Light in the Piazza Question
Light in the Piazza Question
#1Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 2:22amI was reading today about how Kelli played Franca in the first two productions then opened on Broadway. Who was playing the role? And why did O'Hara replace her. I love her to death and was just wondering
Genius lasts longer than beauty.
logan0215
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/05
#2re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 2:27am
Celia Keenan-Bolger played Clara.
Sarah Uriate Berry went on to take over the Franca role.
#2re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 2:48amDid she leave to do Spelling Bee or did they replace her?
Genius lasts longer than beauty.
SueleenGay
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/9/03
#3re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 6:10am
She got kicked in the head by a horse. Or to be more specific, a circus pony!
PEACE.
Updated On: 5/12/09 at 06:10 AM
#4re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 6:14am
I believe I heard Victoria Clark say in an interview that they (the proverbial they, I guess) loved Celia Keenan-Bolger, but she just played too young onstage, so she was replaced with Kelli O'Hara.
Steven Pasquale was also the original Fabrizio, but he was also replaced.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
Updated On: 5/12/09 at 06:14 AM
SueleenGay
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/9/03
#5re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 6:18amI thought Celia was a beautiful Clara. I was surprised she was replaced.
PEACE.
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#6re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 6:41amKelli originally played Franca, though?
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
#7re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 10:16amIf I remember correctly, when they did the original reading at a festival, Kelli happened to be there for some other work and they asked her to read the role of Franca. She was kept in that role for the original workshops and approached her to take over Clara for the broadway transfer. She said she ENJOYED playing the saucy supporting role SO MUCH that she almost considered staying in the role of Franca.
". . . POP . . ."
#8re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 1:07pmCan you imagine if Kelli had stayed as Franca for the Broadway run? Her career might have gone in a completely different direction.
You're reminding me of people you hear at the movies asking questions every ten seconds, "Who is that? Why is that guy walking down the street? Who's that lady coming up to him? Uh-oh, why did that car go by? Why is it so dark in this theater?" - FindingNamo on strummergirl
"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor
"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl
"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor
"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl
"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
#9re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 1:36pmThank God she didn't. She was brillant in that role.
Genius lasts longer than beauty.
#10re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 1:38pmTrue Kelli was great, but I would have loved to see Celia. I wish they had gotten her to replace Kelli rather than Katie Clark.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention...I'm the good cop, he's the bad cop.
#11re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 2:20pm
Steven Pasquale was also the original Fabrizio, but he was also replaced.
:sigh: I would've loved to see that.
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#12re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 3:13pm
From what I understand, Celia played the role too... uh.. mentally challenged. They decided to go in a different direction with the character, so they got Kelli. Then later they decided to go back to more mentally challenged, so that's how Katie Clarke played it.
There are video clips of Celia in the role on YT.
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
#13re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 5:00pm
Spork, do you mean just the one clip from the Seattle news?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cHzV2j4rrs
Or are there others I've missed?
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention...I'm the good cop, he's the bad cop.
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#14re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 10:43pmEr... yeah, I suppose I shouldn't have used the plural, sorry.
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
#15re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/12/09 at 11:54pm
*Points to profile pic*
I miss this show.
-There's the muddle in the middle. There's the puddle where the poodle did the piddle."
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#16re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/13/09 at 12:10am
Huh, I just remembered that my avatar is of Celia and Steven in LitP. 
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
husk_charmer
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/06
#17re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/13/09 at 12:26amI was absolutely bored by O'Hara and Morrison when I saw the show in previews, to the point that I dozed off, several times. Clarke was a revelation, IMO, and I like what I've heard of Keenan-Bolger.
http://www.youtube.com/huskcharmer
walkedthroughmany
Leading Actor Joined: 3/25/07
#18re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/13/09 at 12:34am
Wasn't there something going on between O'Hara and Guettel?
Or did I make that up during a game of MASH...
#19re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/13/09 at 12:40amKelli has been with Greg Naughton for year. In terms of acting, no one holds a candle to Katie Clarke as Clara.
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#20re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/13/09 at 1:15amToo bad her singing was an absolute mess (though she had improved by the time I saw her in the tour).
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
#21re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/13/09 at 1:49amKatie's singing was a disaster on the PBS Broadcast, but she sounded MUCH better when I saw her on tour a year later. When I saw her as Glinda in Wicked, she sounded like a different person (in a good way).
#22re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/13/09 at 2:03amMaybe my ear just isn't as trained, but I thought Katie sounded fine on the PBS broadcast. And I enjoyed her acting choices much more than Kelli's, though it's not quite as fair since I have the added advantage of seeing Katie's performance however many times I want to. Updated On: 5/13/09 at 02:03 AM
#23re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/13/09 at 2:31am
I believe I heard Victoria Clark say in an interview that they (the proverbial they, I guess) loved Celia Keenan-Bolger, but she just played too young onstage
That's odd. For one, it's not like Celia was that young, and two, Clara is a pretty fresh-faced character.
#24re: Light in the Piazza Question
Posted: 5/13/09 at 12:14pm
CATSNY, I think that's just the problem. It shouldn't just be fine. She was chosen to perform a role that requires a strong, lyric soprano voice, which she just didn't have at all when I saw her live, and then a few weeks later on the PBS Broadcast. Just because her character is supposed to have the mental maturity of a young girl, she has the physical maturity of a 26 year old woman, and therefore it's ok that she can speak/sing and act as such. As she grows throughout the show, it's probably even more appropriate.
I did not have the opportunity to hear what she sounded like on tour where most have said she sounded much better. Therefore, I'm going based upon what I heard in the theater and on TV. Regardless of whether she was trying to portray a young woman or a young girl, she just could not handle the role vocally. It always seemed as if she were struggling, whereas when Kelli sang, it was effortless.
Everyone can also come back and say sure, Kelli has the training, experience, etc... and Katie doesn't. But last time I checked, this was Broadway, not a community theater in Podunksville. To me, Katie's acting extent was touching Victoria Clark's face with her pointer finger every time they came together.
This subject has probably been beaten to death, and I know we all have different opinions on it, so we probably won't convince each other to change our opinions. That being said, I still just don't get the whole Katie Clark acting rings around Kelli argument, or that her voice was just fine and even "suited" the part better.
-There's the muddle in the middle. There's the puddle where the poodle did the piddle."
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