the piazza triumverate!

[apdarcey]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:21am

so it has now been 3 months since i saw the light in the piazza and 2 months since the tony awards. i listen to the cd almost daily and am now more convinced than ever that kelli and matthew were completely robbed of tony's. sara and dan both put in excellent work this season, but kelli and matt were just far superior and executed their performances amazingly. i'm not even going to start on spamalot's winning the two major awards of the evening, right now i'm concentrating on acting awards. but they come right up there in the past few years of very poor voting by the committee in my opinion (right there with bernadette's rose and antonio's guido both losing.. tragedies)... anyway, i'm looking for others who feel my pain, or other thoughts on the amazing performances by the three leads in this amazing piece of theatre... and if you want to talk about the others feel free!
Updated On: 8/19/05 at 01:21 AM

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:25am

Agree!

After Kelli lost (or Matt, whoever was second), I started a thread that they were both robbed!

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:25am

I completely agree... I feel that Spamalot only won because of it's "big status". While Sara and Dan are both obviously talented, I think that Kelli and Matt truly deserved the Tony awards. I feel your pain... I have watched the Passeggiata segment and "Statues and Stories" from the Tony Awards, and I just don't understand why Kelli and Matt didn't win. I obviously also saw them in the actual show, and it only increased my puzzlement on why the two did not win the Tony awards. It still baffles me today... because I think that Kelli and Matt gave each of their characters enough emotion to personify the characters each time they go onstage.

--korenglish

[TabooPhan1]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:28am

Although you all make valid points, and I do support Matthew and Kelli, I think Spamalot deserved the Tony. It wasn't just a big-name musical, it gave what it promised, and I was totally thrilled to see a less traditional musical win best musical.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:28am

i'm glad there are more out there! i was really rooting for them the whole time (and it's not just because i fell in love with both of them during their performance.)... they truly deserved more accolades than they got/get... i feel that they are sort of glossed over by vicky (though she is magnificent...). not to mention that i think sarah, mark, michael and patti are all wonderful too.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:30am

ok, i changed the thread to more accurately reflect what i want this thread to be about... i don't want to get into a spam/piazza argument, that's been done. i more want to talk about the three tremendously talented performers who lead the cast of this show!

[aegeusrocks]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:33am

I thought Patti at least deserved a nomination, she just took the stage in Aiutami and went with it. And Sarah. And Mark. And Michael. And Kelli and Matt should've won. Hehe.

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:35am

well, I havent seen Spelling Bee but I was hoping for Matt to win even though I expected the awards to go the way they did- one acting award for each show.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:36am

aegeus, i've never told you, but you rock my socks... i love how much you loved piazza, AND i think we're the most excited people about cp... we're always the only ones i see defending it!

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:37am

I would like to add about the other performers: the person that I was most impressed by after the "triumverate" was Michael Berresse. I loved his dancing! Every time I hear "American Dancing", I can picture Matt Morrison and him dancing in my head. I thought he was hilarious in the show. Also, I loved Sarah Uriate Berry and her voice is so amazing. I have no idea how she sings those notes in Aiutami every night... it amazes me because it's not completely necessary, if that makes any sense. In POTO, it's kind of required to hit that high E, but here... she just sings it. Patti is such a powerful singer... her "I don't speak English, but I have to tell you what is going on" was hilarious! I honestly didn't expect it to be either. Lastly, Mark's voice was good also... but I definitely liked Joseph's interpretation of Signor Nacarelli. I thought Joseph did it in a more humorous manner, which I defintely preferred.

I am excited to see the entire original cast once again before Matt and Mark leave!
--korenglish

[aegeusrocks]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:39am

Ap, you rock my...slippers, shoot, I'm not wearing socks, but if I was, you'd definitely rock them. I am such a LITP fan, and CP is gonna be amazing, I just know it from the video on the website, and the movie, and LaChanze is playing the main character, and I could go on, but this thread's about LITP. Whoops.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:41am

you bring up an interesting point kore... i hated the idea about the breaking the fourth wall before seeing the show and i hate it now every time i hear the recording. but in the theatre i did laugh with the rest of the audience... i think it's the one major flaw in the book.

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:47am

I was nervous because I remember reading a review about it saying how they didn't like when the show broke the fourth wall... it sounds weird on the recording, but I definitely laughed during the performances. I thought it was hilarious when Margaret Johnson says "Clara is not like other American girls" and Signora Nacarelli says "Bene". Hilarious! And I loved that you would point between Fabrizio and Guiseppe and say how Fabrizio was a great boy and son, and Guiseppe wasn't. I love this musical....
--korenglish

[aegeusrocks]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:48am

I dunno about calling it a flaw in the book, ap. I think it was necessary to add some slight relief to the audience because everything beforehand had become so heavy dramatically, a little weight needed to be lifted in order to keep the audience involved mentally and emotionally. After all, it was only a short break, because next Patti goes into the "Risk is everything" bit, and we are drawn into her version of how events unfold, which is dramatic by itself. IMO, the one flaw of the book is that the issue of Clara's mental problem never comes into the marriage discussion between Margaret and Sr. Naccarelli, as we never find out if the Naccarellis find out about it. What would happen if they did, etc, needed to be addressed.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:54am

well, signor naccarelli finds out, whether he understands is another question... but then that brings up the issue of whether it's even important? does clara actually grow when margaret brings her to italy and gives her the chance to grow?

and my favorite (my interpretation of margaret...), did margaret actually set the whole thing up? did she bring clara here to find love, to let her learn to grow because that is the site of where margaret's marriage fell apart?

