This autumn marks the start of Steppenwolf Theatre’s 50th anniversary season, so it seems fitting that the storied company tapped another Chicago theater icon, Robert Falls, to direct its centerpiece production, Amadeus. After all, the former artistic director at Goodman Theatre also began making his bones in the city half a century ago, initially working in local storefronts. “Steppenwolf was formed by actors who are my same age,” says Falls, 71. “We grew up in the emerging Chicago theater scene.” 

It’s a late-career Steppenwolf debut for Falls, who spent 35 years at the Goodman before stepping down in 2022. But he wasn’t Steppenwolf’s original choice. That was Anna D. Shapiro, its former artistic director, who withdrew this summer for health reasons. “We knew we needed a visionary director who could handle the challenge,” says Steppenwolf artistic director Audrey Francis. So the company replaced one Tony-winning director with another.

Falls was surprised to get the call, but he didn’t hesitate. “Of course I’m going to do it. I mean, this is one of the greatest theaters anywhere,” he says. “I was actually very moved by the offer, that under these difficult circumstances, they were approaching me with confidence that I could pick this project up.”

Some of the cast and design team were already in place when he signed on, as was the choice to mount Amadeus in the round. “I’m essentially a freelance director,” Falls says. “What’s interesting to me: This play is very much about the complexity of being a freelance artist. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is not embedded in the court, like [his rival] Salieri.” But Falls wouldn’t have it any other way: “At this point in my life, even though I’ve directed on Broadway and around the country, I really want to work with Chicago companies, both large and small.”

Steppenwolf’s Amadeus runs November 6 to January 4.