La Luce nel Piazza è Magnifica

When The Light In The Piazza had its pre-Broadway engagement at the Goodman Theatre in 2004, the warmth and emotion of this special piece of musical theatre spread throughout this city.  Now more than three years later, and a critically acclaimed Broadway run garnering six 2005 Tony Awards, the national tour brings this masterpiece back to Chicago. 

The Light in The Piazza is based on a 1948 novella entitled "Fire In The Morning" by Elizabeth Spencer which was made into a feature film in 1962 with Olivia de Havilland and featured costumes by famed clothing designer Christian Dior.

 The musical got its start a the Intiman Playhouse in Seattle followed by the Goodman, then Broadway with a book by Craign Lucas, music and lyrics by Adam Guettel and direction by Bartlett Sher.

The Light in the Piazza is the story of Margaret Johnson (Christine Andreas), an upper crust South Carolina matron traveling in Italy in 1953 with her daughter Clara (Katie Rose Clarke who recreates her Broadway performance). As mother and daughter are admiring the naked statues in Florence, Clara's hat is blown off by a fateful gust of wind and retrieved by Fabrizio, a young apprentice in his father's tie shop. David Burhnam, who was in the Broadway ensemble, plays the role here.

Fabrizio and Clara are instantly enamored with each other, but there are obstacles. Clara may be 26, but a childhood accident has left her with the emotional maturity of someone half her age. Trying to protect her daughter, Margaret does her best to keep the lovers apart. When that inevitably fails, Margaret has to come to terms with the flowering of her daughter's identity, the withering of her own marriage, and the future they all must face. The story of Clara and Fabrizio stand in direct contrast to the relationship of Clara's parents. Although Margaret and her husband Roy had a joyful honeymoon in Florence, almost immediately as Margaret notes in the song "Dividing Day," they were never united in love with each other.

Anyone who has seen prior versions of Piazza and are concerned that the largess of the Auditorium Theatre would take away from the intimacy of the show need not worry.  Especially when the show is in such competent hands of its' leads, Christine Andreas, Katie Rose Clarke and David Burnham.

As the matriarch, Christine Andreas gives one of the most powerful performances, both vocally and acting wise, to be heard and seen in Chicago in a very long time.  Her range is incredible and Ms. Andreas hits all the notes in this difficult score effortlessly.   Seeing Ms. Andreas makes me very nostalgic as her Broadway revival of My Fair Lady opposite Ian Richardson was the first Broadway show I ever saw back in the mid 1970's.  Her voice is pure magic to listen to.

Katie Rose Clarke is equally as moving as Clara Johnson.  I didn't get a chance to see her on Broadway (as her understudy was performing the day I attended), however I did see her perform the role on PBS telecast of Light on Live at Lincoln Center What caught my attention was the use of her hands, especially when throwing a childlike fit.  This is brought more to the forefront seeing Ms. Clarke in person.  Her hand gestures are fascinating to watch and all her emotion pours out through them.  Ms. Clarke also has an beautiful voice and in the duets with her mother, the two voices are seamless together.

The breakout performance in this tour though is David Burnham's portrayal of Fabrizio, who falls head over heals with Clara the moment he lays his eyes on her, and visa versa.  Burnham plays the part so truthfully that his lovelorn puppy dog antics over Clara never feels cliché or forced.  Instead you can feel honest emotion of someone truly finding their soul mate.  And when Burnham unleashes his gorgeous tenor pipes in "Il Mondo Era Vuoto", the rafters of the theatre are blown off.  He has great comic timing as well, especially with the reactionary moments with Mrs. Johnson.

The sets and lighting all combine to make this production of Piazza the best to date.  Those who have seen other productions of Piazza should definitely make it a point to catch the Light while it shines so brightly at the Auditorium Theatre through July 22nd.

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