Light in the Piazza Reviews- Page 4

[shira467]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 12:29am

We're missing the post!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 12:38am

USA Today, Newsday, The NY Post, The Washington Post, the Journal News, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, the Hartford Courant, the Jersey papers et al

It's very good slate so far, though. Hopefully it'll sell some tickets.

Posted: 4/19/05 at 12:39am

northjersey.com has one...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 12:43am

Bergen Register in Mixzed:

"It's rare, and refreshing, to find a relatively young, sophisticated composer-lyricist writing a romantic musical.

And there are times in "The Light in the Piazza" when Adam Guettel, who is Richard Rodgers' grandson, has written songs that are as exquisitely lovely as any heard in a new musical in many seasons.

But there's also something about Guettel's sensibility that prevents him from plunging fully into the passion that his story suggests.

The show, which opened Monday night at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, is based on Elizabeth Spencer's 1959 novella - also made into a 1962 film - about the romance of a young American woman, visiting Florence with her mother, and an eager young Italian who falls in love with her at first sight. There are two radiant songs, the title number, sung by the young woman, Clara (Kelli O'Hara), and "Love to Me," sung by the man, Fabrizio (Matthew Morrison). They have a melodic beauty and a lyrical directness that convey a sense of rapture, combining the emotions of two people with the energizing euphoria of post-war Italy.

But the majority of the score is in a different vein. Melodies are harder to find in songs that are musings and reflections about feeling rather than vibrant expressions of feeling. Often elegant and even poetic, these numbers come across as art songs - several are in untranslated Italian - rather than theater songs. Their effect is to distance the characters from us.

__________________________________________________________

"Clark, a familiar figure in Broadway musicals, usually in comic character roles, gives a quietly lovely, nuanced performance that lets us feel all of Margaret's conflicts. In one of the show's most expressive songs, "Dividing Day," she touchingly reveals the downward path of Margaret's marriage, and establishes the emotions with which she lives.

The Clara-Fabrizio story is much harder to respond to. Except in the love songs, which are beautifully sung, it's presented externally; the characters don't come to full-bodied life. And Clara's subtle handicap proves to be a tough affliction to dramatize. She must appear totally normal to Fabrizio and his family, while revealing her defects to us. The best O'Hara can manage is to make Clara seem high-strung.

There are lovely and thoughtful moments in "The Light in the Piazza," which has been staged with care by director Bartlett Sher. But too often, it has a low-key, contemplative quality that lacks the life force that the show is celebrating."

[apdarcey]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 12:48am

alright, i know what i said before... but i thought you'd all like to know that next fall i'm taking a theatre criticism course with peter marks, the lead theatre critic for the washington post...

back to piazza

Posted: 4/19/05 at 12:50am

leaving the snippet job to margo... heres the link to the washington post...
Washington Post

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 1:01am

saying that melodies are hard to find is a rather ill-informed thing to say. It's very amateurish to say. Finding a melody in a song is the most basic of skills. Now if you don't like the melody you hear, then that's something else entirely. Write about THAT not about the absence of one because to any informed person or musician, you come across as very foolish.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 1:02am

well said jazzy... apparently people like sondheim don't write melodies...

[kyle.]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 1:06am

i know this will NEVER happen in a MILLION years- but i would DIE if pbs captured this peice for great performances.

anyone have any connection?!?!?! lol.

if they can record that HORRID london production of kiss me, kate- they can record piazza!
Updated On: 4/19/05 at 01:06 AM

Posted: 4/19/05 at 1:20am

did we mention the theatermania one?
CLICK ME TO READ

Posted: 4/19/05 at 1:22am

Kyle - I had EXACTLY the same thought! This would seem to fit very nicely into their programming . . .

[kyle.]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 1:26am

i agree dgrant i agree!

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 1:40am

Ooh, Jazzy, bingo! I think the word they're really reaching for here makes them sound rather simplistic, which is why they stick to saying these songs have no melody; they're really referring to hummability, or catchiness.
As Sondheim said, "there's not a tune you can hum, there's a not a tune to go bum, bum, bum-de-dum."

The only problem is that these clearly uninformed "critics" (I call them reviewers for nearly none of them are true critics in a real sense of the word) can easily sway people who will think, "let's just go see that Elvis show."

[MusicMan]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 3:20am

"...they're really referring to hummability and catchiness.."

No, they're referring to quality and distinction.

Posted: 4/19/05 at 4:25am

The Post...
CLICK ME TO READ

[shira467]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 4:36am

Re: The Post review...

Are you KIDDING me?

Posted: 4/19/05 at 5:15am

not a review of course, but broadway abridged is always funny..
CLICK ME TO READ

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 5:20am

Please don't be upset. Barnes is a very, VERY old man who has fallen asleep at nearly every single show he has reviewed in the last three decades. I don't exaggerate -- I've personally witnessed his head tilted back with his eyes closed and his mouth drooped open at least three dozen shows in the last 20 years myself ... including shows he's eventually raved about, as well as shows he's panned.

It's no secret -- EVERYBODY in the industry knows about it. He goes to shows, falls asleep and writes whatever madness he's going to write based on what he finds in the press packet they give every critic when they walk into the theatre. That and his general incompetence is the reason the Times fired him as lead critic over a quarter of a century ago (1978, wasn't it?).

Yet, he continues on delivering his often baffling, misguided, entirely somnolent missives every week with the Post. But then, they really don't care about "journalistic excellence" in any shape, manner or form do they?

Could someone please force mandatory RETIREMENT on these idiots before they destroy the American Theatre????? PLEASE????

Updated On: 4/19/05 at 05:20 AM

Posted: 4/19/05 at 5:27am

*can think of a few ways to get rid of a critic who falls asleep at shows*

none of them are legal tho.

[shira467]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 5:28am

Thanks Margo, I appreciate you telling me that. I mean, I accept pans or what have you - but to say "Guettel's modish music is the show's fatal flaw: It doesn't fly." just kills me.


"Could someone please force mandatory RETIREMENT on these idiots before they destroy the American Theatre????? PLEASE????"

Amen.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 6:41am

The Broadway Abridged made me laugh out loud!

Set Designer: I am totally awesome.
Plot: I am totally not.

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 8:50am

I'm just very relieved that they didn't get the bad reviews that some posters on here hoped for or expected. I loved this show and the performances, I'm so happy it got at least fairly good reviews with a few raves. That's good enough for me.

And thanks Margo for your excellent review thread.... once again.

QM

Posted: 4/19/05 at 9:12am

<>

Thank you. I've never understood that man. Finally it made sense.

Honestly, how could anybody say the music was the worst part of the show? Elements of the show may be flawed, but the music is reason enough to go see it!

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 9:31am

The Post review is so 'off', it's ridiculous. After reading what Margo said, I'm not surprised anymore though. I think you can tell in his review that he didn't even see the show (as he was probably asleep). It sounds like someone gave him a bad summary afterwards...

QM

[LouW95]

Posted: 4/19/05 at 9:35am

Let's not fall into the trap of making too much of these critics. Most people, outside our circles, never read them or even heard of them. Ticket sales usually come from good advertising, hype, and especially word of mouth. Look how well poorly reviewed shows have done (Beauty & The Beast, AIDA, All Shook Up) and then look how highly acclaimed shows had very short runs. Very few out of towners or people outside our community know of or care about the critics--let's not give them too much attention.
Updated On: 4/19/05 at 09:35 AM