#1
Posted: 3/25/07 at 8:48am
I saw the national tour of The Light in the Piazza in Minneapolis last night with Katie Rose Clarke as Clara, who joined the tour this week. I was fortunate enough to see the complete original Broadway cast at Lincoln Center, so I feel a little spoiled by that experience, but I think this touring production is in pretty good shape. Some thoughts...
Christine Andreas as Margaret - Andreas is a fantastic actress and she really fit this role well... from the desperation to the humor right down to the accent, she was believable every second. She has a unique voice and she is very interesting to listen to in her lower-middle range, her "Dividing Day" was excellent. However, some the higher notes, such as the ones in "Fable", were clearly out of her range and were very distracting, almost ruining some some of the final (and most poignant) moments of the show. I really found myself missing Victoria Clark at those points. But overall a solid, commanding performance.
Katie Rose Clarke as Clara - I'd heard so many mixed things about her performance in this role, I didn't really know what to expect. Kelli O'Hara was so amazing in this role, it's hard for anyone to hold a candle to her. Katie Clarke really makes this role her own though. She's different than O'Hara... she's etremely young looking and it reads very well. She's obviously a talented actress, her childlike performance is nuanced and full of humor, and she's very likeable on stage. I think some of her more dramatic/tantrum moments suffered ("Hysteria", "Octet") in comparison to O'Hara's. This is probably primarily due to her vocals. She has a pretty, clear voice, but it lacks O'Hara's power and depth, sounds very poppy at times, and isn't ever overly impressive. Sadly, her "Light in the Piazza" fell flat for me in the second act. But overall I still enjoyed her performance and was happy to get to see her.
David Burnham as Fabrizio - I really enjoyed him! Great voice, very likeable performance. Some of his Italian at the beginning seemed a little sketchy to me, but overall a fantastic, sensitive performance so that's forgivable. I never loved Matt Morrison (also sketchy Italian) in this show, so I was happy to see that they found a good fit for the touring production. (Although I regret not seeing Aaron Lazar in the role in New York.)
I was impressed by the Nicarelli family members... David Ledingham as Signor, Jonathan Hammond as Guiseppe, Wendi Bergamini as Franca (beautiful rendition of "The Joy You Feel", although she did pale a bit in comparison to Sarah Uriarte Berry), and Evangelia Kinglsey as Signora. "Aiutami" is one of my favorite moments in the show, and they did not disappoint.
The set looks great even though it has been adapted to fit a prescenium stage, great orchestrations still in tact. This was my second time seeing "Piazza" and the heart of the show really came through with this company... overall thumbs up.
Christine Andreas as Margaret - Andreas is a fantastic actress and she really fit this role well... from the desperation to the humor right down to the accent, she was believable every second. She has a unique voice and she is very interesting to listen to in her lower-middle range, her "Dividing Day" was excellent. However, some the higher notes, such as the ones in "Fable", were clearly out of her range and were very distracting, almost ruining some some of the final (and most poignant) moments of the show. I really found myself missing Victoria Clark at those points. But overall a solid, commanding performance.
Katie Rose Clarke as Clara - I'd heard so many mixed things about her performance in this role, I didn't really know what to expect. Kelli O'Hara was so amazing in this role, it's hard for anyone to hold a candle to her. Katie Clarke really makes this role her own though. She's different than O'Hara... she's etremely young looking and it reads very well. She's obviously a talented actress, her childlike performance is nuanced and full of humor, and she's very likeable on stage. I think some of her more dramatic/tantrum moments suffered ("Hysteria", "Octet") in comparison to O'Hara's. This is probably primarily due to her vocals. She has a pretty, clear voice, but it lacks O'Hara's power and depth, sounds very poppy at times, and isn't ever overly impressive. Sadly, her "Light in the Piazza" fell flat for me in the second act. But overall I still enjoyed her performance and was happy to get to see her.
David Burnham as Fabrizio - I really enjoyed him! Great voice, very likeable performance. Some of his Italian at the beginning seemed a little sketchy to me, but overall a fantastic, sensitive performance so that's forgivable. I never loved Matt Morrison (also sketchy Italian) in this show, so I was happy to see that they found a good fit for the touring production. (Although I regret not seeing Aaron Lazar in the role in New York.)
I was impressed by the Nicarelli family members... David Ledingham as Signor, Jonathan Hammond as Guiseppe, Wendi Bergamini as Franca (beautiful rendition of "The Joy You Feel", although she did pale a bit in comparison to Sarah Uriarte Berry), and Evangelia Kinglsey as Signora. "Aiutami" is one of my favorite moments in the show, and they did not disappoint.
The set looks great even though it has been adapted to fit a prescenium stage, great orchestrations still in tact. This was my second time seeing "Piazza" and the heart of the show really came through with this company... overall thumbs up.
Updated On: 3/25/07 at 08:48 AM
