link to PIAZZA song clips.

[kyle.]

Posted: 11/18/04 at 4:04pm

this is a little mini promo/review of the light in the piazza from its 2003 world premiere in seattle.

its running time is about 7 minutes and it has lots of song clips in between interviews with adam guettel and craig lucus.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1301695

i cant wait.

[broadwayboy81]

Posted: 11/18/04 at 4:08pm

OMG!!! I'm so psyched. Saw the show in Chicago and it quickly became a favorite! (It is my second fav... Sweeney Todd leads)

Anyway, I can't wait to get home and listen to these (I'm at work now). Who sings them? Just so I can prepare!

Can't wait for the show to start...

[broadwayboy81]

Posted: 11/18/04 at 4:09pm

ah, this looks old. It says 2003... must be the original cast

[kyle.]

Posted: 11/18/04 at 4:23pm

its the 2003 seattle cast.

the clips only feature margaret, clara, and fabrizio. out of the 3, all stayed on for chicago except fabrizio.

[B.B. Wolf]

Posted: 11/18/04 at 7:05pm

thank you so much, kyle. I hadn't heard the songs at that level of quality.

I'm still unsure this show will go up on schedule. My opinion, it won't happen until Guettel has found a suitable Fabrizio. He got guys that were good for both Chicago and Seattle, but neither REALLY fit the role. I'm going to go on record now as saying I think this will be postponed for a few months to allow more time for casting. Two cents, tossed.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/18/04 at 7:07pm

For the record, Steven Pasquale--now on RESCUE ME--played Fabrizio in Seattle.

[B.B. Wolf]

Posted: 11/18/04 at 7:09pm

and Wayne Wilcox played him in Chicago, for the record

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/18/04 at 7:34pm

Wow, B.B., you saw it in Seattle and Chicago...I'm impressed.

[kyle.]

Posted: 11/18/04 at 7:45pm

for the record, lol, i loved wayne as fabrizio. i thought him and celia were perfect together. he has a beautiful voice and, at least in my opinion, was great in the role.

when i first heard the official news that celia wasnt bringing the role of clara to new york i was very sad. but i hope spelling bee is a hit and she gets some much needed time in the spotlight. kelli was WONDERFUL in chicago as franca. i have no doubt she will do justice to clara, and im happy the role went to someone in the piazza family.

i almost hope the show is slightly postponed. im most likely going to london for a week in april, and perhaps this will give me a chance to save up and make it to new york for the show. either way, ill make it there somehow. this show is too wonderful to miss, especially during its new york run.

just listening to the clips in the link i posted above brings back such vivid, wonderful memories of the show. hearing audra mcdonald perform the title song at zankel hall brought tears to my eyes.

this is without a doubt the must see show of 2005 for any theatre lover.

[wildparty20]

Posted: 11/18/04 at 10:18pm

Thanks for the link! I've been craving to hear this music again since I saw it in chicago in February! This is a beautiful score. I hope they record the Lincoln Center production.

[kyle.]

Posted: 11/18/04 at 10:29pm

i heard that nonesuch was recording it...but that was over the summer.

despite seeing it 8 times in chicago, i would give anything to hear the full score again before lincoln center.

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 1:56pm

I know this is a "gossipy" question, but frankly I'm dying to know.

What the hell is going on with this show? I saw it in Seattle, and loved the entire cast, especially Steven Pasquale. Why was he replaced? Did he really have something better to do, or was he fired? And if so, why?

Even more shocking was Kelli O'Hara's jump from character role to lead. Did Celia Keenan-Bolger really jump ship to be in the new William Finn musical OFF-Broadway, instead of making her Broadway debut in the leading role of PIAZZA? Or was she fired?

I apologize for the gossipy nature of these questions, I'm just an inquiring mind, and I want to know.

(For the record, I loved PIAZZA, and I think it's an amazing piece of work. I wish it the best of success, regardless of who stars in it.)

