ON A CENTRAL SQUARE...

I finally had the priveledge of watching The Light in the Piazza yesterday afternoon.
I am happy to report that it was fantastic, and I only wish that I had the experience of seeing it live.
PBS aired a recorded version of this show at Lincoln Center in mid-June, and I missed it then. Jenny Cartney had it on Tivo, and recorded it for me to see...
Where do I begin?
The beauty of this show is the seasons that love goes through...a mother in what seems to be the Winter of her love, while her daughter is just starting to experience an emergent Spring. The soaring melodies of the opening as a gust of wind blows Clara's hat off and into the hands of Fabrizio, her soon to be lover...

Passion drips from this score, that soaks you in strings. The set is a triumph, evoking a perfect Tuscan setting, even down to the floor's huge tiles.
Victoria Clarke is perfection in this role. It truly is the role of a lifetime for her. Her humor is showcased, but she also shatters as the show goes on. To see her realize what her sacrifice must be is a gorgeous thing indeed.
And Clara...oh Clara. As played by Katie Clarke here, she is such a fragile extrovert. An accident has left her "special", and she has always been looked after by her mother, but on this Tuscan Vacation, she believes that she has found true love. Love at first sight, even.
Love would be easy to fall into with Aaron Lazar, who plays Fabrizio in this performance....

His earnest passion and excitement from his chance encounter with Clara on the street fuel an intense love that threatens to combust the stage by Act 2.
Jenny Cartney bought this cast recording for me for my birthday last year, and I have loved it ever since...but my favorite song was always Aiutami...


The depth of feeling and the operatic scale of the dramatic song are unparalleled.
I am hoping that this show will come out on DVD, since it has already appeared on television...I belive someone told me that that would be happening sometime in the Fall...if so, go to the store and sweep up this amazing piece of theatre that urges you above all else to "Love if you can be loved..."
Love,
SGS