THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Comes to Philadelphia Theatre Co. 11/13 - 12/6

The romance of Florence comes to life on stage as Philadelphia Theatre Company continues its 2009-2010 season with the hit Broadway musical The Light in the Piazza with book by Craig Lucas and music and lyrics by Adam Guettel on November 13 - December 6. Directed by Joe Calarco, the ensemble cast features Whitney Bashor, Sherri Edelen, Joe Guzman, Ken Krugman, Kyra Miller, Fran Prisco, Matthew Scott, and Maureen Torsney-Weir.

Previews begin Friday, November 13 with opening night on Wednesday, November 18. Performances run Tuesday through Sunday until December 6. Tickets are $51-70, with discounts for students, seniors and groups. Tickets are available by calling the PTC Box Office at 215-985-0420 or visiting PhiladelphiaTheatreCompany.org. Philadelphia Theatre Company's Suzanne Roberts Theatre is located at Broad and Lombard Streets.

The six-time Tony Award-winning The Light in the Piazza combines the romance of Italy with a passionate love story. Margaret Johnson, a woman escaping her crumbling marriage, is traveling in Tuscany with her daughter Clara. When a handsome young Florentine captures Clara's heart, Margaret must decide if she'll risk revealing truths that could threaten her daughter's happiness.

The Light in the Piazza, based on the novella by ElizaBeth Spencer, was developed at the Intiman Playhouse in Seattle and Goodman Theatre in Chicago before moving to Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre. The production won six Tony Awards, five Drama Desk Awards, and two Outer Critics Circle Awards.

"When I saw The Light in the Piazza at Lincoln Center I was immediately captivated by the lush music and the aura of mystery and sacrifIce That pervade the story of forbidden love," said Sara Garonzik, PTC's Producing Artistic Director. "I am delighted that we are able to present an intimate chamber version this beautiful and emotionally-packed musical."

Adam Guettel (Music and Lyrics) won Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Orchestration, and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestration for The Light in the Piazza. He has also written Floyd Collins and Myths & Hymns (later re-named Saturn Returns), both of which premiered at the Prince Music Theatre as well as Love's Fire. Guettel is the son of composer, author and Juilliard School chairman Mary Rodgers and grandson of Pulitzer Prize-winning musical theater composer Richard Rodgers. His father Henry Guettel was a film executive who also ran the Theater Development Fund.

Craig Lucas (Book), currently Associate Artistic Director at Intiman Theatre in Seattle, received a Tony nomination for The Light in the Piazza. He has written Prelude to a Kiss, for which he won a Tony Award for Best Play, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and Missing Persons, for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play. He received an OBIE Award for Best American Play for Small Tragedy. He has also authored Blue Window, Reckless, Three Postcards, and the screenplay for the film Longtime Companion.

Joe Calarco (Director) returns to Philadelphia Theatre Company where he directed M. Butterfly and the Barrymore Award-winning musical The Last Five Years and Elegies: A Song Cycle. He is an Artistic Associate at Signature Theatre where he has directed productions of Urinetown, Elegies: A Song Cycle (three Helen Hayes nominations), the world premiere of Nijinsky's Last Dance (four Helen Hayes Awards), Side Show (four Helen Hayes Awards), and the world premiere of his own play, In The Absence of Spring, which premiered in New York at Second Stage as the inaugural production of their New Plays Uptown series, under his own direction. He is the adaptor/director of Shakespeare's R&J, which ran for a year in New York and also in London and earned him a Lucille Lortel Award. He also directed the play's premiere in Chicago (five Jefferson Award nominations) and Washington, DC (two Helen Hayes Award nominations). Other regional credits include productions at The Shakespeare Theatre, The Hangar Theatre, and New York Musical Theatre Festival.

Whitney Bashor (Clara) appeared in the national tours of Happy Days and Whistle Down the Wind. Off-Broadway she starred in The Fantasticks and participated in a Lincoln Center workshop of Picnic at Hanging Rock. Regionally she has performed at the Kennedy Center, Westport Country Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Capital Repertory Theatre.

Sherri Edelen (Margaret) returns to PTC where she last appeared in Elegies: A Song Cycle, earning her a Barrymore nomination. Locally, she was also featured at Arden Theatre Company in Caroline or Change. A frequent guest at Signature Theatre, Stages St. Louis, Olney Theatre Center and Round House Theatre, she has also performed at the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage and Ford's Theatre.

Joe Guzman (Roy/Priest) returns to PTC where he was last seen in Bruce Norris' The Infidel. He received a Barrymore Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play in Lovers and Executioners at Lantern Theatre Company, where he has performed in six shows. He has also appeared in numerous productions at Arden Theatre Company, The Wilma Theater, People's Light & Theatre Company, InterAct Theatre Company, Theatre Exile, and Act II Playhouse.

