Light in the Piazza - Arena Stage

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 11:12pm

The Light in the Piazza is one of my favorite musicals having absolutely loved the Broadway production and subsequent national tour. Both very difficult acts to follow. That being said, I did my best to keep an open mind with Arena Stage's production.

I liked the set design. The projections that took place in the museum while Clara was singing, "The Beauty Is", were quite effective. The 5 piece orchestra was seated at the top of the set. Believe it or not, the 5 pieces worked, although I did miss some of the lush orchestrations. They did have a harpist, which made me happy.

Molly Smith's direction had as much subtlety as a sledge hammer. It was as if she set out to do the exact opposite of the Broadway production.

Whether it was the direction or the character choices of Hollis Resnick, her Margaret Johnson was devoid of most of the humor that Victoria Clark brought to the role. Margaret Anne Florence was just plain annoying as Clara. She had a pleasant voice, but some of her vocal stylings were kind of off putting. So, not really liking the two leads of this show already put this production behind the eight ball.

The Naccarelli's fared much better. Nicholas Rodriguez possessed all the qualities of a young man who finds himself in love with a girl. He was very believable as Fabrizio. His "Love to Me" was quite beautiful, but then Molly Smith had Margaret enter before the audience had a chance to applaud after the number. It really broke the tenderness of the scene between Fabrizio and Clara.

Ariella Morgenstern was excellent as Franca. She looked like a very young Elizabeth Taylor from the 1950s. Her acting and singing were both wonderful.

Mary Gutzi as Signora Naccarelli brought a different dimension to the role that I had never seen before. One of the numbers that worked very well was Aiutami. I actually heard lyrics that I missed all the other times I had seen this show (primarily those of Signora Naccarelli).

The costumes for Clara and Margaret, with the exception of their wedding attire, were kind of drab.

Some of the directorial missteps: having Clara and Fabrizio chase each other around the bed and tossing pillows at one another (I kid you not) during "Say it Somehow", was just bad and off the mark. The friend I attended with, who had never seen this show before, questioned what that was all about. Margaret's entrance at the end of Act 1 was just a plain thud.

****SPOILERS****

There was absolutely no tension prior to the kiss between Signor Naccarelli and Margaret in Act 2. It literally came out of no where, and ended just as quickly. Also, having Margaret emphasize Clara's age during the wedding rehearsal kind of ruined the "surprise". Not that she actually said Clara's age, she just stated loudly "your age" as Clara was filling out the application.

The only time I was moved this evening was the moment that Clara and Fabrizio met for the first time. Unfortunately this production just left me cold which is a bit surprising to me, since I thoroughly enjoyed their productions of "She Loves Me" and "Damn Yankees".

Updated On: 3/15/10 at 11:12 PM