BROADWAY SNAP-SHOT
by Russell Bouthiller

Dateline: June 14, 2005

THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA

Is there a more romantic setting than Florence's Piazza Signoria, checkered with some of the most beautiful sculptures in the world? Can a sheltered young woman resist the charms of a dashing Italian in such a stunning environment? Can a mother shape her child's destiny when the forces of love come into play? In the new musical, THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, such compelling questions grab center stage at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre.

Directed by Bartlett Sher and starring Victoria Clark as the middle-aged Margaret Johnson, THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA is one of those mind-delving musicals that reveals the principal character's thoughts and emotion through the mellifluous, melodic parlance provided by composer/lyricist Adam Guettel and the keenly focused book by Craig Lucas.

Sashing through the famous Florentine piazza with her twenty-six-year-old daughter, Clara (Kelli O'Hara), Margaret reminisces over the days she spent in Italy on her honeymoon. Mixed among the folks perusing the statuary is a handsome young man, Fabrizio Naccarelli (Matthew Morrison), who gallantly retrieves Clara's windswept hat. Before Margaret can say Michelangelo, she's watching two kids making pizza-eyes at one another.

At first, Margaret does her best to discourage this romance, but the power of amore proves too strong to combat. Fabrizio keeps turning up at every pedestal and Clara lures him on with her adoring gaze. Margaret questions her daughter's emotional and mental capacity to handle any relationship, let alone one on foreign shores. So, she is forced to measure playing the heavy against breaking Clara's heart. And, Margaret knows the pitfalls of making the wrong choice in love.

Craig Lucas does a fine job adapting Elizabeth Spencer's 1958 novel which was set to celluloid in 1961, starring Olivia de Havilland, Yvette Mimieux and George Hamilton. While this soap-opera story takes the better half of the first act to really reveal itself, once fully opened it yields a fine bouquet. Adam Guettel's score, for which he won this year's Tony Award, richly fills in the background, but no melody ever steals center stage. You will not leave the theatre humming an Italian tune.

Victoria Clark—who also took home the Tony—gives a breathtaking performance as a mother grappling with her daughter's fragile mental health and her future happiness. Kelli O'Hara plays her complex character with commendable reserve. Matthew Morrison's Fabrizio is both easy on the eyes and ears. And, Patti Cohenour, long-absent from the Broadway stage, is a delight to see as Fabrizio's mother, Signora Naccarelli.

Bartlett Sher's direction is cleverly staged and precisely developed. Costumes by Catherine Zuber adeptly capture Fifties elegance. Michael Yeargan's sets are executed with ingenious inference and Christopher Akerlind's lighting provides a Tuscan glow. LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, a musical melodrama with an emphasis on the latter.