[NEohioPAL] Preview of "Light in the Piazza" at Rabbit Run

[Bob Abelman]

Rabbit Run's 'Light in the Piazza' all about the music

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This preview appeared in the News-Herald 7/16/10

 

The Light in the Piazza, opening tonight at Rabbit Run Theater, began life in the 1960s as a small romance novel set in the 1950s.  The book by Elizabeth Spencer became a rather unremarkable film shortly thereafter and fell into relative obscurity.

 

That is, until a few years ago when it was adapted for the stage by Craig Lucas, given music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, and won numerous Tony Awards for its New York production. 

 

The story revolves around the amorous adventures of 26-year-old American tourist Clara Johnson and her Mom, Margaret, as they vacation in Florence.

 

Margaret is nostalgically reliving her Italian honeymoon, although husband Roy, a North Carolina tobacco executive, is too busy to actually go on the trip.  

 

Innocent and adorable Clara falls desperately in love with a dashing Italian boy named Fabrizio Naccarelli.  Margaret immediately attempts to squelch this budding romance.  Apparently Clara has a secret that Margaret desperately wishes to conceal.

 

Although the holiday romance angle in this novel-turned-film-turned-musical is far from novel, and the show's core storyline bears resemblance to a Latin American telenovela, it is Guettel's unique score and lyrics that make The Light in the Piazza something special. In fact, two of its eight Tony Awards are for Best Original Score and Best Orchestration.

 

Guettel's music is operatic in nature, with songs taking on the airs of an aria rather than a show tune, and emerges organically from the dialogue.  "The music has a classical feel," notes musical director Beth Johnson, "but it has very contemporary melodies and harmonies."

 

"The music is so tightly woven into the dialogue," suggests director Brint Learned, "that its performance is unlike that of most musicals.  The performers have to make subtle transitions from the spoken word to music and back again, which is quite a challenge."

 

The Rabbit Run Theater production is fortunate to have a very talented and experienced cast to take on this challenge, including Nancy Shimonek Brooks (one of last year's News-Herald "Best Performance" recipients) as Margaret Johnson, Caitlin Rose as Clara, and James Penca as Clara's love interest Fabrizio Naccarelli. 

 

Adding to the challenge and the operatic nature of the show is the Italian that is sung and spoken throughout the performance.  Fabrizio's family only speaks Italian which, notes Learned, "is a dramatic device that helps show the many obstacles the characters are grappling with."

 

The Naccarelli clan is played by Hugh Craduck, Sandy Kosovich Peck (another "Best Performance" recipient), Amanda Fertal and Nick Varricchio.  Varricchio is not only playing Fabrizio's ne're-do-well older brother; he is serving as the show's vocal dialect coach and resident expert in all things Italian.  

 

The composer of The Light in the Piazza had conceived of this show as more of a "chamber musical" than a big-time Broadway production, despite the full orchestra given its New York production.  Learned and Johnson have decided to go back to the show's roots by swapping out the orchestra for a five-piece string ensemble and minimizing the set.  

 

"This brings out the intimacy and subtlety of the music," Johnson says.

 

 "And," adds Learned, "it takes full advantage of the intimacy of the Rabbit Run theater space.

 

The sign of a good show tune is that it is hummed while the audience is leaving the theater.   The goal of this production, much like the music itself, is grander-it seeks to be remembered long after the audience has left.

 

Details

 

What:     The Light in the Piazza 

When:    Today through August 1.

Where:   Rabbit Run Theater, 5648 W. Chapel Rd., Madison Township. 

Tickets:  $15 to $17

Info:         440-428-7092 or at www.rabbitrunonline.org.
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