Light in the Piazza Reviews — Page 5

I love what you said about the Post in general Margo, its so true it really makes sense they would have a theatre critic who makes up whatever he wants the story to be as well.
I'm really happy that TLITP is getting such positive reviews, it wasn't my favorite show but this has to be good for them. I am really glad Clark is getting raves, I'd like to see her pick up the Tony.
I absolutely loved the score, it was by far my favorite part. (Kind of nice the Post hated it so I can continue my streak of just thinking the oposite of whatever that rag prints)

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Sueleen - I think Mistress was talking from the perspective of what voters might be thinking - which she definitely doesn't agree with - I think.

"The award is supposed to be for the outstanding performance of the season, not for the production that most people will likely see."

While I completely agree with this, as we all know, it doesn't always work that way.

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Updated On: 4/19/05 at 10:23 AM

i was saying that it will be going through the minds of the voters which is why ive said more than once that i think an extension would be the best thing for them to do. it shouldnt matter (likewise i dont think being previously nominated should matter, but it seems like that can influence too) but i have a feeling it will cross peoples minds. the tonys are like a 3 hr advertisement for broadway and it would seem the most self serving to reward the shows people can still go see.

LaCage-That is really not accurate for me at least. I was not all that fond of the show, but the best part was the music. There were other quite legitimate areas to critique.
I also found Margo's description of the way the man writes to be revealing.
It really seems "the Sutton already has a Tony and her show is not even nearly as well recieved" answer is in order for that last comment. I don't necessarily agree with that assesment but it will certainly play a role in the votes.

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I would bet more Tony Voters have had the time to appriciate and see Fosters amazing work, and because of the crazy and very busy season will not all get a chance to witness Clark's good performance.

Personally, yes I think Sutton was much better than Victoria and her lopsided accent. But since this post is about LITP, I will leave it at that.

Updated On: 4/19/05 at 11:44 AM

I think LaCage's real name is Hunter.

Did Simon post his review yet?

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And a very positive review from the New York Sun:

" "It’s a new old world to me,” sing mother and daughter. “It’s a new old world and / We are here.” The ladies refer to Florence, where they have traveled for a holiday. They might also be talking about “The Light in the Piazza,” which opened last night at Lincoln Center.

The musical is new because it’s a first-time collaboration between librettist Craig Lucas and composerlyricist Adam Guettel, who showed young promise with “Floyd Collins” nine years ago. It’s old because they have based their show on Elizabeth Spencer’s popular 1959 novella about Clara, an American girl who falls in love with an Italian boy, and her mother, Margaret, who has reasons for keeping the two apart. It’s “new old” because that’s the kind of fight Mr. Guettel and Mr. Lucas are waging.

That the battle has been fought and won countless times over the last century makes no difference; the need to fight it persists. Like Rodgers and Hammerstein, Kern and Sondheim, Mr. Guettel and Mr. Lucas share the implicit belief that the flimsy musical theater that surrounds them is not all the musical theater there is — that sincere artists can extract from the form’s motley amalgamation of opera, operetta, revue, and vaudeville not just a diverting evening, but also an experience of emotional weight and musical beauty. Audiences won’t leave their show with anything like the sense of revelation that greeted, say, “Show Boat.” But at a time when musical theater is dominated by overblown spoofs, runaway irony, and soul-crushing quasi-pop, the original and winning “Piazza” is welcome not least because it proves that Broadway isn’t entirely the province of licensing agents and Frank Wildhorn. Not yet, anyway.

For sheer loveliness, the pleasure imparted to eyes and ears, no show in town can touch what Mr. Guettel, Mr. Lucas, and director Bartlett Sher have managed here. Scenic designer Michael Yeargan reproduces Florence at what appears to be full scale. The Beaumont stage is about the size of a city block, and his sets use every cubic foot of it."
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"If “Piazza” doesn’t ultimately have the emotional payoff promised by its best moments, those moments still compel. They tend to feature Mark Harelik, sensational as Signor Naccarelli, and Victoria Clark, dazzling as Margaret. He gives the paterfamilias a debonair gravity, funny and involving without strain; she makes Margaret’s predicament thrillingly real, the deep center of the show. In narration, dialogue, and song alike, she conveys how Margaret is torn between loyalty to her husband, love for her daughter, and her own unhappy desires. Sometimes Ms. Clark is funny, mostly she’s moving, and every note sounds as if she was born to sing Adam Guettel’s songs. Here’s to more from both of them. "


NY Sun

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It got a rave in New Jersey's The Star-Ledger.

Hey, D. Nope, I haven't seen it yet, but I have tickets in May; a lot of people have told me that I'll love it, so we'll see. Priest reviewed it in one of his threads, and said he couldn't get into it.

I am also surprised at the (mostly) positive reviews.

We were surrounded by people that were bored to tears when we saw it. I am glad that we saw it, but it didnt do much for us.

His lyrics are fluent and touching, full of the love of living and the joys and pains of life. But the music misses some melodic quality, the kind that can catch in the mind and heart — the same quality that made his grandfather, and Sondheim, great.

Okay, regardless of whether he fell asleep during the show or not, does anyone else find it hysterically funny that Clive Barnes, basher of so many of Sondheim's original productions, is now extolling the "melodic" qualities of his music? Oy.

Updated On: 4/19/05 at 07:02 PM