Light In The Piazza- Page 2
Light In The Piazza
#25Light In The Piazza
Posted: 4/10/25 at 3:20am
Ravenclaw said: "Kad said: "Beautiful score, but the show always left me sort of cold. It’s a marble statue of a show for me.
(I do think the revelation about Clara is borderline camp, though, in both detail and execution)."
Borderline camp, you say?
....I'm just gonna leave this here...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0ZyPozPNXd/?igsh=aWVzejUxMmFuNDVj"
OMG haha.
But yes, I think this and the 'borderline camp' comment kind of illustrates it for me. There is something just a little off about it. And I WANT to love it of course.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#26Light In The Piazza
Posted: 4/10/25 at 11:34am
It doesn't seem like it would be all that difficult to remove that "borderline camp" moment, either by deleting it entirely, or (if it's important that we see why Margaret carries such guilt about it) replacing it with a recollection of early signs of a developmental disorder that she neglected to do anything about.
But it's just a fleeting moment in an otherwise perfect show (in my opinion, of course).
WindyNewYorker
Understudy Joined: 10/22/23
rattleNwoolypenguin
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/11/11
#28Light In The Piazza
Posted: 4/11/25 at 8:41am
If you watch the 60’s movie or read the novella, the reveal of Clara is not camp at all. It’s not even a reveal, it’s just explained. It’s honestly sadder.
And it more reflects just the negligence and ignorance of parents in that time period that your child and your child’s brain is fragile.
It’s become a theatre joke because the show decided wrongly to build it as a reveal later on in the show that you’re waiting for as an audience member as well as hearing it come from someone with a thick southern accent.
Olivia DeHavilland in the film plays it very straight early on and it’s handled much better
jms2880
Swing Joined: 11/26/11
#30Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/18/25 at 10:59pm
I saw the original at the Beaumont and the NYCC production. I floated out of the Huntington today feeling bathed in art. This is an extremely professional production that was so worth the trip. Emily Skinner (Margaret), Sarah-Anne Martinez (Clara) and William Michals (Signor Naccarelli) are all in glorious voice but it was Joshua Grosso (Fabrizio) who stole my heart. He is truly giving an outstanding performance. I found that there was ample chemistry between Clara and Fabrizio that fueled my feelings for them.
The scenic design and especially the lighting was beautiful. Costumes and wigs were all exquisite. I loved the staging and direction. It felt like this could be on Broadway. Highly recommended.
#31Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/19/25 at 4:09pm
Had the chance to see the original production but chose to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels instead. After hearing the OBCR I was ready to kick myself for not seeing it while there. (Although I loved DRS). So glad I finally got to see it at City Center. That production made it worth the wait to finally see it.
Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#32Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/19/25 at 4:17pm
Melissa25 said: "I saw the original at the Beaumont and the NYCC production. I floated out of the Huntington today feeling bathed in art. This is an extremely professional production that was so worth the trip. Emily Skinner (Margaret), Sarah-Anne Martinez (Clara) andWilliam Michals (Signor Naccarelli) are all in glorious voice but it was Joshua Grosso (Fabrizio) who stole my heart. He is truly giving an outstanding performance. I found that there was ample chemistry between Clara and Fabrizio that fueled my feelings for them.
The scenic design and especially the lighting was beautiful. Costumes and wigs were all exquisite. I loved the staging and direction. It felt like this could be on Broadway. Highly recommended."
Oh man, that sounds wonderful Melissa. I've been following Joshua Grosso's career since he won the Jimmy Awards and he is extraordinary. Perfect technique. I have never seen a professional production of this so I hope someday it can make it to New York again for a gorgeous, lush revival.
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#33Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/19/25 at 4:53pm
Globefan said: "I wouldn't be opposed to a movie version."
#34Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/19/25 at 5:04pm
Ever since the Call Me By Your Name film came out I’ve been wanting Luca Guadagnino to adapt the musical for the screen.
My father (AIDS)
My sister (AIDS)
My uncle and my cousin and her best friend (AIDS, AIDS, AIDS)
The gays and the straights
And the white and the spades
#35Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/19/25 at 7:53pm
The Huntington shared a “Tell a friend 25% discount” for Light in the Piazza so here you go. Use code TELLAFRIEND25
Updated On: 5/20/25 at 07:53 PM
Georgeanddot2
Broadway Star Joined: 2/20/20
#36Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/20/25 at 1:11am
The kicked by a Shetland pony reveal is so camp and I LOVE IT!
Updated On: 5/20/25 at 01:11 AM#37Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/20/25 at 2:43am
Georgeanddot2 said: "The kicked by a Shetland pony reveal is so camp and I LOVE IT!"
Is it meant to be camp though?
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#38Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/20/25 at 5:22am
binau said: "Georgeanddot2 said: "The kicked by a Shetland pony reveal is so camp and I LOVE IT!"
Is it meant to be camp though?"
No, that’s what makes it camp!
