Frontmezzjunkies Reports: Pasadena Playhouse’s Amadeus

by Ross

As someone who spends a good portion of each week wishing transatlantic teleportation were a standard perk of theatre journalism, I felt a familiar pang of longing when Pasadena Playhouse released its first promotional shots for Amadeus. The images crackle with promise, with Jefferson Mays as a coiled, calculating Salieri opposite Sam Clemmett’s mercurial, maddeningly gifted Mozart. I couldn’t help imagining what it must feel like to sit in that room, watching as their rivalry ignites through rehearsal. I won’t be able to witness this particular lightning strike in California, but with the Canadian Shaw Festival’s own Amadeus on the horizon this summer, and a new television adaptation, produced by Sky Studios, coming down the pike (which I happily announced not long ago), I suppose I’ll have to make my peace.

Still, what a production to miss. Pasadena Playhouse, fresh off its 2023 Regional Theatre Tony Award and continuing its streak as one of the most adventurous houses in the country, has assembled a formidable company for Peter Shaffer’s masterwork. Under the direction of Tony Award winner Darko Tresnjak (Broadway’s Anastasia; A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder), Mays and Clemmett lead a cast that feels almost unfairly stacked: Tony nominee Lauren Worsham as Constanze, Kenajuan Bentley bringing his comic frankness from “Shrinking“, Matthew Patrick Davis as Joseph II, and a vibrant ensemble of singers, actors, and multi-hyphenate musicians filling out Vienna’s gilded, backbiting world.

Tresnjak is leaning fully into the operatic sweep and razor-edged psychology of Amadeus: ambition sharpened into spite, brilliance cloaked in vulgarity, and the divine cruelty of watching one man recognize God’s true favorite, and know it isn’t him. Shaffer’s Tony- and Oscar-winning drama remains one of the great theatrical dissections of genius, envy, and the cost of chasing immortality. And this revival looks prepared to carve a deep impression.

For those lucky enough to be within striking distance of Pasadena between February 11 and March 8, 2026, tickets are already on sale at pasadenaplayhouse.org and through the box office. As for the rest of us, we’ll be eagerly awaiting Shaw Festival’s take and counting the days until the upcoming screen adaptation is available for streaming. Some productions you experience in person; others you simply ache for. Sadly, this Amadeus is firmly in the latter category for me.