A Light in Piazza

[The Phantom]

I hate to say I don't know the whole storyline or anything about the characters yet, but I felt in love with the introductory music that I heard during the Tony's. I watched the performance where the old lady recalls her time in Florence Italy when she got married, etc. etc. Not many musicals can play music that sends chills up my spine, like Phantom does. :)

[ForbiddenRomance]

I never saw it but I REALLY wanted too. :( I love the part they perfomed at the Tony's... last year ...I think

[AAW0487]

I loved it too! The music was just amazing! I hope they get some more information about the play out there and possibly tour in the furture!

[ForbiddenRomance]

I love the music I've heard... I listen to the sound clips on Amazin.com.. :)

[Kristin Chenoweth]

For you guys who don't know much about the show, I'll do my best to give you guys a synopsis, using the Original Broadway Cast. Musical numbers will be italicized. It's a full synopsis of the show, so be warned.

Margaret Johnson (Victoria Clark), a middle-aged American woman from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, takes her twenty-something daughter, Clara (Kelli O'Hara), who seems unusually childlike, to Florence, Italy for a vacation. While sight-seeing through the city (Statues and Stories), a breeze separates Clara from her hat. The bonnet is rescued by a young Italian man, Fabrizio Naccarelli (Matthew Morrison).

After Fabrizio returns Clara's hat, Margaret drags her daughter away. Clara looks around the museum, in awe of the artwork and how different Italy is from Winston-Salem. (The Beauty Is). Meanwhile, Fabrizio goes home and exults to his father, Signor Naccarelli (Mark Harelik) about the beautiful American girl he met in the square. (Il Mondo Era Vuoto). His brother, Giuseppe (Michael Berresse), offers to teach him how to dance, American style, in order to impress Clara, should he see her again. (American Dancing).

Clara and Margaret meet Fabrizio and Signor Naccarelli in the piazza, and Fabrizio asks Clara to walk with him while Margaret and the Signor talk. (Passeggiata). The Naccarellis extend an invitation to the Johnsons to join them for dinner the following night.

At dinner, Margaret and Clara are introduced to the rest of the family - the mother, Signora Naccarelli (Patti Cohenour), and Giuseppe's frustrated wife, Franca (Sarah Uriarte Berry). Franca takes Clara on a tour of the house, but the tour turns into a bitter advice-giving-session as Franca tells Clara that what seems like love will only collapse into disarray in the future. (The Joy You Feel). Clara runs downstairs in horror at what Franca had to tell her.

Later, at the hotel, Margaret speaks to her husband, Roy (Beau Gravitte) on the telephone. After a tense conversation, Margaret questions their relationship. (Dividing Day). Clara, meanwhile, has "escaped" from the hotel to meet Fabrizio in the piazza. She follows the directions he gave her, but after memorizing them, throws the paper away. When someone distracts her, she forgets the directions and becomes hysterical. (Hysteria). Luckily, Margaret finds her in time.

Back at the hotel, Margaret puts Clara to bed, and explains to the audience what exactly makes Clara so childlike. When she was 12, she was kicked by a pony in the back of the head. But she says no more than that, and she leaves the hotel room. Meanwhile, Fabrizio enters Clara's room and they begin to talk. (Say It Somehow). He kisses her, and she leads him to the bed. Margaret walks in on them.

Intermission.

Act II opens at the Naccarelli household, with all of the family members in a tizzy. (Aiutami). Margaret has, in the interim, taken Clara, who is not speaking to her mother more than she must, to Rome in order to avoid any further contact with Fabrizio. Clara tells her mother how happy she'd felt for the first time. (The Light in the Piazza).

Margaret takes Clara back to Florence, where they apologize to the Naccarellis. Clara and Fabrizio become engaged, and during the rehearsal, things blow up once more. (Octet). Signor Naccarelli discovers Clara's secret and cuts off the engagement again. Margaret laments that she allowed Clara to be kicked by the pony, and that her daughter will most likely never lead a normal life (The Beauty Is, Reprise).

Seeing how happy her daughter had been with Fabrizio, Margaret seeks out Signor Naccarelli, and they speak once more about their children. (Let's Walk). Naccarelli agrees to call the wedding back on, and leaves Margaret.

(Clara's Interlude). Clara looks to be by herself, knowing she is different, and knowing that there's something about her that made Signor Naccarelli unsure about the wedding. Fabrizio finds her, and assures her that he loves her, no matter what. (Love to Me). The young couple heads back to the Naccarelli home, where the families are waiting.

At the church, Margaret waits outside, voicing her fears that Clara's marriage will turn out like her own had. But at the same time, she expresses her joy that Clara has finally found love. (Fable).

There is no solid ending to The Light in the Piazza. It is shrouded in suggestion. But it's a wonderful show with an incredibly beautiful score. Unfortunately, it closed on Broadway on July 2. But a national tour is commencing this fall.

PBS' series Live From Lincoln Center aired a live production of the musical on June 15. I don't know if they're planning on re-airing it, but if you get a chance to see it, it's a good production as well.

[ForbiddenRomance]

I meant to watch it when it was on PBS but I forgot it was on :( I really hope they reair it. I saw most of the movie of it but then I was watching something else and I missed the end..and of course the movie hasn't been on since.