The Light in the Piazza Has a Warm Honest Glow

Last night, The Huntington Theatre’s The Light in the Piazza, filled a theatre abuzz with audience members. Some were like me, with very little knowledge of the work and others, like the woman behind me, knew it well. She commented how deeply she felt the music, “because I know every note of this score.” This musical based on Elizabeth Spencer’s novella, published June 18th, 1960 in the New Yorker, The Light in the Piazza, was song, dance and a deep dive into love, motherhood, and relationships. The lighting, set and costumes helped transport us outside of our current time space continuum and suspended us for a moment before plunging the audience deep into the mess that love is.

The first thing that catches your eye as you look toward the stage is the dappled light. Before the show began, I personally was transported to New York’s Central Park reminding me of sitting in the park, people watching and soaking in the light and air of one of my favourite cities and its people. As soon as the music started, and the light began to shift I was sucked into a different city, time, and place. The city is Florence, the time is 1953. You are aware of the era from the beautiful costumes and classic looks that men, women and children are wearing. The orchestra, led by Andrea Grody fills the theatre with a bright, light sing-songy sound and Clara Johnson and her mother step into the Pizza della Signoria in Florence. They are slightly cringe-worthy American tourists reading about what they are looking at and sharing the sweet taste of discovery and re-discovery together as perhaps only a parent and child can. Emily Skinner as Margaret Johnson has a thick Southern accent and is reminiscing about her younger days in this same piazza sharing every detail she can with her daughter.

The musical, starts off so light and playful. A mother and daughter exploring Florence together the daughter with a fresh, juvenile glee at anything and everything around her. The mother is sharing some memories as well as tidbits from the travel book as she holds her daughter’s hand pointing out landmarks of note. The story progresses and you learn more about the mother-daughter relationship, as Clara catches the eye of a young local boy, and the layers and levels of love and relationships within families come to light.

There is so much humour built into the story, with the pinnacle being Rebecca Pitcher as Signora Naccarelli catching us all up to speed at the start of the second act. It isn’t that we lose track of the story line or that it is particularly complex, but The Light in the Piazza is bilingual with characters who speak (and sing) primarily in Italian and others who have just picked up a few phrases of Italian or English in an effort to be able to express their love and admiration of one another. In contrast to the humour, some of the songs are heartbreakingly tender and whether you know the score or not, puts you square into your feels.

Joshua Grosso as the head over heels in love Fabrizio Naccarelli is spectacular. His character is full of bumbling charm and Grosso’s voice is divine.

As a mother of a daughter, the story hit me in so many ways. There is always a line we walk with holding on and letting go in motherhood and perhaps in all loving relationships. If I had to pinpoint one theme for The Light in the Piazza it is about the messiness of love.

The Light in the Piazza at The Huntington Theatre runs through June 15th and is definitely worth catching a glimpse of that dappled light and taking a trip to Florence to meet Clara, her Mother, Joshua Grosso and his family.