The countdown for opening night of ISU Theater’s “Amadeus” has finally hit the 24-hour mark.

“Amadeus” is the clashing of two phenomenal and unforgettable composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri.

Carter Roeske, junior in performing arts, will be portraying Count Orsini-Rosenberg and is nervous for when the curtain will rise.

“I am nervous actually, for me it’s always a little more nerve-racking doing a straight play than a musical because I don’t have the structure of the music to fall back on,” Roeske said.

However, he is confident that this week’s tech and costume rehearsals have helped to smooth out the little hiccups.

Roeske said that the women in the cast have been wearing rehearsal skirts and corsets which take ten minutes to put on.

“I expect it should take about 20 minutes for the men and 30 for the women, and that is with help and not including makeup and hair or wigs,” Roeske said.

Christopher Priebe, junior in performing arts, is not the only one who has butterflies about opening night. He has landed the role of Salieri, a composer that was instrumental in the development of 18^th century opera.  

“I am anxious, excited at the prospect of telling a haunting and powerful story of desperation and rejection, and nervous about how that will be experienced,” Priebe said.

Priebe notes that the music itself is a character in the show and would like to credit playwright Peter Shaffer for outlining and providing the recorded music.

Although this tragedy is mostly fictionalized, the students performing them have put forth their best efforts in making the tale believable.

Every performance put on by ISU Theatre requires an enormous amount of work. Rehearsals begin five to six weeks before the premiere and are four to five nights a week, each session lasting about four hours. 

Since theatre is a collaborative art, students must come together as one unit. The characters they portray come to life through fostering what is already known and going from there.

“I think the audience will enjoy the wonder and power in this world. This team is incredible and through everyone’s hard work and Shaffer’s words, I think we have crafted a tale of Mozart’s music not often told: the madness behind the immortal music,” Priebe said.