Theatre Hopkins is presenting a visually arresting and a pitch perfect rendition of The Light in the Piazza by Craig
Lucas (Book) and Adam Guettel (Music and Lyrics), playing at the Swirnow Theatre in the Mattin Center on the Johns Hopkins
University Campus (to 7/5). The 2005 Tony Award Winner for Best Musical is resourcefully directed and choreographed
by Todd Pearthree, on a limited budget, to a level of quality seldom seen in little or community theater, all for the price
of a 20 dollar ticket. At Sunday's performance a packed audience got much more than they paid for in this intimate
black box space with seating for about a hundred.
The book, based on a 1960 short story by Elizabeth Spenser tells
the story of North Carolinian Margaret Johnson (Nancy Asendorf) trying to recapture some of the romance of her Italian honeymoon
- though this time without her husband Roy (Eddie Chell) - while on vacation in Florence with her daughter Clara (Amy Pierson)
who is "young for her age." With the sudden appearance of a young local suitor, Fabrizio Narcarelli (Robert
Tucker), who is smitten by Clara, and she in turn thrown hat over heels with him, the story shifts with Margaret confronting
her own courtship in reverse: first refusal and resistance, then protest, followed by acceptance, and concluding with commitment.
Margaret ultimately wants what's best for her child and recognizes the chance for love life has thrown her daughter's
way. But Clara (and Fabrizio) gets it in a flash. There are secrets in the Johnson family as well as the Narcarelli;
but before we get there a number of humorous and troubling misunderstandings unfold to the delight of the audience.
The
story and musical seem to be promoted as a "fable," as evidenced by the blurb on the back of the play taken from
the liner notes, written by Frank Rich, for the cast album. In my view, it doesn't meet the criteria - this story
is not allegorical nor is it conveying a moral - it's no more a "fable" than any work of fiction. Margaret
may not have had a daughter or if she did there may have been no chance at happiness; or there may have been any number
of actual circumstances that were transposed in the creative process. But it is certainly a story about the possibilities,
the hope for love, from one generation to the next.
And this is a story about communications
or more specifically the failure in communications between different groups of people, between different individuals, and
within oneself, i.e., how well you truly comprehend your motivations and events of your life. And what's love, but
a form of language that bridges that gap, perhaps the best one, which our young protagonists grasp intuitively.
So as much as I wanted, longed for, surtitles on the back screen, with the extended use of Italian in the play, I think it
would have worked against the story's theme and compromised the mood. You'll get what the meaning is from
their gestures and body language, more completely then you ever would from seeing, say, a Shakespeare or a Tom Stoppard play
for the first time.
Mr. Guettel has a most impressive musical theater pedigree, as the grandson of Richard Rogers,
the son of composer Mary Rogers a long time friend of Stephen Sondheim. Mr. Rogers and especially his collaborator,
Oscar Hammerstein II radically changed musical theater by integrating music, lyrics, and drama into a harmonious whole; songs
were no longer set pieces within a show, but part of a continuous flow, and they were particular to the situations and voice
of a character. Mr. Sondheim, who had Mr. Hammerstein as his own mentor, learned that lesson well and took it a step
further with his complex characterizations, with their unique experiences and emotions placed at the forefront of a story.
See Stephen Sondheim: A Life by Meryle Secrest (New York: Delta, 1998).
In Mr. Guettel's music and
lyrics you will find creative employment of both strands: he works to fit the music to the mood of the story and the lyrics
to the emotions of the character. The storyline of Light is a simple one, but the emotional worlds of the characters
are troubled and complex. So there are many jarring and discordant measures in the music reflecting the inner turmoil;
you won't hear many showstoppers, but the show's theme, the opening medley in the Overture, the
love songs, and bittersweet moments of realization (such as Dividing Day) will stay with you. The music
will evoke a spinning, topsy-turvy world of Rogers and Hammerstein (say Carousel) and sound an awful lot like Sondheim
at times, but if you like Sondheim (as I do), this will be a pleasant experience, one you know is grounded in the truth of
the story. Being set in Italy, you will find elements of opera - an affecting duet with the lovers (Say it Somehow),
a family psychodrama featuring a pastiche of musical styles including the samba (Auitami), and an imaginative inter-family
drama (Octet) with a scale of voices in which he does Rossini two better. Mr. Guettel will doubtless come to
the attention of Hollywood, scoring films, based on his ability demonstrated here.
