Amadeus is a 1979 play by Peter Shaffer which gives a fictional account of the lives of composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, imagining a rivalry between the two at the court of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. It was inspired by Alexander Pushkin's short 1830 play Mozart and Salieri, which Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov used in 1897 as the libretto for an opera of the same name. Best Play at the 35th Tony Awards, June 7, 1981 — hosted by Ellen Burstyn, Richard Chamberlain at Mark Hellinger Theatre. Wiki link Wiki link