The Light in the Piazza @ Mainstage Irving - Las Colinas
Photos by Kris Ikejiri
—Jan Farrington
I can’t even pretend to be objective about The Light in the Piazza at Mainstage Irving-Las Colinas. As a girl, I loved the 1962 movie of this story. I flew to the branch library for a copy of Elizabeth Spencer’s 1960 book, and loved it too. And so, I was completely prepared to fall for the 2005 musical.
And I did.
With director Bruce R. Coleman thoughtfully in charge, a fine small orchestra in the pit (music director Vicky Nooe conducting and on piano), and great opera-style singers leading the cast, The Light in the Piazza got a roar of approval from its opening-night audience. The surprisingly funny, heart-tugging script is by playwright Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss), and Adam Guettel’s always-interesting songs (he’s Richard Rodgers’ grandson, btw) give us vivid characters and a panoramic look at love in all its forms: new, old, lost, found—even Italian and American.
Sarah Powell centers the show as Southern wife and mother Margaret, a protective companion for her lovely daughter Clara (Samantha Snow), a childlike young woman whose secret Margaret has had to tell to all too many smitten young men. They’re traveling in Italy in the late 1950s, content in each other’s company until the trip is thrown off-course by Fabrizio Naccarelli (Karl Martin), who catches Clara’s wind-blown hat…and falls instantly in love.
All three are fine actors and strikingly good singers. Guettel’s unusual melodies let them soar, and his lyrics tell us who they are. “The world was empty,” sings Fabrizio in Italian—but in Clara, he’s found mia luce, mio cor (“my light, my heart”). Clara knows she isn’t “good at statues and stories…/I’m as different here as different can be/But the beauty is I still meet people like me.” And Margaret, who can’t believe she’s letting things “drag on” with Fabrizio, dreams of a bigger life for Clara, and for herself: “No one knows/We only guess/Just a leap for happiness….”
The story is full of people Clara loves, or is about to: Margaret’s businessman husband Roy (Cory Whaley), on the phone from Winston-Salem, exasperated that Margaret won’t give up her unreasonable dreams for Clara; Fabrizio’s father Signor (Robert San Juan), a well-off Florentine gentleman who knows just how handsome he is. Fabrizio’s mother Signora (Kristal Seid), who says (in English) that “I can’t speak English”—and then tells us all about her family: “good” son Fabrizio, who goes to church; “bad” skirt-chasing Giuseppe (Nolan Shaver), married to Franca (Arianna Movassagh), who is angry, but still in love. And Cam Hayes’ Priest floats on the edge of many scenes—and comes in handy when the story (finally) puts him to work.
The romance is fun to watch, as the grown-ups try to “handle” things—and the young couple (Should we call them “Clarizio”?) mostly ignore them. They walk/dance around Florence (“La Passegiata”), find a way to what they want in “Say It Somehow” (intimacy director Emily Leekha’s input shows in a beautifully staged love scene)—and a whole Italian opera in five minutes plays out in Aiutami (“Help Me”), with Fabrizio and family in a panic when Margaret takes Clara on a sudden trip to Rome. Will she come back to him?
To find out, comprati un biglietto—buy yourself a ticket! This is a trip to Italy that won’t bust the budget.
WHEN: May 5-20
WHERE: Dupree Theater/Irving Arts Center, 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving TX
WEB: mainstageirving.com
