The Light in the Piazza Review- December 28th (evening)

[ponine24601]

Posted: 12/29/05 at 1:31pm

so finally i got to see it last night. I adored every minute of the show. I'm just going to review the people and then the stage door..etc. oh and just fyi, **some spoilers may be included**


Victoria Clark: I can't say enough great things about this woman. She is an absolute powerhouse. Just everything about her performance is perfection. Her voice is outstanding and her acting just keeps getting better and better. Her "The Beauty Is (Reprise)" had my mom in tears. "Fable" was just...ugh... i can't even describe how amazing it was. What a way to end the show.

Katie Clarke: Ok. I went in with a positive attitude about this girl and I was pleasantly suprised. Her acting was better than her singing. The only problem I had with her was that she didn't have the power on the higher notes at all. I mean, she could hit them fine, and the power was there, but it was like she was holding back. She was overpowered by the orchestra a bit as well. However, I did like her rendition of the title song. I thought that she her voice was a perfect fit for that. She is absolutely stunning though in costume though. Her interaction with Aaron as well as Victoria was outstanding. She plays Clara much younger and it's absolutely adorable. Overall great job by her.

Aaron Lazar: Ok. This man is my new love. I have to admit that I was extremely worried at first, but as soon as he opened his mouth all the worries went away. Other than Victoria, he definitely stole the show. He kicked the crap out of "Il Mondo Era Vuoto" and just had the most emotion I've seen from a broadway actor in awhile. I absolutely adored how he portrayed the awkwardness in the first few meetings with Clara. The faces he made whenever Margaret interrupted him and Clara were priceless. Also his interaction with Katie was amazing. You could really tell that Fabrizio and Clara were so in love. During "Tirade" he would try to follow Katie and try to calm her down and finally when he hugged her afterwards...ugh...it was just so cute and it just made the story so realistic. "Love to Me" was so full of truth and passion. There were also some concerns that he looked to old at first, but he really didn't at all. He looked as young as Matt did so that worked out well. Overall there are no words to describe how amazing he was. He was the perfect replacement for Matt.

Chris Sarandon: Ok. I really didn't like him that much. I mean, he was good and all, but he didn't really bring much to the role in my opinion. However, during act 2 when he confronts Margaret about Clara's age, and starts screaming and stuff, I thought that he played that off very well. His voice was allright, but I didn't really feel that much of a connection between Margaret and Signor Naccarelli. I knew thate they were supposed lean in for a kiss at the end of "Let's Walk", but when they actually kissed I just about died. I just wished that I could've felt more of a spark between the two.

Sarah Uriarte Berry: I love this woman to death. Her range is insane! It's so strange to see her go from belting her butt off in "Taboo", to singing opera in "...Piazza". Man does she pull it off though. Her voice is outstanding and her acting is superb. I just wish that her character was more developed and that they gave her more to do.


Micheal Berresse- The same goes for him. Why don't they let him be onstage more?! The audience never really understands why Giuseppe is the son-gone-wrong. He's a great dancer and from what we hear of his voice, it is amazing as well. Whenever he came on with the flowers and then Franca disses him, the look on his face is just like "oh crud not again. what the hell am i doing wrong?" He's so funny.

Patti Cohenour-She's also very good, but again, like the rest of the Naccarelli's, her character is very underdeveloped. She got many laughs on the "i don't speak italian, but i have to tell you what's going on". Her voice is phenominal as well. She did a great job with what they gave her. A

David Burnham- Ok. My love for him doesn't end either. He just lights up the stage even being in the ensemble. There were multiple points when he was onstage that my focus would just slip to him instead of the main action going on. He just lives and breathes this show and I love it.

The only other thing that bothered me was all of the smoke from the cigarettes/cigars. I know that it was to make the scene more realistic, but i don't see how it wasn't harmful for the actors' voices.

Stage Door:

We had no time to get a camera before the show, so that made me sad but still it was awesome.

David Burnham came out first and I was the only one who really recognized him and asked for an autograph. He seemed surprised and was like "I'm glad that people feel the ensemble member love!"

Next, Aaron came out. The first thing he said was like "Oh my god it's like 70 degrees out here *takes off his jacket* If i can take my shirt off in front of all of you, it shouldn't make much of a difference if I take my jacket off now would it?" He seriously couldn't have been nicer. Since there was only about 10 people there total, he stayed for awhile and chatted, signed autographs and introduced everyone to his family members who came to see the show.

Next Sarah came out. She was so tiny! I told her that I saw her in Taboo and she told me that she was glad that i got to experience that message and show. She was a sweetheart.

Then about 10 minutes later Victoria came out to a huge applause from all of us. She was surprised that we had waited all this time. She was very soft spoken. When she went to sign my playbill, she accidentally wrote an H and was like "Oh god i was going to write 'happy holidays'! I guess that's my name now! I'll just sign the front". She was so nice as well.

Then last but not least, Micheal came out about 10 minutes later. He thanked everyone for waiting this long and explained that some of his friends from Chicago came to see the show. He also asked where everyone was from and if they enjoyed the production. We all told him that we loved his dancing and so he did this little snazzy dance move. Overall he was a sweet man.


Everyone waited for Katie to come out, but she didn't. oh well. There must've been another door like always.


All in all everyone was so kind and the night was absolutely spectacular.

Updated On: 12/29/05 at 01:31 PM

[IssaMe]

Posted: 12/30/05 at 9:56am

No, the "smoke" from the cigarettes and cigars won't harm the actors - it is not tobacco. It is a vegetable-type extract (marshmellow root) which is used on stage as a tobacco substitute.

But it sure does stink! Hate it! And it doesn't smell authentic.

But safety first...

[AngusN]

Posted: 12/30/05 at 10:15am

What a marvellous review Ponine24601. Thanks for shring it with us. I'm so glad this show is still running. Here's to a long and prosperous run.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 12/30/05 at 11:35am

I recall a production of THE GLASS MENAGERIE with Maureen Stapleton and Rip Torn. There was a notice in the program that the cigarettes smoked on stage were made from raspberry leaves.

[flaemmchen]

Posted: 12/30/05 at 12:36pm

Thanks for your fabulous review, Ponine! It makes me miss the show more than I already do! And yay for Aaron/Michael/Sarah/David Burnham love!

I know Michael hates those cigarettes--the last time I was there he almost put his cigarette case in his jacket pocket to take it home with him before he came to his senses. Poor man.

[mallardo]

Posted: 12/30/05 at 1:05pm

I was at the same performance and was equally blown away. But I must say I liked Chris Sarandon a lot more than you did. To me he completely inhabited the role and his singing was more than fine. Agree totally about Aaron Lazar. Ringing high notes and a great take on the character. I was glad to see him get a HUGE ovation. And Katie Clarke... wow!

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 12/30/05 at 2:44pm

Wow, that's awesome...great review...

You just made me really, really sad I can't see this anytime soon

I can't believe Katie doesn't do the stage door after every show! If I was just all of the sudden on bway I'd totally want to meet my adoring fans :)

[ponine24601]

Posted: 12/30/05 at 3:09pm

yeah that was something that surprised me a bit too. i thought that she might be one of the first people out, and was really looking forward to asking her a few questions. well, i guess that's what letters are for!

thanks everyone.