{"id":546197,"date":"2026-04-23T10:02:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T10:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/546197\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T10:02:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T10:02:10","slug":"feels-very-special-michael-sheen-to-star-as-salieri-in-new-production-of-amadeus-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/546197\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Feels very special\u2019: Michael Sheen to star as Salieri in new production of Amadeus | Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Michael Sheen will return to the West End to star in a revival of Peter Shaffer\u2019s award-winning Amadeus, opposite Callum Scott Howells as Mozart.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Directed by Jeremy Herrin, the production will open at New <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/stage\/theatre\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Theatre<\/a> Cardiff in March 2027, before transferring to the No\u00ebl Coward Theatre in London for a 16-week run in April. It marks the first major comeback of Shaffer\u2019s play in over a decade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Sheen will play court composer Antonio Salieri, a role he previously played in Sydney in 2022, having earlier portrayed Mozart in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/stage\/westend\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">West End<\/a> and Broadway in the late 1990s. The production reunites him with Howells, who makes his debut as Mozart after their collaboration on the BBC drama The Way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The show also marks the first time two Welsh actors have taken on the roles of Salieri and Mozart in the same production. It is a co-production between Second Half Productions and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/stage\/2026\/jan\/22\/our-town-review-michael-sheen-moves-american-classic-about-small-town-life-to-wales\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Welsh National Theatre<\/a> \u2013 established by Sheen in 2025 with his own money, with himself as founding artistic director &#8211; in what will be the company\u2019s first West End staging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Sheen called the production a \u201cfull-circle moment,\u201d adding that performing alongside Howells \u201cfeels very special.\u201d Howells described the opportunity to play Mozart as a \u201cdream come true\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Herrin, who founded Second Half Productions, said he is \u201cdelighted to be working on this legendary and beloved play\u201d with Sheen, who he considers \u201cone of the world\u2019s best\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Set in Vienna in 1820, Amadeus follows Salieri as he reflects on his rivalry with Mozart, a composer whose talent he believes to be divinely inspired. As admiration turns to envy, the play charts Salieri\u2019s growing obsession and a destructive campaign against the man he both reveres and resents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Tickets go on general sale on 24 April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Sheen will return to the West End to star in a revival of Peter Shaffer\u2019s award-winning Amadeus,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-546197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}