Questions About the Musical - Light in the Piazza (1962) Discussion

[–] TheGraduate2004 19 years ago

Clara's secret is that she was injured as a child while riding her horse. Her injury caused her to remain at the level of a 10-year-old, mentally. This is part of the reason why Clara's mother Margaret does not want her to marry Fabrizio, but she ends up realizing that her daughter's love for Fabrizio is true, and when she discovers that her husband wants to send Clara to a "special school" she figures that Clara would be better off marrying Fabrizio. Any further questions can be e-mailed to me at: [email protected]

~Chad

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[–] GerrysAngel 19 years ago

If you listen to the soundtrack, in The Beauty Is (reprise), the mom tells you what the secret is. Or she tells you how it happened. Clara is handicapped...she was hit in the neck by a pony when she was 12 so she has the mental and emotional state of a 12 year old still and probably wont develop much beyond that but her body is that of a 26 year old.

I'm not sure if there is an official site but I'm sure if you type in Light In the Piazza on any search engine you'll get something that tells you basically whats going on.

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[–] tommyrockt 19 years ago

Clara's secret is not revealed until about halfway through the first act of the musical. This is not given away on the Lincoln Center Theatre website (LCT.org - where you can also view the television commercial.) Here is a synopsis of the basic plot:

Margaret Johnson and her daughter Clara arrive in Florence on a sightseeing trip. When Clara's hat is blown off in the wind, a beautiful, young Italian man catches it and the two are smitten. Clara, her emotional development having been arrested at age 12 when she was kicked in the head by a pony, has been protected from romantic encounters by her mother . On this trip abroad, and with Clara's interest in sex growing, Mrs. Johnson is unable to keep Clara from the man of her dreams. Mrs. Johnson's dilemma lies with the fear that Clara will be hurt if the secret is discovered - a secret Clara herself does not even know. There are other complexities of relationship which involve Margaret's relations to her husband back home as well as relationships in the Naccarelli household (father, mother, Fabrizio, his brother Guisseppe and his beautiful young wife). It's a fascinating subject for a musical, brilliant music and lyrics, humor, romance and several tearjerking moments. Go see it - or buy the CD if you can't get to the musical. It's worth seeing and listening to.

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[–] ZaneyMcBanes 19 years ago

http://www.theatre-musical.com/piazza/synopsis.html

There is a complete synopsis.

"I close my eyes, and I still see his face"-Marian from "The Woman in White"

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[–] Doylenf 18 years ago

I hate to dampen the enthusiasm anyone has for the musical version, but I just happened to be channel surfing when I came across PBS showing "Live from Lincoln Center" and realized it was LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA.

As one who has read the novella, to say that I was underwhelmed by the music and the staging and the performances in this version is an understatement.

I'll take the movie version anytime and I'm glad I never attempted to see this at Lincoln Center. Jawdroppingly awful.

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[–] hawleysmoot2 18 years ago

I thought it was wonderful, but of course you have every right to your opinion. What about the music, staging, and performances didn't you like? And what did you think of the set design (I adored it)?

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[–] Doylenf 18 years ago

I didn't stick around long enough to give a critique but what I saw was enough to make me change the channel. The man playing Fabrizio's father had no voice (no singing voice, that is); I was disappointed in the way the mother was portrayed (sounded rather like a hick), and when she and Fabrizio's father did a song (something about "Let's Walk Together"), their vocalizing sounded flat and off key. If this song was an example of the lyrics, then they were trite, at best. At that point I'd had enough. The sets looked rather barren on TV.

Also (and this may be because what works on stage does not transfer that well to the small screen), everyone seemed to be overacting terribly, especially the actor playing Fabrizio.

Definitely not a show I'll want to see. For those of you who love it, so be it. I'll stick to the movie which I think is an underrated gem.

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[–] BB7827 18 years ago

Re: the mother sounding like a hick. She was from Winston-Salem. That's the way we sound. My darlin' New York husband husband told me the first time we met, he could never say no to my southern girl voice.

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[–] DryToast 18 years ago

hawleysmoot2, pay no attention to Doylenf. This poster, a rabid Olivia de Havilland fan, has been gunning for this show ever since it opened. Doylenf first made the "Margaret sounds like a hick" complaint on the Musicals board and later confessed it was not a first-hand observation but a quote from a review. Doylenf dismissed the score in very sour terms after hearing a few tracks on the CD. Clearly, there's an axe to grind here.

“Maybe we're not supposed to sleep so well"

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[–] Doylenf 18 years ago

My being a rabid de Havilland fan has nothing to do with my reaction to the show. If you can't accept someone else's honest opinion (you being someone who is a rabid fan of the musical), then you ought not try to influence someone else from accepting my remarks as genuine.

I read the novella, saw the film, hated what I saw them do with it in musical terms. And since I'm a singer who has always been musically inclined myself, I know what I'm speaking of when it comes to singing "off key" and lyrics that leave much to be desired.

I love musicals in general and I'm glad they've begun making a comeback--but this was a poor example of one judging by the exposure it had last night on TV.

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[–] tappingjeff 18 years ago

I do agree that you have the right to an opinion but, anyone who clearly knows good theatre would absolutley in love with the piece. The score was beautiful and Victoria Clark's performance as Margaret Johnson was moving and was definitley worth her Tony for the role. I applaud the musical as being a wonderful, beautiful piece of work. Oh and Victoria's portrayal of Margaret was not a hick. You can obviously see that it had a southern accent but her style and the clothing she wore was an extreme contribution to her not being a hick. Since when does having a southern accent mean you are a hick? I think you just don't understand wonderful work of theatre and that's ok. Everyone else out there, try to watch it if you get a chance. If it comes to a city near you this coming season you should definitley go and see it. It is amazing. One of the best musicals i've ever seen!

