The Light in the Piazza March 23 Evening Performance
I really think that I had impossibly high expectations for this show. I had heard nothing but raves and had heard that the show was intelligent and entertaining, and that it had a star-making turn by Victoria Clark. I liked the show, but I didn’t, as I wished I did, love it.
I am not really familiar with music of the Romantic era and my ear is not used to it. The music echoes Romanticism in a way (Barber, Strauss) and I just haven’t listened to enough of that style of music to really “get” what Guettel is going for. The score is lush and full, but just not what I’m used to hearing and it took a while for my ear to perk up to it. Many have compared it to Sondheim, and while both Sondheim and Guettel’s Piazza score have a musical sophistication to them that is not usually heard in musicals, I didn’t see the similarities. Guettel’s score is certainly glorious and full, but my untrained ear was caught off guard by it and never really came around for the whole show.
My major problem with the show was I just didn’t find the story worth putting to music. I’ve never read the novella, but the story was, to be frank, in some ways melodramatic and at times slow. Guettel chose some weird spots to add songs and there were spots where I thought a song would have worked beautifully that he skipped over. But, again, he is going for a style that I’m not used to, so I have no right to critique his judgments. I’ll just say I found some of his choices odd.
There isn’t really a lot of action in the course of the show. In some ways, I feel that it would have been better suited as a one-act 90 minute musical. I’m all for songs that express emotional state (Lord knows that Sondheim is full of them), but it seems that nearly all the songs do just that with very little action to go along with it.
I really want to go get some Strauss and Barber and listen to it and become accustomed to the style and sophistication Guettel is going for, and then re-listen to the Piazza score. I’m sure I’ll end up really loving it after a few listens, but I’d be lying if it didn’t leave me feeling cold overall after the first listen.
That said, the score did have some wonderful moments that I loved and completely engrossed me. Particularly Keli O’Hara singing the title song and Victoria Clark singing the hell out of the uber-difficult Act II Finale ‘Fable.’ Both are beautiful songs that fill up the theatre with their richness and emotion.
Victoria Clark is magnificent in every sense of the world. The woman has a voice that fills the Vivian Beaumont Theatre with a lushness like I’ve never heard. And she acts the hell out of the role. Many times she would not be the center of focus for a scene, but I would constantly find my eyes being drawn to her. If she doesn’t win the Tony, I’ll be shocked and depressed.
Kelli O-Hara also does a marvelous job as her daughter. Another actress with a full voice that fills the enormous theatre, yet doesn’t let the beauty of her voice standing the way of her acting. The way the role is written, it is a difficult role both musically and emotionally, and O’Hara tackles all aspects of it beautifully.
Matthew Morrison’s voice has grown by leaps and bounds since
Hairspray. I can’t say he particularly impressed me as Link, but he impressed me here. He did a fine job. Not nearly as good as the two leading ladies, but a fine job nonetheless.
Standouts in the all-around excellent supporting cast and ensemble were Sarah Uriarte Berry and Mark Harelik.
The design aspects of this production were stunning. The sets were gorgeous and perfectly captured the essence of Florence and were used to great effect. Just gorgeous. Everything about it. The costumes, scenery and lights. I wouldn’t be surprised if this show sweeps the Design categories at the Tonys.
I wish I had liked this show more than I did, but it just goes to show that you can never go into a show with impossibly high expectations, because no show can live up to them. I enjoyed myself, but it was just missing a certain oomph. For me, anyway.
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