Mr.
Pearthree directs the production with restraint, never allowing characterization to advance to excess - this musical may be
an operetta at times, but not opera buffa. The musicians accompany the performance, with the tamped down keyboard and
the harp at the service of the actors and accenting the emotions of the scenes. Mr. Pearthree's choreography presents
compelling tableaus; together with creative blocking the stage movements are always in alignment with the music and fluidly
advance the story and action.
The musical director Robert Rose has harnessed this mighty score to his keyboard and accompanying
harp and for this small space the results are more than satisfactory. You can hear the lyrics clearly, while getting
a good sense of the emotions the music is trying to convey.
The three principal actors were well cast and their
voices so similar in range to the original Broadway production, that vocally, you may feel that you are listening to the cast
recording (which I did, by way of the library). Ms. Asendorf as Margaret captures the southern regionalism of the accent
perfectly, while introducing a variety of subtle nonverbal cues, to express her feelings as well as put over a song, if her
sublime musicality didn't take you there already. Amy Pierson portrays Clara with just the right degree of innocence
and naïveté that you'd be hard pressed to find her lacking in any comportment other than that of a Southern
Belle. She demonstrated excellent command of her vocalizations, hitting the upper register of her soprano voice. Nicely
paired with Robert Tucker's Fabrizio, who gave a confident but sensitive tone to his acting and fine tenor voice, they
had the chemistry to fully engage the audience's sympathies. Alyson Shirk as Signora Nararelli and Tamarin Lawlor
as Franca pointedly articulate and vocalize the separate griefs they are forced to live with in their household while Michael
Salconi shows us a Signor Narcarelli who is equal parts family Don and mature Latin lover. Tom Burns as Giuseppe and
Eddie Chell offer nice story balance as they function as twin rogues - one repentant the other unregenerate - within their
respective families. Molly Massa, Joey Hellman, Kerry Brady, and Josh Siems round out the cast in either small parts
or as members of the ensemble.
Design
features all worked to present the show to maximum effect and allow the cast of twelve plenty of room to tell the story.
A minimalist Romanesque set by Chris Van Alstyne, with three vine-wrapped arches, a large projector screen backdrop, and steps
leading to and from various levels, gives the illusion of separate spaces and separate worlds. Costumes are faithful
to the fashion of 1950s with bold, tending toward the sumptuous, pastels for many of the ladies and browns and off-whites
and orange for the men - how exciting it must have been to see these bright colors for the first time! I thought I understood
the limits of lighting until seeing Doug Nelson's design which pushes the envelope to bring out all the possibilities
of color and hue in this show. There had to be tradeoff somewhere to keep costs down and it occurred with the number
of musicians: the production uses two, a pianist (Robert Rose) and a harpist (David Ponder).
Some of the discoveries
or revelations at the end are a stretch - one medical, the other societal - but then this is a musical where the fantastic
has been known to occur. The director took a slight liberty with the ages, probably a nod to the actors in question, but it's
not the factor it would be on screen, and it still drew titters from the audience; I would have left it alone (there is a
basis for it in the short story, however). The flying hat sequence, iconic to the play I think, might have been emphasized;
if you blinked you missed it. There was some confusion with the Uffizi tour guide sequence and the jokes missed. However
these are minor quibbles for an otherwise outstanding show.
Area musical theater lovers will have to wait
until March 2010 for the Arena Stage's production of Light before it passes this way again, but if I were you
I would head out to Baltimore for one of Theatre Hopkins' final three shows this coming weekend (www.jhu.edu/theatre/current/). Who knows where you'll be next year? Right now there's a great production taking place in the next
town over. And at 20 dollars (5 for students) it's the best bargain you're likely to see in a long, long
time, if ever.
Sound check: Excellent, low to moderate sound levels
Program Notes: Adequate.
Might have benefited from the inclusion of bios for the design team and a list of musical numbers by act
Applause meter:
Highly recommended, 3 ½ hands
Runtime: About 2 hours with an intermission
Photo credit: Will Kirk
