Light in the Piazza okay for a mature 10 year old?

[Clarity 8]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 6:36pm

I'm thinking of taking my daughter; she's a bright, thoughtful and mature 10 year old. Can anyone give me an idea of the content, without giving away too much of the story? No spoilers, please! If it were a film, how would you rate it?

Thanks!

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 6:38pm

Absolutely appropriate. Lovely music, simple dramatic theater, beautiful story, very engaging. It's great for all ages.

[Clarity 8]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 6:41pm

Thanks, that's what I hoped to hear!

[QueenS]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 6:43pm

I'd say that there isn't anything "offensive" in it, but it is adult in both theme and musicality. It is about relationships of all sorts (Parent-child, husband-wife, American-Italian, young people in love...)

Anything that you wouldn't be ready to discuss with her would probably go over her head anyway. I just don't think that most 10 year olds would enjoy it.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 7:10pm

If it were a movie, (which it was in 1961/62) I would probably rate it PG. There's some talk of sex, but it's only on adultery and nothing else, there's nudity from the sculptures that they see which shouldn't be a problem really. No DRS or Rocky Horror in this show! And if she IS as mature as you say she is, than it's best to say that she won't be frustrated, as some kids would be, by some of the Italian speaking scenes (with no subtitles mind you, with the exception of an explanation in Act 2) where you can only get an idea of what is going on.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 7:11pm

There's only an instance of shirtlessness you won't even see if you're not in the 100s or 200s...

[wickedfan]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 7:13pm

Oh yes that's right, Thenardier! Some "implied" sex at the end of act 1 that you only see about to take place.

[Madame X]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 7:14pm

Definitely go for it.

***************mild spoiler***************
there is one scene in a bed(room) where Matt has his shirt partially off. It's done very tastefully, but in the case of full disclosure I thought I'd mention it.
***************end spoiler***************

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 7:18pm

It's not inappropriate, but your ten year old is going to be very, very bored.

[etoile]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 7:50pm

Michael, I would add at least one more "very" to your post. Unless naptime is what you had in mind, Clarity.

I would suggest BEAUTY & THE BEAST.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 7:53pm

I agree, I have yet to see the show but from what I've read and having listened many times to the cast recording, this is a show of the complexity that would bewilder and eventually disappoint and alienate a 10 year old. A mature 10 year old is still a 10 year old after all.

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 7:59pm

I say take her. I saw Miss Saigon when I was 7 years old and loved every single minute of it. That is not a kid friendly show at all, but I LOVED it.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 8:02pm

Miss Saigon and Light in the Piazza are musically, topically and artistically two very different animals.

[Tirso de Molina]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 8:08pm

My only fear would be that your daughter might get bored, as a couple other posters have said. The real emotional center of the story is the mother deciding whether or not to let go of her mentally-limited daughter, in spite of her fears about how well the daughter will fare without her protection, and the mother's strong sense of a contrast between the daughter's passionate love for Matt Morrison's character and the truth about her own relationship with her husband. I'm not sure how gripping this would be for a 10-year old!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 8:22pm

I say take her. I think back on the shows that I enjoyed and thoroughly understood when I was around 10 or even younger -- A Chorus Line, Sweeney Todd, Porgy and Bess, several Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams and Chekhov plays, a few operas -- which I'm sure some here would say that I shouldn't have even been taken to. There are mature, intelligent 10 year olds who are sharper than some of the people twice that age who post on this board.

Personally I would have been bored out of my mind at "Beauty and the Beast" had it been around when I was that age (I HATED "Cats", finding it boring, repetitive and too simplistic). I don't know your daughter's taste in shows, but there's nothing in "Piazza" content-wise that she won't understand or be disturbed by. She very well may enjoy immensely.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 8:23pm

I saw Les Mis at 5 and, well, look at me know!

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 8:25pm

But you have to ask yourself: Do you really want to run the risk of creating another Margo?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 8:30pm

Ah yes, a world of MargoChannings ..... what a wonderful place that would be

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 8:31pm

Everyone would speak only when necessary and important but what they would say would be inciteful and to the point.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 8:37pm

Posted: 6/8/05 at 8:39pm

i doubt they make it to sex after Margaret walks in and theyre only kissing...

as for the show being kid friendly, i would be more concerned for your 10 yr olds reaction to Clara grabbing at one of the statues' more interesting details... but thats as racy as it gets.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 8:41pm

I'm taking my 12-year-old nephew to see it in three weeks. So, I would definitely say it's appropriate.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 9:10pm

She may not care for it, but I think the exposure would be wonderful and appreciated in the long run.

[Clarity 8]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 9:31pm

Thank you all for your thoughts and advice. My daughter is definitely a "Margo"-type child--loves Shakespeare, and I think left Beauty and the Beast behind several years ago. Today she asked me to tell her what Light in the Piazza is about. I described what I knew of it, the mother and her child-woman daughter, and the young Italian man, and that I thought it was probably a story about people trying to decide whether the young woman and young man could be allowed to love each other (am I way off?). Her response was, "I want to see it!" So I think we'll give it a try. Many thanks to you all.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/8/05 at 9:47pm

Definitely let us know how it goes and what she thinks of it.