Vienna, 1787: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, at the height of his powers but struggling financially, meets a serious and supremely confident teenager who knocks on his door hoping to hire him as a teacher: Ludwig Van Beethoven.
This comedic drama by award-winning playwright Jack Canfora imagines how the relationship between two of music’s towering geniuses – whom many scholars believe met in real life – might have evolved. Featuring some of the great works of each composer and some brilliantly imagined “collaborations,” The Vienna Lessons shows how these two men, separated by temperament and age, nonetheless find in each other the unique bond only true visionaries can share.
Disclaimer: Contains adult language and themes.
Jack Canfora’s Off-Broadway plays include Poetic License, (59E59 Theaters), hailed by the Associated Press as “White-hot entertainment,” and Jericho, (59E59 Theaters, a New York Times “Critic’s Pick”) which the Theater Communications Group deemed, “An important contribution to the repertoire of the American Stage.” Both plays are published, and his work has also been published in various theater anthologies. His play Place Setting, along with plays by Edward Albee, Elaine May, and Teresa Rebeck, was nominated for The Newark Star Ledger’s “Best Play” in 2007. His regional productions include Jericho, The Source, Poetic License, and Fellow Travelers. Jack has won two Edgerton Playwriting Awards, for Jericho (2010) and The Source (2018) as well as the 2016 Webby Award for Best Writing in a Web Series. He is also the Artistic Director of the New Normal Rep theater company. jackcanforawriter.com