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[–] Doylenf 18 years ago

As I said, seeing it live in a theater must be a different experience.

Seeing it the way it was presented on PBS a few days ago, it made a negative impression on me and I never watched the whole thing.

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[–] eatomson 18 years ago

That's it folks, they are two different experiences. Movie/stage and stage/movie translations involve compromises and changes, some people prefer one to the other, and whichever you see first will affect your judgement of the other.

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[–] gayspiritwarrior 16 years ago

Having seen both, I can say nothing much was lost on the PBS. If someone doesn't like it, he doesn't like it; most people prefer the first performed version of a story they see. But a bad review is just as open to question as a good one. I love the show and think the singing--which was NOT off-key, and I've been a lifelong singer too--serves the story and the music very well.

"The value of an idea has nothing to do with the honesty of the man expressing it."--Oscar Wilde

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[–] DryToast 18 years ago

If you think that an intelligent, educated, sophisticated woman speaking with a North Carolina accent sounds like a hick, then you are snob. Just because the bovine Ms. de Havilland didn't bother doing a regional accent in her movie-star turn in this role doesn't mean there isn't a more honest approach to the material. You were so impatient to come to these boards to express disdain for this project that you couldn't be bothered to watch the entire thing. If I form a negative impression of something based on a partial viewing, I don't go around posting my "opinion" and expect to be taken seriously. It certainly isn't unfair of me to remind others what you've said in the past, which I believe reveals the grudge you've harbored against this musical from the very beginning.

“Maybe we're not supposed to sleep so well"

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[–] Doylenf 18 years ago

Hey drytoast, do you have a percentage in this musical or something?

Why do you go on such a rampage when I was decent enough to admit that I didn't watch the whole thing (and therefore, if you want to discredit my opinion, go ahead and do so, which is why I said that in the first place). I don't normally watch something if I'm turned off by it. It's called "change the channel".

I think it's more a matter that the movie was truer to the Spencer novel and the way I pictured the story being told than the musical which is cluttered with a lot of stuff I wasn't even expecting to see. Perhaps if I had seen the stage version first and the movie afterwards, I'd be criticizing the film for not having all the ingredients of the stage musical. That's the way it is, sometimes. The first version is what you consider the best. I wasn't expecting the musical to be the way it was. I found Mrs. Johnson's speaking voice unpleasant (and not because she didn't sound like Olivia). And you seem to have a bias against Olivia, to tell the truth.

But why you get into such a huff over my opinion is exasperating to me. I said it was only my opinion and I happen to know that many have expressed opposing viewpoints on this. You can't stand anyone dissing something you find so extraordinary--well, that's your problem. Some people loved it, some were a lot less impressed than you are. So be it. If the composer was hoping for a Sondheim sound to his music, he missed it, in my opinion.

I wish you'd change the channel and get off my back for not having an opinion that matches yours. It's called a difference of opinion.

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[–] DryToast 18 years ago

I'll get off your back now, because you still don't seem to grasp what my problem is with your posts on this subject.

It is not that we have a difference of opinion. It is the fact that you have posted at length criticizing something that you haven't even seen, and that this fact, plus the pattern of being over-eager to complain about it from the moment it opened, based on very little exposure to it, leads me to believe that you've approached the project with a prejudice from the very beginning.

You continue to pretend that it's an opposing opinion that I can't tolerate, when actually what I can't tolerate is bu11sh!t.

“Maybe we're not supposed to sleep so well"

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[–] Doylenf 18 years ago

You've been raving about it ever since it opened and can't forgive anyone for saying a negative word about it.

Your goal is to insult me because I happen to think the movie far superior. Your insults even extend to a "bovine" Olivia. Why are you posting on the de Havilland Message Board when you obviously have no respect for the lady herself or her cultured manners. You're just making a fool of yourself with your exaggerated claims about the musical's brilliance. If anyone is over-eager to destroy reputations it's you and your determination to jump on me, as if your opinion is the only one that counts and should be carved in stone.

I watched about forty minutes of it before deciding that I didn't want to see the whole thing for the next couple of hours. My evaluation of the musical is just as authentic as yours, since it's my personal opinion which I understand is not shared by those who love the musical and I've said that from the beginning. Put a fork in it, the bullsh!t is over.

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[–] becka4567 18 years ago

I was just taken to see this wonderful 6 Tony award winning show tonight in Los Angeles for my birthday. I also have seen the movie. I LOVED the play. The voices were pitch perfect and the little tidbits of comedy were well played. I highly recommend it..

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[–] lelandh-1 18 years ago

Happy B-day Becka. Just saw the musical in L.A 11-17-06 as part of my subscription series at the Ahmanson. The Light in the Piazza is/was as you say... wonderfully sung... Elena Shaddow as Clara was exceptional; as was Christine Andreas as Margaret (LOVED the southern accent!) and David Burnham was great as Fabrizio. Have season tix's at the Ahmanson since 1972 and am a fair judge of plays there. Light in the Piazza was entertaining and enjoyable on all levels. Perhaps not the "greatest" musical... the ending is logical but somewhat abrupt/limp as a dramatic ending... but so what! My date said, "That's it?" as to the climax and I have to agree... then again the "conflict" of the mother's concerns were resolved and that's that!
Very enjoyable... but not nearly as entertaining as this little dust-up in the reviews of movie vs. musical ^o^. Guilty schadenfreude reading the "catfight"........ hiss, hiss, meow!!! ^o^

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