West End theatre since the acclaimed Frost/Nixon 20 years ago (he’s mostly appeared at the National Theatre since). As with Our Town (which played at the Rose Theatre Kingston), the combination of Sheen’s fame and Wales’ small population all works out in London’s favour as a London transfer helps make this sort of large scale show commercially viable. So while we’re clearly not getting every WNT production, it does seem the company and its leader will be regular visitors, and we’re not complaining.
Amadeus is at the Noël Coward Theatre, Apr 17-Aug 7 2027. Tickets go on sale Friday.
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