In many movies or plays, all it takes is a whiff of the Italian air and couples fall madly in love. In “The Light in the Piazza,” a new musical by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas, that conceit is taken literally.
When a gust of wind blows off the hat of young Clara, a handsome Italian man catches it and clinches her heart in a millisecond. But the creators take the premise of lust at first sight further, parsing out the depths of romance in their thoughtful show, based on a celebrated novel by Elizabeth Spencer.
“It’s a love story and there are a couple of triangles,” says Victoria Clark, who portrays Margaret Johnson, Clara’s mother. “It’s a love story between the daughter and the Italian boy. It’s a love story between a parent and a child. And in some ways it’s the story of everybody learning how to let go.”
The play is set in 1953, when Margaret takes Clara on vacation to Florence. As mother and daughter navigate the city square, the wind kicks in and romance begins to blossom.
“The daughter gets a crush on an Italian boy and the mother does not think this is a good idea,” Clark says. “So (the mother) works pretty hard trying to steer her away from getting more attached to him … and they seem destined to really fall in love.”
As the audience soon learns from a series of direct addresses by Margaret, Clara isn’t exactly what she seems. Her mysterious backstory unravels as the relationships between the characters develop.
“What the story spins around is: Why isn’t it OK for these two young people to fall in love? And what’s going on with the daughter that the mother can’t talk about?” Clark says. “It’s really a beautiful story about forgiveness and catharsis and letting go.”
Staged broadly, the musical’s spare set depicts a Florentine square. Scrims, smoky lighting and sliding panels allow the characters to inhabit the space, aiming for a realism that transports the audience to Italy.
The setting is also conveyed by Guettel’s stately score, which suggests the essence of Italy with harp and swooning strings that blossoming into full-bodied arrangements that soar with a grandeur that matches the quiet opulence of the characters’ lives.
But Guettel’s score is nontraditional for a musical. His songs are less about melody — though a refrain carries throughout the show — and instead serve to accelerate the plot.
“I think his music is appropriate for the material that he’s adapting,” says Clark. “This is a more romantic score. It’s very evocative of Europe and specifically Italy.
“Based on where you are vocally in your range, (the score) brings out different colors of the voice, so a lot of the score is very conversational because it happens down in the speaking range,” Clark says. At moments of extreme passion, the characters use song to express their feelings in a manner that is best described as operatic.
Clark’s character is actually the show’s protagonist, not her daughter. In the process of soul-searching, Clark gets the chance to belt.
“She’s really struggling, my character,” she says. “She’s all over the place vocally. I have one song that’s kind of conversational, just in between jazz and art-song, and then another song that’s very legit soprano. So, depending
on where she
is emotionally, that’s what the music brings out.”
Clark says the role, which she originated in Seattle (where the show debuted last summer), has been nothing but creatively fulfilling. If successful in Chicago, the show may be Broadway bound.
“I told my mother if it plays in a mall in Oklahoma, I’m there,” Clark says. “It’s the most challenging, exciting, wonderful opportunity I’ve ever had. No question. By far, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever been asked to be in.”
‘The Light in the Piazza’
What: A new musical by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas. Where: The Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago When: Now through Feb. 15; performance times vary How much: $25-50
