Pictured:  Jordan Coughtry (left) as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart sharing his newest work with the Emperor of Austria played by Mark H. Dold.
Photo: © Gerry Goodstein

F. Murray Abraham was brilliant in his Oscar-winning performance as the tortured and tiny-talented Salieri in "Amadeus," but how about Robert Cuccioli in the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's production?

Abraham was doing it for a movie director, who can choose an actor's best takes. (And if there aren't any, that's what retakes are for.) Abraham also had the luxury of resting between shoots, which any actor playing Salieri would need, for this is one of the more demanding roles in modern drama.

Salieri was the most esteemed composer in 18th century Austria , but then Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart came along. While some of Mozart's contemporaries don't quite appreciate his brilliance, Salieri is enough of a musician to savor it. That's when his life's work becomes sabotaging this upstart.

Cuccioli, in Joe Discher's magnificent staging, ultimately makes a bigger impression. Except for a 15-minute intermission, Cuccioli never leaves the stage of the Madison playhouse. For 2½ hours, he must do Peter Shaffer's superb play right here and now, and do it right.

He does. Of the seven deadly sins, Salieri is guilty of at least five, and Cuccioli brilliantly expresses each. He starts out with pride, and is unapologetically gluttonous when he expresses his delight for one calorie-laden treat after another. The great lust he shows for Mozart's wife is only eclipsed by his wrath over her husband.

But it's envy that Salieri exhibits most, and Cuccioli shows how it plagues the man. How can Mozart be a great composer, yet a terrible lout who constantly chooses a vulgar word over a civilized one? How could God reward a boor with such talent?

Whatever the philosophical implications, the production is also rewarded by Jordan Coughtry as Mozart. He unabashedly expresses the young man's silliness, and emerges as a breath of hot air. Yet when Mozart plays or hears his music, Coughtry seems genuinely possessed. He excels in a moment where he states his love for challenging music, saying, "I bet that's how God hears the world." Coughtry delivers the line in a way that shows the great depth buried in this overgrown adolescent.

Though the 17-member cast is uniformly impressive, there are two standouts. Tricia Paoluccio takes Constanze on the journey from Mozart's worrisome girlfriend to his wife, who learns the nefarious ways of the world and becomes as bold as her husband. Mark H. Dold is the imperious yet insecure Emperor of Austria.

He plays the role's most important subtext: "If I hadn't been born to the right people, nobody would care a bit about me or my opinions."

Like so many great dramatic plays, "Amadeus" starts out with plenty of humor. Only in the last half-hour does it turn consistently serious. Discher has no problem making the transition. Though this script is the most demanding he's ever attempted at the Shakespeare Theatre, he conquers it unequivocally. This young director is turning out to be much more of a Mozart than a Salieri.

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By ROBERT L. DANIELS

Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey shifts into high gear with a richly textured production of Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus." Sumptuously mounted and staged, the 1979 courtly thriller is acted with compelling force, and the inclusion of snatches of Mozart's music offers a hint of the composer's extraordinary legacy, especially a few glorious strains from the Requiem Mass. Director Joe Discher accents the play's devilish humor, creating a keen balance between the giddy palace antics and the tragic dissipation of a genius.

Robert Cuccioli, who starred in the double lead role in the 1997 Broadway production of "Jekyll & Hyde," turns in a stunning performance as sarcastic court composer Antonio Salieri. Slyly venomous and obsessively jealous of Mozart's musical mastery, the aging, dying Salieri relates, in a series of graphic flashbacks, the subtle but ruthlessly manipulative acts that destroyed Mozart's career and ultimately his life.

Cuccioli, who has triumphed in recent seasons at the Garden State theater as Mark Antony, Brutus and Macbeth, remains onstage throughout the play, creating a chillingly authoritative characterization laced with fury and cunning wit.

Obsessively addicted to sweets, Cuccioli's Salieri finds subtle humor in a deliciously seductive moment by serving Roman chestnuts in brandied sugar to Mozart's sassy wife (a pertly spirited Tricia Paoluccio).

In marked contrast to the poised Salieri , Jordan Coughtry's Mozart is a well-crafted mix of vulgarity, conceit and blatant arrogance, with an effectively unnerving, incessant giggle. From buffoon to dying genius, Coughtry's Mozart cuts a compelling and tragic figure.

Praiseworthy support is provided by Mark H. Dold as the pompous monarch, John Little as a testy court chamberlain and Colin McPhillamy as a cranky opera director.

