Welsh acting legend Michael Sheen to return to stage play that kick-started career opposite It's a Sin favourite

Michael Sheen is heading back to the West End for the first time in 20 years to perform in the play that kick-started his career.

The Good Omens star is returning to Peter Schaffer's seminal play Amadeus, the show he originally premiered in London and Broadway in 1998.

Following the story of famed composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the play tracks the dangerous rivalry between him and embittered court composer Antonio Salieri in Vienna 1820.

Upon its first run, Sheen played Mozart himself, but now returns to the part of Salieri, while It's a Sin star Callum Scott Howells takes on the titular role.

Amadeus sees Sheen and Howells reunite for the first time since their collaboration on BBC drama The Way, also marking the first time two Welsh actors have taken on the iconic roles in the same production.

The show is also another major production to come out of Sheen's company, the Welsh National Theatre, which had its inaugural run of Our Town earlier this year. The company will run performances in New Theatre Cardiff from 9-27 March 2027 before hitting London's Noël Coward Theatre from 17 April-17 August.

Sheen said: “It’s a full-circle moment for me to return to the West End with Amadeus. To play Salieri opposite a fellow Welshman as Mozart -a role that has meant so much to me – feels very special indeed.

"I directed Callum in my television drama The Way; he’s an extraordinary talent who deserves this stage, and audiences should be excited for what’s to come.

"To bring this vital new production to both Cardiff and the West End – a first for a Welsh National Theatre – feels like an important next step on our journey."

Prior to Our Town, Sheen last appeared in London for a run of hit show Nye. However, as this was at the National Theatre, his last official West End production was 2006's Frost/Nixon.

Meanwhile, Scott Howells has appeared in the beloved West End run of Cabaret as one of the Emcees. Following the announcement, he said: "“It feels like a dream come true to be playing Mozart in this production next year.

"I have wanted to play the role for a very long time so to be given this opportunity to work with Jeremy and Michael to bring this extraordinary world to life feels like a real gift.

"I’m extremely excited to bring a brand new take on this epic story to the stage in both Cardiff and the West End in 2027.”

The full synopsis reads: "Vienna, 1820. A respected composer makes a shocking confession. Antonio Salieri has everything – status, success, and the certainty that he has earned them. Until he meets musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Vulgar and childish, but utterly brilliant, Mozart possesses a gift so extraordinary that Salieri believes it can only be divine. And that God has chosen the wrong man.

"Faced with a brilliance he cannot rival, Salieri begins a dangerous obsession that threatens to consume them both - channelling his jealousy into a calculated campaign to destroy the man he both worships and despises.

"Fuelled by some of the greatest music ever written, Amadeus is an electrifying story of ambition, faith, and the unbearable cost of greatness - where talent battles genius, devotion turns to betrayal, and man dares to challenge God."

Tickets for the show will go on sale at 10am on 24 April with 15,000 tickets available for £30 or less.

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