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#39Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/20/25 at 10:49am
They try so hard to be earnest with the pony reveal and it makes it even more camp. I can play back that moment in the cast recording and just start to laugh. Of all the things to keep for fealty to the source material. An accident? Sure. That accident? Camp. Pure camp.
#40Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/20/25 at 11:07am
trentsketch said: "Of all the things to keep for fealty to the source material. An accident? Sure. That accident? Camp. Pure camp."
I really wish they'd changed the accident story, or eliminated that sequence entirely. A simple reference to ignoring early signs of an unspecified developmental disorder would have served the same function of showing why Margaret bears such guilt.
(ETA: I see that I've already made the same point on this thread before - my apologies for repeating myself!)
Georgeanddot2
Broadway Star Joined: 2/20/20
#41Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/20/25 at 4:22pm
I don't think it being camp detracts from the dramatic weight of the story at all. Honestly, the whole show is pretty camp.
#42Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/22/25 at 11:24am
BrodyFosse123 said: "Globefan said: "I wouldn't be opposed to a movie version."
I think they mean a movie version of the MUSICAL, dear. Everyone already knows that a movie version based on the original Elizabeth Spencer novella exists.
"
#43Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/22/25 at 1:53pm
I'm still saddened that I only came upon this show after seeing it air on PBS and by then it was near the end of its run on Broadway and never got to see it live. The score truly is spectacular and a favorite of mine. It's too bad that the Renee Flemming revival was never recorded. I've seen some clips of that online and would love to have another cast recording.
#44Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/22/25 at 3:22pm
Some of you have never spent time around horses. Injuries related to being kicked by a horse can absolutely result in major brain injuries. I think what some of you are interpreting as camp is an eggageration of Clara's "sweet, childlike docility" in the story as a result of the accident. But as someone who grew up around horses, the injuries a horse can cause are pretty far from camp.
“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”
#45Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/26/25 at 3:28pm
I watched the Broadway proshot, and....this musical IS a masterpiece! Victoria was amazing, and the book and score were so good. I mean, well, kinda. The score is beautiful, but...I would not say exactly memorable. I can't remember any melodies. But I only heard all the songs once, and sometimes songs become more popular on a repeat listens. It just reminds me of how today's musicals seem to have the music all over the place and not much repetition. But at least it was pretty. I did not know I could have my heart broken by musicalized crying when Clara cries in her wedding dress. Fabrizio sang astoundingly. I thought the pony injury was not camp, but had I not been prepared for it by reading about it here first, would I have laughed? I don't know. I certainly like it better than the idea Clara was born with developmental problems. The horse injury is more dramatic.
I do wonder, though, has anyone ever lobbied the criticism at the story that is at all...pedophilic? That Clara would be a forever 10 year old and be in a romantic relationship to a man who grew older and older while she didn't? I don't think it is pedophilic, I would like to believe, much like her mother, that she blossoms into an emotional and mental state of someone at least of age, but...I was just wondering.
Georgeanddot2
Broadway Star Joined: 2/20/20
#46Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/26/25 at 3:59pm
QueenAlice said: "Some of you have never spent time around horses. Injuries related to being kicked by a horse can absolutely result in major brain injuries. I think what some of you are interpreting as camp is an eggageration of Clara's "sweet, childlike docility" in the story as a result of the accident. But as someone who grew up around horses, the injuries a horse can cause are pretty far from camp."
wee woo wee woo here comes the fun police
SteveSanders
Stand-by Joined: 3/29/25
#47Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/26/25 at 4:51pm
The person offered a factual observation that does not merit the "fun police" comment.
Georgeanddot2
Broadway Star Joined: 2/20/20
#48Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/26/25 at 5:02pm
SteveSanders said: "The person offered a factual observation that does not merit the "fun police" comment.
"
Wee woo wee woo They've called in reinforcements!
#49Light In The Piazza
Posted: 5/26/25 at 9:22pm
MagicalMusical said: "I do wonder, though, has anyone ever lobbied the criticism at the story thatis at all...pedophilic? That Clara would be a forever 10 year old and be in a romantic relationship to a man who grew older and older while she didn't? I don't think it is pedophilic, I would like to believe, much like her mother, that she blossoms into an emotional and mental state of someone at least of age, but...I was just wondering."
Well, this is the very crux of the show's conflict, for Margaret and, I suppose, for audiences. Is Clara an overgrown child who needs to be forever protected and never allowed to make decisions for herself? Or is she a capable free agent who can choose the life she wants to lead?
Throughout the first act, Margaret believes the former proposition, but the happenings in the second act convince her that Clara deserves to choose her own path. The title song does a lot of work in convincing Margaret to change her mind about this; she goes from a mother reluctantly indulging what she hopes is a passing infatuation to a mother willing to stand up for her daughter's right to marry the love of her life.
I've always taken it for granted that Clara is a fully competent adult, despite her limitations and eccentricities, and that Margaret's concerns are misplaced and shaped by her poor relationship with her own husband. So the possibility of "pedophilia," or, more precisely, lack of consent in her relations with Fabrizio, never really entered my mind.
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