Photo of Christine Andreas (seated) and Elena Shaddow (standing)
courtesy of KC Public Relations
"The Light In the Piazza" (Fox Theater)

In 1962 Olivia de Haviland and Yvette Mimieux starred in "The Light In the Piazza," a movie based on Elizabeth Spencer's novel of the same name. Now some forty something years later that story has been transformed into a Tony Award winning Broadway musical. It is playing in Atlanta at the Fox Theater thru Sunday (October 15).

The play sticks closely to the story of a woman who takes her mentally challenged daughter to Europe. The girl suffered a severe accident at the age of ten and her mental capacities stayed that age while her body grew up. Now she is with her mother in Italy and she is ready to try to be a grownup.

Margaret Johnson (Christine Andreas) knows her daughter Clara's (Elena Shaddow) limitations, and she tries to protect her from the world. But when Clara meets Fabrizio (David Burnham), Margaret can not stand in the way of love.

The plot of this play is more complicated than most. It requires the audience to stay with the story from beginning to end. There is no relaxing and just going with the flow, this play demands dedication and attention.

The score for the play won a Tony Award and it is beautiful. It is also operatic and a little discordant. Andreas, Shaddow and Burnham all possess amazing voices but they do not always sing their words with enough clarity and precision to be totally understood. And since the lyrics of the songs move the story along, this is a flaw that weakens the overall enjoyment.

Audiences should also be aware that much of the first act contains songs sung in Italian. They are beautiful, but they are in Italian. You really have to concentrate to get the intention of those lyrics.

"The Light In the Piazza" is not a show intended for the casual Broadway musical lover. This is a show for a much more serious theatergoer. For those who appreciate a dramatic storyline, a wonderfully operatic score, and beautifully voiced performers, this is a show to be studied and enjoyed.

It takes an effort to enjoy "The Light In the Piazza," but for those willing to expend the energy to get absorbed by it the result is a show to remember and to savor.

 

 

 

 

 

©2006 Jackie K. Cooper

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