I really wanted to like LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA

Aw, I loved the show. Saw the first preview and already have tickets to see it again. I'm very interested to see the reviews Tuesday.

I thought the entire cast were perfect.
Matt Morrison and Kelli O'Hara shine.
Very talented cast. I liked Piazza. I loved the chemistry between Matt Morrison and Kelli O'Hara. It does drag and it could be a bit faster.
Personally though, I didn't care for the story.
But I am glad I saw Piazza.
I loved the costumes and the sets.
I did adore the cast.

Personally though, Dessa Rose should be in the Broadway theater, I loved it. I could see Dessa Rose over and over again.

Updated On: 4/17/05 at 08:56 AM

Muppet,
I did not love it, but enjoyed seeing it.
The performances make it worth seeing.
I loved the actors, the sets, the costumes.

I don't know about the show, but as a huge fan of Matt's I am thrilled he gets raves from almost everyone !

I want to see this stricktly for Victoria. this woman should be a musical comedy star.

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Im glad you enjoyed Matt Morrison. :)

He really was impressive.
To go from a pop show like Hairspray to an Opera takes work.
Matt shines. So does the entire cast.

Wow, a lot of strange comments about Piazza...First of all, the music is hardly like Albin Berg's, and whoever said this can't have ever heard a note written by Berg. Someone else said it was like an opera, even there is really quite a lot of book. In my opinion, the score sounded like Michel Legrand in a legit mood. It's a sweet show, and at least it's not trashy, like so many Broadway shows, but it just doesn't have enough story to be very interesting. Even at its best, it's a liiiiiiiitle dull, and even with good reviews, which I'm inclined to thing it won't get, my guess is that it's not going to stick around for very long. And it makes me very sad indeed when so many smart and talented people spend years of their lives and end up with something so wan.

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The reactions are tipping, more negative than positive. It depresses me, since this was one of the most anticipated shows of the season. I remember last fall hearing it was finally coming to NY. I couldn't wait.

Is it just me, or is this the season of The Disappointment? Most of the revivals have divided people, (WOOLF, GLASS, STREETCAR) so far, with people in two camps about Turner, Lange, Reilly. (Call me Pollyanna, I loved two of the 3.) Even Dame Edna has been dismissed as a recycle. Perhaps these dynamics are at work in every season. This year, because new work is at a premium, a disappointment in that column feels all the sadder.

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Brantley's going to gush on the score and Clark (he never misses a chance to praise a diva). I agree that the problem with the musical is that the conflict is just so low and not a lot happens. However, I still maintain that Margaret Johnson is the most fully-realized original character in a musical this year (Even among the revivals) and Victoria Clark is using that to maximum effect. Her big solos are very character-revealing and beautiful (and beautifully sung) and her character has such a wonderful arc throughout the musical. It's a shame the underlying story is just not fraught with much intensity that cries out for singing.
Guettel has definitely written the best score of this season (and better than the last few seasons, I believe), just ahead of Finn's new score for Spelling Bee (which is his best, I believe, since Falsettos).
I think the reviews for Piazza are going to be splitsville. Most critics are going to praise the technical aspects of the show, Guettel's score, the performance of Clark, and probably tear everything else apart.

Munk, what boards have you been reading?? Look at this one and ATC, go to any discussion of WOOLF, or the Lange Amanda, or PIAZZA, or the recent talk about STREETCAR. There is a wide range of opnion. Perhaps your idea of divide is more literal; 50-50 may be hard to ascertain, but clearly there is a variety of feedback on just about everything except GOOD VIBRATIONS.

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I am familiar with Berg's scores for LULU and WOZZECK and feel that PIAZZA's score features enough dissonance to sound like Berg's jarring music. I admit, though, that I am more familiar with the Italian composers and hoped that there would be more of an Italian flair in this score. Remember, Mrs. Johnson takes her daughter to Italy to relive the magic she had experienced there years earlier. Why aren't there mandolins in the score? No accordians? These of course could fade out of the orchestration as the story became more present-day.

As far as the sets..... Ugh! The opening scene was very evocative of the Piazza Santa Croce. However as the show progressed, it was more and more of the same columns and arches reconfigured. It became monotonous. How could anyone design sets for Florence, Italy without a hint of the Duomo's magnificent dome or the Ponte Vecchio--especially since a key scene in the show takes place in a red light district? Anyone who's been to the Ponte Vecchio after sundown knows what I mean.

Why wasn't Berresse given a dance number? Why doesn't the comic subplot work?

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