Director Discher has harnessed both the play's dry mocking humor and its dark, tragic thrust. Set to allegro and spiraling presto tempos, the action moves so fluently that its three hours pass surprisingly fast.

Dick Block's set is ornately populated with candelabras and glittering chandeliers, while Maggie Dick's period costume design, from the powdered wigs of brocaded courtiers and citizens to the visual splendor of the 18th century Viennese court, is as eye-filling as a Technicolor screen epic. With: Daren Kelly, Greg Jackson, Patrick Toon, Tom Robenolt, Robert Hock, Robyn Berg, Jon Barker, Todd Quick, Katie Fabel, Christopher Payseur, Mary Trotter.

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A CurtainUp New Jersey Review- Amadeus

By Simon Saltzman

In his long but absorbing play, Peter Shaffer speculates craftily on the possible murder of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by fellow composer Antonio Salieri. It is less a look into the distressed life of the brilliant title character (the "Beloved of God,") than a cunning examination into the devious mind of his arch rival ("the patron saint of mediocrity,").

This production, under the fine direction of Joe Discher for the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, is enabled principally by the excellence of its two lead performers. A stunningly wry performance by Robert Cuccioli as Salieri is contrasted beautifully with the impish performance given by Jordon Coughtry, as Mozart. First produced on Broadway in 1980 under the direction of Peter Hall, Amadeus provocatively puts on display for our amusement the differences between a genius and his merely competent rival. The success of the play virtually rests on Salieri's self-incriminating affectations as a meticulous jealous plotter and the reckless behavior of the naìve and incorrigible young Mozart.

Apparently and according to the playwright, Salieri's major claim to fame was his attempt to stifle Mozart's progress and literally destroy him. In Cuccioli's charge, Salieri's pitiable envy is clearly seen as justified. As the plot spins in flashback style, Cuccioli affects a most astonishing transformation from a decrepit semi-invalid with a noticeably disintegrating voice into an erect and rather persuasive young man full of arrogance and disdainful insouciance.

It is for Salieri to settle the score (pardon the pun) and to relive memories of the ten frustrating years he was in conflict not only with the imposing greatness of the young Mozart, but also with the injustice that he feels God has bestowed upon him. Cuccioli, who may be most renowned as the title characters in the musical Jekyll and Hyde, has also been afforded many opportunities by the Shakespeare Theater to tackle major roles in the classical repertory. Salieri is one of his best roles. As we see him take the official court composer to Joseph II on a path of psychological erosion,. Cuccioli certainly makes us empathize with him as he witnesses the implanted musical divinity of his rival threaten and ultimately transcend his own lackluster contributions.

As this juncture, we are well prepared for a hyperactive Mozart, whose crude, tasteless and impetuous behavior doesn't seem to impede his musical progress. In Coughtry's hyper active performance with a penchant for giggling, we can also clearly see the veil of sadness that hangs over this impetuous youth as well as the often painfully unsophisticated state of Mozart's personality. As the playwright makes clear, the foul-mouthed, crudely mannered young man was as outspoken and socially unacceptable as he was incomparable as a musician. His inability to contain himself is also demonstrated by his flair for the most alarmingly garish attire ever to be attributed to a gentleman of the 18th century (courtesy of costume designer Maggie Dick).

Shaffer's high-minded documentation of the disintegration of genius at the hands of mediocrity can be rather dreary going. That the play tries valiantly to make us care who does what to whom and why seems like a reasonable objective. At its best, this object is reached in fits and spurts, mainly to do with our interest in Mozart recklessly transcending the limitations of his peers, and our perverse interest in Salieri's destructive machinations. In this impressively detailed production, the years and scenes are vividly chronicled, even if some seem like recapitulations of what we've just seen.

The flashback memories from the mind of a hack court composer at the court of Vienna's Emperor Joseph II (an amusing portrayal by Mark H. Dold), remains as long-winded as I remember it to be, and just too darn long at a bit more than three hours. The large and very fine supporting cast, including a feisty Tricia Paoluccio as Mozart's playfully kittenish wife and Greg Jackson and Patrick Toon as the gossipy "Venticelli, ," deport themselves with finesse through Dick Block's ornately framed setting replete with a glittering chandelier, flickering sconces, a few pieces of period furnishings and, of course, a piano.

For whatever it is worth, this production is more excitingly conceived and performed than was the Broadway revival in 1999. While Shaffer's play is more significantly Salieri than it is mostly Mozart, it, nevertheless, reveals more than a few insights into this fascinating historical rivalry. And with apologies to the sentiments of Joseph II, Emperor of Austria , allow me to also say, "Well, there it is. ,"