Light in the Piazza on PBS Tonight!- Page 10

[meggsison]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:01am

Well that was fantabulous.

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:02am

The sets were nice, although they didn't come across as well on TV as they did when I saw the show last summer at the Beaumont. The day I went Cohenour was in for Clark. She was excellent. Clark plays every role the same way so it was nice to see someone that was acting versus being themself.

[rclocalz]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:12am

After buying the CD, I really wasn't all that interested in "The Light in the Piazza". But after watching it tonight, I can see why it won 6 Tony Awards. It was an absolutely breath-taking production. It wasn't your typical Broadway show, and that is nice for a change. I can only imagine what it would look like live.

[broadwayboy1939]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:19am

*sigh* Piazza just put me in such a wonderful mood. I saw the show on Broadway, and it still remains to be my favorite I have ever seen in my life. I just wish I was in love with someone right now... *tear*

I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as me! :)

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:23am

I was looking for Mike Piazza, too. I never saw him.

[friedrichVT]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:37am

Just beautiful, Poetic and visually stunning. I thought Katie's vocals were wonderful. Certainly not as polished as Victoria's,nor O'Hara's, but why would they be? She's young and an innocent. I don't buy that she would come out with this glorious legit soprano. I didn't buy it w/ O'Hara either. Simple vocals,even the sometime roughness,I feel added to her performance of a "special child", Her and Lazar's acting was beautiful. Victoria Clark was simply wonderful, If any criticism,perhaps I took issue w/ a slight British affectation when she sang that didn't jive with her North Carolina dialect. But that aside she was beautiful.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:44am

Ah, it was great to see it all over again.
I have seen it twice with the original cast, however, and nothing compares to the thrill of that.
Although, I thought Aaron Lazar was fantastic! His voice... my goodness. I always cry during "Love to Me," but man, who needs to act at all if he were singing it to them? Anyone would fall in love with him again. With him and his voice and his gorgeous body.
Ohk, I'll stop talking about my attraction to Aaron...

Victoria was wonderful, of course. I'm so glad I can now look back at her wonderful performance any time I want to.

Katie was...not as good as Kelli, I thought. Nope, not in the least bit. I thought she was fine, but Kelli made the role so special. From the start, I thought Katie was playing Clara as a little girl and so it was confusing from the very beginning why she was acting that way when she doesn't appear to be that young. Come on, lure us in a little more. Kelli also had a better voice. But whatever, Katie was fine.

Someone said that the supportive characters are lost in the telecast and I agree whole-heartedly. The way the show is directed for the thrust stage at the Beaumont is wonderful because no one really sees the same show. I've seen the show from two different seats and angles (and planes) and I saw different details in the background each time. I missed seeing a lot of the Franca/Giuseppe action that usually takes place while some other scene is happening. But ah well, that's what happens when you add a camera.

I really need to see the show live again. It was the most thrilling theatre experience I've had in recent years. I honestly can't understand how people can like Spamalot more than Piazza. (Or any of the other Best Musical nominees from last year, but that's a different story and I don't want to strike a debate, haha.) I think Piazza is just such a beautifully written show and this production elevates it to such a heavenly level. The sets, lighting, and costumes alone could make one cry because it's such a beautiful sight to see (which is a shame because I thought the technical elements were the largest victim of the telecast, the sets and lighting especially were lost). But yes, with the lovely design and then adding the luscious score and exquisite orchestrations... I was hooked ever since I heard the first few bars of the Overture. The perfect (and Tony Award-winning) acting doesn't hurt either, ha. Here's to future, equally beautiful productions of this wonderful show!

~Steven

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:50am

I've seen the show three times (twice live, once on TV), and every time Aaron Lazar says "I hope you have had ENJOYABLYafternoon," I still crack up.

[Yero]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:01am

Looks like they are repeating it.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:02am

When?

[Yero]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:06am

Right now..
for me at least.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:12am

Ooh. Good to know.

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:17am

I am staying up till 3 AM to 5:30 AM just to watch it again...is that pathetic?

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:21am

I. LOVE. AARON. LAZAR.


Marry me?

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:22am

I saw Katie around when she began and while she still didn't blow me away, she was much stronger, vocally. As I said back then and have now been vindicated, she is killing her voice tackling a role that she can't handle. She acts the hell out of it but she can't hold a candle to Kelli's interpretation. All the same I appreciate the fact that her rough vocals make her seem more childish. As an inadvertant character choice it works. Just one occasionally misses Kelli's power and clarity. And she should worry about her voice if she wants a career past this.

Aaron is great. I still think Matt's voice is lighter, but I love Aaron's intelligent acting.

Of course the rest of the cast is uniform excellent. I thought it came across very well. Parts of it were a little slow for me but that might be because I've seen it twice and know the cast recording by heart and I watched it after working for eight hours. But it was fun how you could see so many small details, things that never stood out to me before. Such as at the very end when the whole family links hands. I thought that was very powerful.

