Jordan Luke Gage talks upcoming new musical ‘Saving Mozart!’: “We’ve all experienced that feeling of jealousy at some point”

The London scene welcomes the UK premiere of this new show exploring the life, struggles, and genius of the Austrian composer. Guillermo Nazara chats with one of its lead actors, who’s playing the role of Mozart’s alleged rival, to learn more about his construction of the character and Salieri’s portrayal in this little night musical.

How does it feel a real-life character that’s become such an icon in popular culture?

It’s very interesting. Every time you played someone who actually existed, you feel an additional pressure to do justice to who they were and stay true to the things that really happened. However, Salieri lived through the 18th century. We don’t have that much evidence about his personal life or the way he interacted with people. We don’t even have that many articles about his relationship with Mozart. And so, you need to create around that. The film Amadeus focused on the rivalry between the two, and that’s certainly present in this production. But I also think that in our version there’s more of a journey between their relationship in comparison to the movie, which I’ve watched as part of my research process.

Historians believe that the real-life Mozart and Salieri had in fact an amicable relationship, with Salieri even helping with Mozart’s son’s music education. Will that be reflected in this piece?

There might be! I can’t give away too much, but there’s definitely an arc between the two. There’s also a paternal feeling from Salieri towards Mozart, even from the beginning, when their rivalry is at its highest point. There’s never a sense of being evil just for the sake of it. It’s like when you want someone to be their best — you constantly put them down to make sure that they get there. We’ve been exploring that feeling in order to show why Salieri was treating him this way. He’s not the stereotypical evil guy who doesn’t want someone else to take his job — there are more layers into it.

You mentioned before that the lack of historical evidence has allowed you more creative freedom. In which way has that translated into your take on the role?

I think I may be younger than he was at this time of his career. Also, the style of the score blends Mozart’s music and classical genre with pop and hip-hop style. That immediately allows you to be cooler with everything. It may sound like a very basic thing to say, but it’s actually given us the scope to bring the story into the 21st century and make it current. I think many people don’t know the story of Mozart and Salieri, so this is an opportunity to educate them in a way that’s also attainable to the younger generation.

How do you think it will resonate with modern audiences, in terms of themes?

First thing: achieving your dreams. I think everybody can relate to that. We all have an aspiration, whether that’s career, love, or something else. Also, the feelings of being enamoured, with Mozart’s wife (Constanze) and building a family. And of course, there’s competition — we’ve all experienced that feeling of jealousy at some point.

Have you found any other particular challenges in this role?

It’s interesting. This is a supporting role, and the characters I often play never leave the stage — there’s so material to work with. But with this, however, the challenge comes from filling up the gaps. It’s about creating the journey that Salieri is going through behind the scenes because the audience can’t see it: what has happened in between scenes, especially if one is set months after the other. In this case, I have to dive into creating that whole arc myself, whereas with previous roles I’ve played, it’s all there on the page.

If you had to give me one single reason to come see Saving Mozart!, which one would it be?

You will learn about a period of time which was quite an amazing, but you may not know about. We’ve all heard Mozart’s music, but many of us are not that acquainted with the story behind it. So just come and educate yourself!

Saving Mozart! will play at London’s The Other Palace from 30 July to 30 August. Tickets are available on the following link.

By Guillermo Nazara