Hear the story of 'The Other Mozart,' Amadeus' sister and fellow prodigy
Fermilab Arts & Lecture Series will present "The Other Mozart" at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 13, at Fermilab's Ramsey Auditorium, off Pine Street in Batavia. Tickets are $25 or $13 for those age 18 and younger. For information or reservations, go to events.fnal.gov to order online, or call (630) 840-ARTS (2787) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.
Little Matchstick Factory's "The Other Mozart" is the true and untold story of Nannerl Mozart, the sister of Amadeus - a prodigy, keyboard virtuoso and composer, who performed throughout Europe with her brother, to equal acclaim, but her work and her story faded away, lost to history. Experience the hopes and dreams, as well as the challenges and frustrations, of this gifted composer and musician come to life when Sylvia Milo performs her riveting and award-winning one-woman play at Ramsey Auditorium.
Created by Sylvia Milo, the monodrama is set in a stunning 18-foot dress, and based on facts, stories and lines pulled directly from the Mozart family's humorous and heartbreaking letters. With the opulent beauty of the dress and hair design, the sweet smell of perfume, and the clouds of dusting powder rising from the stage, the performance creates a multi-sensual experience and transports the audience into a world of outsized beauty and delight - but also of overwhelming restrictions and prejudice. There, in communion with the audience, this other Mozart at last tells her story.
In preparation for this event, the Batavia Public Library, 10 S. Batavia Ave., will host a book discussion. "Mozart's Sister" by Nancy Moser will be the featured title at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 9. Musician Nannerl Mozart, the sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is the subject of this historical novel. While her father pushes her brother to perform and seek fame, she wonders whether her own dreams will ever be realized. Read the book, attend the discussion, and be entered into a drawing to win two tickets to "The Other Mozart" at Fermilab on May 13. No registration is required.
"The Other Mozart" has been presented by the Mozarteum University and Mozarteum Foundation at the Mozart Wohnhaus in Salzburg (inside Mozart's apartment), by All for One Festival at the Cherry Lane Theater in New York City, the Berkshire Fringe Festival, the JCSMuseum at Auburn University, the Piccolo Spoleto in New Orleans, San Diego, Toronto, Munich, and Estonia. The play had a critically acclaimed off-Broadway run in New York City at the HERE Arts Center and in London at St. James Theatre.
Honors for "The Other Mozart" include a 2015 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Sound Design in a Play; 2015 off-Broadway Alliance Award nomination for Best Solo Performance; and New York Innovative Theatre Awards wins: Outstanding Solo Performance (Sylvia Milo), Outstanding Original Music (Nathan Davis and Phyllis Chen).
Ramsey Auditorium is in Wilson Hall, a high-rise visible from the lab entrance from the west on Kirk Road at Pine Street. Both the west entrance, Pine Street at Kirk Road, and east entrance, Batavia Road at Route 59, are open for Arts & Lecture Series events.