Help me understand The Light in the Piazza

Hi there. About six months ago I read from many posters on these boards how great The Light in the Piazza was. So about 2 months ago I bought the CD hoping to enjoy it as many others have.
Sadly, I dont understand much of it. Clara got kicked by a horse as a kid? Haha. That's suppose to be some kind of family secret? I guess I just dont understand. Why is her mother trying to discourage Clara from falling in love with Fabrizio? What is the message of the show?
If someone can please help it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks -Adam

Updated On: 5/25/06 at 05:06 PM

the music is great. the cast is great. the direction is great. the set is great. the lighting is great.

everything about the show is just fantastic.

except the plot. which is one of the weakest for such a gorgeous show.

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Here's the deal.

Clara gets kicked in the head which disables her mind from maturing. Therefore, Margaret doens't want her to be with Fabrizio because she emotionally can't handle it, or so she thinks. It would be like Fabby with a 10 year old.

Hope that helps.

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**Spoiler alert***

"However, with some personal heart-to-heart with his father, Margaret persists and it happens."

No, she pays him to take Clara off her hands.

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i wanted to get a hold of the novella but never quite found it anywhere...

hmm... the movie was also on TCM a while back, but, alas and alack, i missed it!

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WHAT? Lol she PAYS him? I never caught that. Oh that makes me a little sadder, I always thought in the show the effect of love could do miracles. Guess I forgot what world I was living in. Thanks for the reality check Gothampc.

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The book that contains the original short story is available for purchase. Lincoln Center had it for sale when I saw the show in August...I'm assuming they still do. My mom bought me a copy from our local bookstore. I think it had to be special ordered, but then again our bookstore is small and independent. One of the bigger chains might have it in stock.

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Fabrizio doesn't realize she has problems because he does not know her age. He probably suspects she is 20. Clara probably knows something is wrong with her, I don't remember specifically though, I saw it last July.

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Jean Valjean (played with conviction by Victoria Clark) leads Fosca(Kelli Ohara) through the jungle to reclaim her thrown on pride rock, however the journey is interupted as Amneris (Matt Morrison in convincing drag)buries them in a tomb.


beautiful.

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It was so depressing I had to run over to Sweeney Todd to cheer me up. Then I read the Pillowman on my train ride home before I could fully recover from my near suicidal experience at Piazza. Bring the tissue box.

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well G,

you know what they say: every story is a love story.


no matter how f*cking screwed up!

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The message of the story is that love is wonderful, transformative, healing, and if you ever find it you should throw yourself into it forever. That's hardly depressing. This theme is especially clear in Fable ("if you find in the world, in the wide, wide world that someone sees, that someone loves you...love and be loved!") and the Octet, where the family members find their own relationships renewed by seeing the young couple hopelessly in love.

Margaret has her misgivings from the start because 1)Clara's accident has permanently damaged her maturity and intelligence and 2)her own marriage has been empty and loveless. But then she sees what loving Fabrizio has done for her. She says of her mentally 10-year-old daughter: "She's learned Italian, for god's sake." She also realizes that just because Clara isn't the same as most young women that she can't be consigned to a life of loneliness and misery. When she really sees that Clara has found love and acceptance in Fabrizio and his family she puts her own fears aside, stops trying to endlessly protect Clara, and sets her free to be herself and live her own life. It is an enormous leap of faith for Margaret to make, but she finally lets go and allows Clara a chance at happiness.

The show is not about a convoluted plot with a lot of twists and turns. The idea that Clara's condition is a huge plot twist or spoiler is sort of absurd, as it is clear from the first scene that there's something off about her. It's a slight, little story even in the novella. The plot is really just a springboard into the issues at the heart of the show: love, trust, faith, restoration, and nobody writes about those things better than Guettel.

Maybe it's because I'm a special educator who spends his life trying to see beyond disabilities into the humanity of my students. Maybe it's because I'm a parent who wants to see his own children find that eternal love. Or maybe it's because I think Guettel's score is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But each time I saw the show, I was emotionally devastated and transformed myself.

I can't promise that seeing the show or understanding more about the plot will make it as incredible for you, but I'd at least encourage you to give it another chance.

Don't see the movie; it is terrible. I admit that LitP has a lame plot, but I love it anyway. The novel's good, but I have to admit the basic message is "If your daughter's mentally handicapped, go to Italy because she'll fit right in!"

The musical handles it better than the novel, I think, and definitely better than the movie. The movie is just... ugh.

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