Theater Review: THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA (Palm Canyon Theatre in Palm Springs)

SEE THE LIGHT

Palm Canyon Theatre (PCT) opened a glorious production of The Light in the Piazza last Friday, and it’s sensational.

Based on  the  1960 novella by Elizabeth Spencer,  the  musical is set  in 1950s  Florence, Italy, where Margaret Johnson (Se Layne), a wealthy Southern woman, and her daughter Clara (Nicole Kennedy), who is developmentally disabled, are vacationing from  the  US. When Clara falls  in  love with a young Italian man, Fabrizio Naccarelli (Joshua Rach), Margaret is forced to reconsider not only Clara’s future, but her own deep-seated hopes and regrets as well.

The Light in the Piazza is an expansive piece of writing. Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas‘s musical, which premiered on Broadway in 2003 at Lincoln Center, features rich orchestrations with sonorous sounds of the harp. This score inspired my love for Guettel’s distinctive compositional style, which is very modal in color. I have also discovered that it is through this score that his other notable works such as Floyd Collins and Myths and Hymns become more approachable and engaging. It can take a little effort but its ambitions are high, and it easily fulfills them.

This production is one of the more successful that I have seen at PCT. Director Dr. William J. Layne perfectly captures the tone, shifting moods, and heightened emotionalism. The Light in the Piazza is well cast with all the actors well-aligned in age and temperament. Se Layne as Margaret has big shoes to fill (the role garnered Victoria Clarke her first Tony and Christine Andreas did the role on tour). She does so triumphantly. Layne’s performance is a tour-de-force dramatically and vocally.

Nicole Kennedy plays her daughter Clara opposite Joshua Rach in the role of Fabrizio. Kennedy conveys Clara’s innocence and naivete with aplomb. She does a good job executing a very challenging score, albeit she sounded a little tired in her upper register on opening night. Rach is physically and emotionally perfect as Fabrizio. He captures his joy, passion, heartache, and immaturity quite well. He is excellent vocally in his lower register as well, but also sounded a little worn in the upper range (my assumption is someone should have ensured that both Kennedy and Rach did not sing in full voice during tech/dress rehearsals). The two of them have great chemistry and their journey from budding romance to intense love is heartwarming.

David Brooks gives a stellar performance as Signor Naccarelli. He embodies an old, warm Florentine charm as the rock of the family. Erin Hull is commendable as his wife, Signora Naccarelli, effectively evoking a dutiful wife with a profound subtext that communicates her point of view about the events going on around her. Ben Reece is hysterical as Fabrizio’s brother Giuseppe Naccarelli and Laurie Holmes give us layers of humor through her heartache as Giuseppe’s scorned wife Franca.

Layne directed this production with a nimble hand. The relationships within and between the two families are clearly delineated. Margaret and Clara have the chemistry you would expect between a doting and seemingly overbearing mother that has developed over decades. Musical director Robert Ollis (also on the piano in the pit) has done a fine job with a very challenging score both with his performers and orchestra. He leads the small orchestra with aplomb. It includes Larry Holloway on Bass, Chuck Perry on Harp, and Cindy Brogan on the Violin. Dialect coach Richard Gibbons also deserves a shout out for the work he did with the actors on their Italian dialect.

Derik Shopinksi’s costume designs effectively evoke the period and Italian style in the 1950s. The male wigs, in general, at PCT always make me chuckle, at least internally, and they take me out of the moment. They need significant work, perhaps a whole new inventory. J.W. Layne has designed one of the very best sets I have seen at PCT. It is minimal, very functional and turns the Florentine backdrop into a character itself. The design allows some of the more graceful scene changes I have seen on that stage. Nick Edwards‘ projection designs are largely effective. On a couple of occasions during musical numbers, portraits of characters that were being sung about were projected through the scenic projections on the back of the stage eliciting laughter from the audience and could detract from the moment.

The featured cast and ensemble are all quite good. They include Michele Davis, Jackson Enzler, Donald Kelley, Jessica Lenz, Jackie Padgett, Denise Rooney, Tim Steele, Joyanne Tracy, Sanai Wright, and Mark Ziemann.

555In the two decades since its world premiere my informal observations have shown me two The Light in the Piazza  camps. People either love it or strongly dislike it. I am in the former camp. Both the story and music are breathtaking. PCT’s production is extremely enjoyable and very accessible. If you would like to be in the “love it” camp get to PCT before it closes this weekend.