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 2:23pm

I am an acquaintence of Adam Guettel's and he had told me in August that he was looking for Clara's replacement because Celia was having some vocal difficulties in the role - I am certainly not surprised that it's extremely demanding. Don't know why Pasquale left the show after Seattle (he's a wonder). Didn't he get a job on a TV show? He needs to get back into stage acting soon.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 2:29pm

He is wonderful...hard to believe he was a swing dancer in Lippa's Wild Party a mere four years ago.

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 2:34pm

And two years ago he was bringing down the Mitzi Newhouse in A Man of No Importance.

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 2:40pm

I find it very odd. Pasquale is an amazing talent (he blew me away in THE SPITFIRE GRILL). I assume that you're correct, and Hollywood came calling, because I cannot imagine any other reason for them letting him go.

leomaxfrank, thanks for postsing the info about Keenan-Bolger. You're right, it IS an incredibly difficult role to sing. I'm sure that Sher, Lucas and Guettel know what they're doing, although I'm finding it difficult to imagine Kelli playing that role (considering the age factor).

Anyway, best of luck to all of them. I hope the New York critics "get" the show, although I'm fearful about it.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 2:46pm

Clara is supposed to be 26. How old is O'Hara?

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 2:50pm

Veuve - good call on The Spitfire Grill, another beautiful show that received almost no acclaim. - Forest for the Tress remains one of my favorite songs (that Pasquale sang with seemingly no effort!).

I like Kelli in the role - although is she a bit older than I'm sure they would have liked - but she's a baby-faced blonde, they'll work it out. She certainly has the vocal chops. I do know however, that Celia is primarily an actor and Kelli is a singer, so we'll see how many changes in interp are made.

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 2:54pm

Yes, borstalboy, Clara is 26. But the conceit of the show requires that the audience believe that she's a 14 year old girl. If you can't convincingly make the audience believe that you're 14, you've lost the big "shock" factor when you find out the truth about Clara.

I'm probably just stymied because I saw O'Hara playing OLDER than herself in the same show, and can't imagine her playing Clara.

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 2:57pm

exactly - she's supposed to be somewhat mentally slow, right? in which, she must appear younger than her age. whenever this show comes to the city, i hope to be at the first preview.

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 3:04pm

LOL, leomaxfrank, I'm sure people are thrilled with your spoiling.

The shock thing about Clara is written into the show.

I don't think that it's the biggest spoiler, however. People have been screaming lately about the end of NIGHT, MOTHER being spoiled. That plot point isn't integral to one's enjoyment of the show, from the get go, one knows what she's going to do.

With PIAZZA, however, things are different. The shock quotient is built into the show, and if you know the truth about Clara from the start, I think your enjoyment of the show (as written) can be compromised. It's still a terrific show, even if you know the surprise. But I suspect that it's probably more enjoyable if you don't.

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 3:08pm

haha my bad Veuve..i'm yet to see it!

I guess Adam told me that - because I don't know how I would know that otherwise.

Updated On: 11/19/04 at 03:08 PM

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 3:37pm

Ugh, leomaxfrank, it's a difficult situation.

In the matter of full disclosure, I have to admit this: At the time of PIAZZA's opening in Seattle, I was a theatre critic in that lovely town. All of the critics were instructed by the producers not to reveal the "surprise" about the show, and let me tell you, it was one of the hardest writing exercises of my life not to reveal it. As it turned out, I was the only critic in town who managed to write a review of the show without "spoiling" it. (My review was a rave, by the way, and one of the most rewarding moments in my life was being told that Mary Rodgers Guettel had the review framed, as a gift for Adam. While I cannot account for the veracity of this story, my ego is assuaged by the possibility of it).

While I don't consider myself on a par with Ben Brantley, or Michael Feingold, or John Lahr, or even Rex Reed (I'm not nearly as good of a writer as any of them are), I truly hope that they all "get" this beautiful, touching show when it opens in New York, and that Mary Rodgers Guettel has to spend a fortune on frames when the New York reviews are revealed.

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 3:52pm

that's pretty wonderful. congratulations!

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/19/04 at 4:08pm

That IS wonderful, COME BACK! we could use some good theater critics here in Seattle.