The several strong romantic ballads gave the show a most romantic flare. Summer Smart’s Clara exuded sensuality and vulnerability. Mary Ernster as Margaret delivered a commanding performance and Max Quinlan fine voice and winning charm made Fabrizio a lovable character. The operatic tone and the singing in Italian gave the show a stuffy tone rather than a romantic one. The orchestrations made several song lyrics hard to understand.

The lyrics and the music seem to fight one another. While I liked the score that sounds more like a film underscore than show tune music, I think the lyrics don’t sit on the melodies of several songs. Clara doesn’t understand and Margaret meets with Signor and in the song “Let’s Walk” convinces Signor that love will make the two youngsters a couple. The two return to Florence and at the wedding rehearsal, Signor Naccarelli is distributed by Clara’s age (26) believing that the difference between Fabirizio’s age (20) and Clara (26) is too great. Clara sings about the nature of love and she tells Margaret that her father never loved her mother and that she saw love in Fabirizio’s eyes. Later when Margaret finds Fabrizio, half dressed in Clara’s room, the two women move on to Rome where Clara and her mother get into a nasty argument over Clara’s desire to wed. She is a “special child” due to a childhood accident. The Naccarellis family takes to Clara as Margaret can’t quite explain Clara’s problem. A determined Fabirizo finally get the two women to meet his family for tea. But why? Hints of a problem with Clara abound. Margaret is determined to keep them apart. Max Quinlan sells his love song about Clara in Italian deftly. Margaret is the cultured, yet dominant and ultimately compassionate mother.įabrizio, age 20, speaks little English but he declares his love for the seemingly lost beauty. Early scenes demonstrate a child-like naiveté in the beautiful and sensual Clara. Margaret is protective of Clara and attempts to keep the two apart. When her hat blows off her head and is caught by Fabrizio (the likable Max Quinlan), the two are instantly smitten. Margaret Johnson (Mary Ernster) is enthralled by the art work of Florence while her younger daughter Clara (Summer Smart) sees Florence as the setting for her romantic dreams. This romantic musical finds two American women on an extended vacation in 1953.

This show has a bland score by Adam Guettel and romantic book by Craig Lucas set in the vivid backdrop of Florence, Italy. Winner of six 2005 Tony Awards including best score, orchestration and set design, The Light in the Piazza is a romantic musical that is more operetta than musical comedy. My third production of The Light In The Pizza, now in a romantic staging at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, proved to be the best sung production I’ve seen to date.

At Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire Intimate staging enhances romantic The Light In The Piazza

Light in the piazza novel