Andreas, Burnham, Etc. Star in Piazza Tour; Dates Also Set

Direct from Broadway, the romantic new musical THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA will continue to win hearts across North America when it begins a 50-week North American Tour premiering August 2006 in San Francisco and visiting more than 25 cities, including Los Angeles, Washington DC, Boston and many more. A full tour schedule is below.

Principal casting is complete for the touring production, and leading the cast will be Christine Andreas as Margaret Johnson, a protective Southern matron, Elena Shaddow as her daughter Clara, a beautiful 26-year-old American traveling abroad, and David Burnham as Fabrizio Naccarelli, a 20-year old Italian suitor who barely speaks English and is the source of the romantic tension central to the story.

The cast will also feature Laura Griffith as Franca Naccarelli, Jonathan Hammond as Giuseppe Naccarelli, David Ledingham as Signor Naccarelli, Brian Sutherland as Roy Johnson and Diane Sutherland as Signora Naccarelli.

The Ensemble comprises Craig Bennett, Wendi Bergamini, Jane Brockman, Sean Hayden, Leslie Henstock, Prudence Wright Holmes, John Charles Kelly, Evangelia Kingsley, Michel Moinot and Adam Overett.

David Burnham, Laura Griffith, Diane Sutherland, Prudence Wright Holmes, Michel Moinot and Adam Overett join the tour directly from the Broadway cast.

The new musical opened on Broadway April 2005 and instantly became a favorite of critics and audiences alike, extending its run until July 2006 at Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont Theater. With book by Craig Lucas, music and lyrics by Adam Guettel and direction by Bartlett Sher, THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA is the winner of six 2005 Tony® Awards, 5 Drama Desk Awards and 2 Outer Critics Circle Awards for its acclaimed New York run, and was recently seen nationwide on PBS's "Live From Lincoln Center."

The musical, based on the novella by ElizaBeth Spencer, is set in the summer of 1953 and tells the story of a mother and daughter traveling through Italy, the daughter's romance with a handsome, high-spirited Florentine, and the mother's determined efforts to keep the two apart. The beautiful songs echo the romantic feelings of love and have been the key to winning the hearts of audiences. Composer Guettel has been praised for capturing "that transcendent, irrational state familiar to anyone who has fallen head over heels in love" (The New York Times) in his score for THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA.

NETworks presents the Lincoln Center Theater production, which reunites the award-winning creative team from Broadway. The musical has sets by Michael Yeargan (2005 Tony® Award winner), costumes by Catherine Zuber (2005 Tony® Award winner), lighting by Christopher Akerlind (2005 Tony® Award winner), sound by ACME Sound Partners, orchestrations by Ted Sperling, Adam Guettel and Bruce Coughlin (2005 Tony® Award winners), music direction by Kimberly Grigsby and musical staging by Jonathan Butterell. The official website for the tour is www.piazzaontour.com.

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