On September 2nd, Aaron Lazar will replace Matthew Morrison as Fabrizio, the young man who falls under the spell of inamorata Clara in the Tony Award-winning Adam Guettel show. On September 13th, Chris Sarandon will succeed Mark Harlik as Signor Naccarelli, Fabrizio's affable, tie shop-owning father.Lazar has previously appeared on Broadway in the 2002 revival of Oklahoma! and in The Phantom of the Opera, and would have starred in Barry Manilow's Harmony had it not been cancelled before going into tryouts. He played Gabey in the hit English National Opera production of On the Town, and has also appeared in productions of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Carousel and Chamberlain. Sarandon's Broadway credits include Nick and Nora (where he met wife Joanna Gleason), The Rothschilds, Two Gentlemen of Verona and Censored Scenes from Hong Kong. Off-Broadway, he has been seen in such shows as Marco Polo Sings a Solo and The Woods. As a film actor, Sarandon has starred in The Nightmare Before Christmas (as the voice of Jack Skellington), Slaves of New York, The Princess Bride, and Dog Day Afternoon (for which he was nominated for an Academy Award).
The Light in the Piazza follows mother and daughter Margaret and Clara Johnson as they vacation in Florence. Clara, who is emotionally and mentally younger than her actual age, finds herself in love with Fabrizio despite Margaret's attempts to curtail the romance before it hurts her daughter. With a Tony Award-winning score by Guettel (Floyd Collins) and a book by Craig Lucas (Reckless, Prelude to a Kiss), the show opened at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre (150 W. 65th St.) on April 18th; its limited run has been extended twice, and it will now close on January 1st, 2006.Victoria Clark won a 2005 Tony for her performance as the conflicted Margaret, and the show also currently stars Kelli O'Hara as Clara, Sarah Uriarte-Berry as Franca, Patti Cohenour as Signora Naccarelli, Michael Berresse as Giuseppi and Beau Gravitte as Margaret's husband Roy. The Light in the Piazza is directed by Bartlett Sher and features a Tony-winning design team of Michael Yeargen (sets), Catherine Zuber (costumes) and Christopher Akerlind (lighting).