[apdarcey]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:00am

it's just so gorgeous.. i don't understand why they didn't change all their posters! i guess it would have been too expensive.

[aegeusrocks]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:02am

I'm confused now. I thought he didn't find out. She thought that his problem was that, but it was actually that she was older than Fabrizio. I mean, maybe he noticed the young-looking handwriting like Margaret said, but it's never made clear. I would hope that she grew, though the midnight scene would perhaps suggest otherwise. And Fable made it sound like Margaret wasn't exactly sure about the marriage even at the end. The interpretation you suggests sounds like it would fit, but she seems to move away from that idea with Fable. But that's just my take.

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:02am

I liked the way they did the story... to me, the song "Love to Me" tells us that Fabrizio doesn't even need to know everything: all he knows is that he loves Clara, and it's all that matters to him. I think it's an important part of the story, because it shows the strong bond between the two characters in the show. To me, it doesn't matter whether or not Clara grows in Italy... but I believe that she does. Maybe she doesn't grow at all, but in some way Fabrizio's love helps her to grow in an emotional way.

I don't think that Margaret set the whole thing up, though I've never seen an intepretation that way. I think she brought Clara to Italy to try and remember better days she had with her husband. It's important to her because she wants to show Clara a different side of the world. Obviously, we see throughout the musical that she only wants what is best for Clara... and that is a central theme in Margaret Johnson.

--korenglish

[aegeusrocks]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:06am

Agreed, korenglish. But though it might not matter to Fabrizio, as it seems not to have and shouldn't, what would happen if Signor Naccarelli found out officially, or even Franca, that would've been interesting to see. Ap, while the cover art is just gorgeous(more so than the poster), I think the poster represented the musical better.

[aegeusrocks]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:08am

Hehe, looking at the posts, it looks like we're the "triumvirate," Korenglish and Apdarcey. Unless Mistress, Taboo, and Thenardier are still monitoring the going-ons.

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:09am

I love the CD cover... I was really bummed they didn't sell it at Lincoln Center. They had one for advertising, but anyway... I also like the poster, because it incorporate important elements in the story... the hat, which brought the two characters together. Also, the triumverate is there: Kelli, Matt, and Victoria Clark: the purplish blob

[apdarcey]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:11am

first i want to say that i love having an intelligent conversation!

ok, so now, aegeus, she tells him in the beauty is reprise what happened... yes, she stops short, but basically tells him, so i think it's more a question of his understanding/caring about the issue. clearly fabrizio doesn't care as kore said.

kore, who do you think margaret was singing dividing day about? this is the question i always ask myself? was her husband the one who had a dividing day from her? or did she from him? and if it was her (as my interpretation believes...), when was it? because what i found interesting was that during fable, though we obviously all knew whose wedding was happening in the back, it was lighted in a way where if you didn't know, it could practically be anyone... so what if it was an allusion to margaret's wedding? where she was outside, knowing that this love was a fable for her? that her marriage wouldn't work. maybe it was her dividing day on her wedding day. and maybe she wants clara to already find the love in italy, rather than lose it before she gets there? and i do think she hopes that love will help clara grow, since it was a lack of love that led margaret to where she is at her age?

ok.. now you!

[aegeusrocks]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:12am

What? Margaret lurks in the shadows of the poster? ::Puts on monocle:: I do say, I honestly expect that from her. Ah, but which purplish blob?

[apdarcey]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:16am

the puplish blob! i love it...

i love the cd art, i think it represents clara's growing to run towards the light=intelligence=love... and obviously it represents the "light" in the piazza. and it could be a little girl or a grown women, with that sundress on, like clara is.
Updated On: 8/19/05 at 02:16 AM

[aegeusrocks]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:20am

Hm, ap, interesting point in response to kore. My take:
Going with that interpretation, I get stuck on part of the lyrics to Fable. "Love while you can, Clara." She sings this as sweeping and dramatically as possible. I think that while yes, the wedding does sort of relate to her wedding day, she never intended the love to be set up, I mean, she separates them after seeing them together. Now that their love is final, she worries about what the future holds in store for Clara and Fabrizio, and that they won't end up like her and Roy. Dividing Day seems to ask the question when she emotionally separated from Roy, though it does say, "Was it on the church steps?" She wants to know when it happened to her, and fears that it could possibly happen to Clara as well, thus adding to the already over-protective quality of their relationship.