Wolfgang hits the O’Reilly Theater

Amadeus O’Reilly Theater 621 Penn Ave. Tonight, 8 p.m. through Feb. 24 Directed by Ted Pappas Tickets available through Pitt Arts, $16 412-316-1600

Think back to when your mom made you take piano lessons. You groaned, put color-coded stickers on the keys, hunted and pecked relentlessly. Years later, still not a concert pianist, you’re learning to play a piece like “Andante” or “Allegro in C,” pieces that a 5-year-old wrote while sitting up to a piano with feet dangling above the pedals.

This can’t be right.

It’s true – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s genius began at home with his father’s musical education and continued to flourish, entertaining the upper classes and rivaling other Classical musicians in 18th century Austria. His life, mysterious death and wily antagonist, fellow composer Antonio Salieri, have come to Pittsburgh in “Amadeus,” previously a Tony award-winning Broadway show. Mozart, a highly complex man, defined by his obnoxious laughter and perverted jokes, is full of humor and surprises. The envious Salieri is the first to be surprised, then appalled, as his reverence for this prodigy swiftly turns to hatred upon their meeting.

He did have his biases, though, so come see for yourself. Stephen “Alex” Coleman, who plays Baron van Swieten in the show and is also a theatre professor at Pitt, said, “No prior knowledge of the life of Mozart is needed for the full understanding and enjoyment of this play