Every time I see it I'm reminded of how well done this show is. It's simply the most emotionally evocative piece of theater I've seen. Rather than appealing with cynical ideas or cliches, it reaches for the heart and presents truths that anyone at any stage in life can recognize. Nothing in the show is incidental or wasted. Margaret and Clara are beautiful characters with an amazing relationship, and even if it's slow, the payoff at the end is what it's all about.

I love Adam Guettel's music because it's all about choices, a million little details that add up to make a complex but sensible and evocative whole. A real artist who takes the unconventional path, but the one that still feels right.

It made me cry. Always does.

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:23am

You would have to come to my house and get him first!

[dididda]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:23am

HELP!
I saw the telecast tonight and then discovered my vcr didn't tape it even though it said it was recording. so i've tried getting it to tape a few other things in hopes that when it repeats, but my vcr seems to be broken as far as recording goes.

Piazza has been one of my faves and i would absolutely adore to have a copy of it on vhs or dvd or whatever. I was wondering if someone could take pity on a poor college theater kid and send me a copy.

pretty please! private message me if you would be willing to do so!

I thought the show was great. it was lovely to see it again. SO powerful on so many levels. for me i find you get more and more with each viewing, i also thought the quality was great for a live tv telecast. Clark amazes me, I enjoyed Katie's Clara, but missed kelli a bit. Aaron made me swoon.

Just a fabulous night at the Piazza!

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:25am

I know it's playing again in New York tomorrow at 1 AM.

~Steven

[LostLeander]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:30am

I don't understand when people say they don't think Clara wouldn't have a legit voice, etc. It's a musical. If this were real life, they wouldn't be singing.

Can mentally challanged people not sing well? I understand simplicity, and I think Kelli was incrediby simple. The thing with singing Clara is you have to know how to navigate your way through your chest, head, and mix. You have to plan where you're going to place everynote, because it's a very difficult role. Vocally, and character wise.

I just finished Act I, cause I had work when it aired. Katie... she's really playing the retardation. Which I don't necessarily agree with. I think she's doing some really good work. I don't think Clara is retarded. She's slow, she's got some issues, but she's not an autistic 12 (now 10???) year old. Sometimes, Katie reminded me of Molly Shannon's Catholic girl from SNL. Her singing in The Beauty Is was NOT good, but she got a lot better. I don't hate her though. She's making choices, and at least she's not dead, which is the worst.

Victoria really is giving the performance of a lifetime.
Aaron Lazar is HOT.
Sarah U.B. is GORGEOUS.

Ok, i'ts coming back on.

Full report later.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:34am

I'm glad she's not dead too!

Yeah, she really plays up the mental handicap, but it really pays off in the scene with the wedding rehearsal. The whole bit about the ring. I feel like we get into this character's head and feel with her heart, and the artists got us there in a completely unconventional way.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:41am

excellent production......absolutely loved it.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:49am

What a GREAT telecast!

I was really impressed with the TV director...the camera work was very well done (considering the kind of TV direction you get for the Tonys, etc. this was really good work) and while the sets obviously didn't look as beautiful on TV as they do in real life, I thought it was a really great translation of the musical.

I was also really happy to see the replacement cast, since I've only seen the original cast. Aaron Lazar is AWESOME, his voice is so beautiful and conveys so much emotion and power, I LOVED him. And while Katie's legit singing and title song weren't as strong as Kelli's IMHO, I thought her acting was very strong and she did a really great job, and I liked her "The Beauty Is" very much.

I want to find when it's on again and tape it :0)

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:53am

Brilliant. And deeply moving.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 2:01am

Beautiful. My first thought was, "The sets will have to scaled way back for the tour." But I can't wait to see the tour this next season.

Katie was really good. She fits the part physically. Keli seems to old for me and to polished looking. I dunno, Katie's hair was sort of a mess and tangled and she's pretty but not in a conventinal way. Her voice didn't bother me at all. It cracked or was flat sometimes, but not enough to throw anything off.

Aaron was good, but it seemed too intense for me. Whereas Matt's vocals came off as easier, lighter. But he was far from terrible. His acting and connection with Clarke was great.

Victoria is really great, but I'm not sure I see the whole "Tony winning performance." Don't get me wrong, she was great in the role, but it doesn't seem like the performance of a lifetime to me. The role is a great role - more funny than I thought it would be - but nothing amazing to me. I thought the song "Fable" was sort of anticlimactic. I understand that the show leaves things sort of open-ended, but the song just seemed flat to me. There was not big build up to anything in the song.

The score is good and it works in the show, but I felt like none of them stood out. None of them had anything that you could remember after seeing the show. Another quibble, what's up with Adam using "Aaahs" a lot in the show? I'm sure others have theories about it, but it seems like he uses it a lot. I know it's not from lack of lyrics, but why this choice?

[WordedGrace]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 2:04am

It was a beautiful production, the camera angles left me a little dizzy but overall it was wonderful. Victoria Clark is just brilliant, my mother even cried at the end, and she doesn't cry over musicals. Katie Clarke is a good actress and I think she'll get better over time but tonight she was off. Aaron Lazar was really good and his eagerness really helped sell the story.

It was just awesome, thanks PBS