Ken Krugman (Signor Naccarelli) appeared on Broadway in Assassins, Titanic, Les Miserables and Candide, and off-Broadway in Splendora at American Place Theatre. He has been featured in the national tours of Jersey Boys, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Titanic, Les Miserables and Sherlock Holmes. His regional credits include performances at Guthrie Theatre, Goodspeed Playhouse, Two Rivers Theatre Company, and Bay Street Theatre.

Kyra Miller (Franca/Tour Guide) was featured in The Time of Your Life, a co-production with Steppenwolf at Seattle Rep and ACT. She has also appeared in The Immigrant at Westport Country Playhouse and in Julius Caesar and Pirates of Penzance, both at Utah Shakespeare Festival.

Fran Prisco (Giuseppe) comes to PTC following his recent appearance in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at Walnut Street Theatre, where he also starred in Born Yesterday. He has also appeared in several productions at Arden Theatre Company, Round Barn Theatre, The Wilma Theater and Act II Playhouse.

Matthew Scott (Fabrizio) appeared in Broadway in Jersey Boys. Regionally he has been seen in several productions at Paper Mill Playhouse. Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, and The Muny as well as at Signature Theatre, Old Globe, and Alliance Theatre.

Maureen Torsney-Weir (Signora Naccarelli) comes to PTC following her appearance in The History Boys at Arden Theatre Company where she has also been featured in Caroline or Change, The Baker's Wife, and A Prayer for Owen Meany. She has performed at 1812 Productions, InterAct Theatre Company, Act II Playhouse, Lantern Theatre Company, and People's Light & Theatre Company. Her performance in Angels in America at Villanova University Theatre won her a Barrymore Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play.

The Light in the Piazza features the return of several veteran PTC designers: set designer Michael Fagin (PTC's M. Butterfly), costumer designer Anne Kennedy (PTC's Elegies: A Song Cycle) and sound designer Ryan Rumery (Murderers, Unusual Acts of Devotion, and Grey Gardens), music director Eric Ebbenga (PTC's Grey Gardens, for which he received a Barrymore nomination), and the PTC debut of lighting designer R. Lee Kennedy.

Philadelphia Theatre Company's season continues with the world premiere of Terrence McNally's Golden Age on January 22-February 14, which then moves to the Kennedy Center; the dark comedy thriller Mauritius by Theresa Rebeck on March 19-April 11; and August Wilson's first major play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom on May 21-June 13.

Philadelphia Theatre Company is Philadelphia's only not-for-profit professional theater dedicated exclusively to producing world and regional premieres of works by contemporary American Playwrights. Sara Garonzik has been the company's Producing Artistic Director since 1982, and in 2007, Diane Claussen became its Managing Director. Philadelphia Theatre Company continues to experience ever-increasing national impact, having produced 34 world premieres of new American plays and musicals in its 33 seasons. Recent world premiere productions include: Unusual Acts of Devotion by Terrence McNally; The Happiness Lecture by Bill Irwin; Nerds://A Musical Software Satire by Jordan Allen-Dutton, Erik Weiner, and HAl Goldberg; Some Men by Terrence McNally (later produced at the Second Stage); Adrift in Macao, a musical by Christopher Durang and Peter Melnick (produced at Primary Stages); Bruce Graham's According to Goldman; Jeffrey Hatcher's A Picasso (later produced at Manhattan Theatre Club); Daniel Stern's comedy Barbra's Wedding (moved to the Westside Arts Theatre in 2003); John Henry Redwood's No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs (later produced at Primary Stages); J.T. Rogers' White People; David Ives' Lives of the Saints; three-time Tony Award-winning Master Class by Terrence McNally, starring Zoe Caldwell; Bunny Bunny by Alan Zweibel (Lucille Lortel Award, 1997); and the American premiere of Birdy by Naomi Wallace, among others.

Philadelphia Theatre Company has received numerous "Best Theater Company" citations from media sources such as the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Magazine, Philadelphia Weekly, Philadelphia Style Magazine, and Philadelphia City Paper. Since 1995, Philadelphia Theatre Company has received 135 nominations and 36 awards from Philadelphia's Barrymore Awards.

PTC is in its third season in its new home, the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, designed by the award-winning firm of KieranTimberlake Associates LLP. This new state-of-the-art venue on Philadelphia's famed Avenue of the Arts was built as the result of an innovative partnership between PTC and Philadelphia developer Carl Dranoff. The project promotes the city's leading arts district both regionally and nationally and represents a model for civic development that capitalizes on the ability of the arts to reinvigorate urban districts for residential and commercial revival.

For further information on Philadelphia Theatre Company, call 215-985-0420 or visit PhiladelphiaTheatreCompany.org.

 

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