Adam Guettel’s Tony Award-winning musical, The Light in the Piazza, is being lovingly served up in a magnificent staging at this year’s Opera Theatre of Saint Louis season.
It may seem dotty to begin a review of a musical by extolling the virtues of the set design, but in this case it is warranted since the astonishingly fluid scenery visually embodies the restless sweep of the score. Piazza calls for endlessly shifting locales, not only all over Florence, but hell, Rome, too. Given the space limitations of the stage at the Loretto Hilton Theatre, Cameron Anderson has created an amazing Rubik’s cube of a building block design, with floor to ceiling stone arches that can split in half; pillars; masonry units that are used to suggest all manner of relics and statuary; curtains that descend; shutters that open to create a Florentine balcony; carefully selected furniture pieces; and way upstage; a huge fresco on the back wall of a Titian-esque woman gazing into the distance with longing.
In the original New York production, these myriad, frequent shifts were computerized. In Saint Louis, they are not, and an army of stage crew (and some actors), are doing a flawless job, tirelessly pushing, spinning, turning and carrying these set elements in a kaleidoscopic wonder of an achievement. I don’t mean to suggest that I came out “humming the scenery” but visually, it “sang” effortlessly. Kudos to all.
Eric Southern has lit the proceedings with all the warm Tuscan yellows and ochres that bathed the stage in a welcoming glow. Mr. Southern also effectively injected some cooler looks into the mix, such as when conflicts arose, or when Clara, panicked, loses her way on the midnight streets. He also incorporated spot on (pun intended) isolated specials that provided dramatic punctuations. Ulises Alcala provided the telling costumes, visually defining the nouveau riche American visitors, the workaday Italians, and the elegant bella figura of the Naccarelli family. Franca Naccareli’s attire was especially stunning, a Milanese fashion plate. The complementing period wigs and makeup were designed by Krystal Balleza and Will Vicari.
The Light in the Piazza was created by composer Adam Guettel as a musical, but he is such a chameleon in appropriating different genres as his inspiration, that the piece really sings like an opera. It was orchestrated and staged knowing the singers would be amplified in a Broadway house, and so it also is here. I wished that the production would have been done acoustically. In the opening number, Statues and Stories, the orchestra overbalanced the tumbling impressions shared by the two singers, making us struggle to discern the rapid fire words (even with the projected titles). After that, the mix (no design credit) settled into a satisfactory “usual” Broadway blend. But The Pirates of Penzance landed their show without amplification just fine, speaking and singing alike, and I bet this cast could have, too.
But what a delightful cast it was. Kate Baldwin was so charismatic as the mother Margaret Johnson, that the audience hung on her every utterance. Her characterful soprano is nuanced and secure, and she has that rare ability to truly sustain her character while singing, to seamlessly match the personality of her spoken dialogue. Ms. Baldwin is giving an assured, emotionally controlled characterization that is endlessly appealing. Her frequently droll responses tickled the audience no end, and as she faced her own life’s disappointments she proved a skilled tragedienne. If I had wanted a bit more amplitude in her voicing during the urgent, surging high passages of Fable, the effect was nonetheless exceedingly lovely. Her presentation of Dividing Day was so seemingly matter of fact, it was heartbreaking, a Master Class of making a song into a one act play.
The mentally challenged daughter, Clara, was a perfect match for the considerable gifts of Katrina Galka. Her shimmering lyric soprano has graced some of the world’s most important stages, and she brought a wealth of seasoned polish to the role. She unleashed her buoyant instrument to ravish us with a rhapsodic rendition of The Beauty Is, and then reined it in to float a perfectly calibrated title song. Ms. Galka is also petite and girlish, and she created a memorable, pitch perfect impression. Her spontaneous suitor, the young Italian Fabrizio was
winningly impersonated by lanky, swarthy Roy Hage. His interpretation was a revelation to me. Not just because he sang it with passionate sweetness in such show pieces as his “Josh Groban” number, Il Mondo Era Vuoto, or blending his well-focused, pointed tenor with Mr. Galka in Say It Somehow, but most especially because his hormone induced, insistent bumbling was so disarmingly endearing and funny. In many ways, Fabrizio’s blind infatuation made him just as mentally limited as Clara.
As the pivotal paterfamilias Signor Naccarelli, Paulo Szot showed us why he is a Tony winning actor and an in demand opera star. Oozing irresistible charm, sporting leading man good looks, and singing like a god, Mr. Szot disarmed everyone he encountered, on stage and in the audience. His burnished baritone was richly seductive, and intelligently deployed. His acting chops do not take second place to his glorious singing, and as Margaret wins him over to allow Clara’s wedding in Let’s Walk, his gradual acquiescence during this cat and mouse duet was a wonderfully calibrated conversion. And he’s effortlessly funny when the situation demands. Deluxe casting, indeed.
As the embittered young wife, Franca Nacarelli, Kelly Guerra was a force to be reckoned with. She is convinced that her errant husband Giuseppe (vibrant baritone Joel Clemens) is straying, and she disillusions Clara with a commanding performance of arguably the hardest solo piece in the show, The Joy You Feel. The angular, angry song demands assured, powerful singing at the extremes of the range and everywhere in between, and Ms. Guerra delivered the goods with a plaintive, plummy mezzo and an impeccable technique. Plus, Kelly has such a glamorous presence, it is hard to believe any husband would look elsewhere. As said husband, Mr. Clemens gave a fine bad boy impression, taking the time off to have some fun as part of the lighthearted trio, American Dancing. Debby Lennon rounded out the cast as Signora Naccarelli, who ostensibly only speaks Italian, but nearly stops the show as she steps out ofcharacter in Act II’s Aiumati to Mom-speak the text to us in a sudden seizure of English, her imposing mezzo-soprano growing in size and rapid fire determination to pretty much sing everyone off the stage. The audience went wild for this demented, inspired cameo moment.
Crystal Manich has my profound admiration for her ingenious direction. In conjunction with her stage managers, running crew, and cast, she has created a choreographed sequence of stage pictures in motion, that are unerringly impressive. Lest the pomp and fluidity of the visuals overtake the story, it is to Ms. Manich’s great credit that she has forged fully realized character relationships between each and every named character, as well as peopling the milieu with well-chosen supers, who were immediately identifiable in their stations in life. The visual throughline of the village violinist was but one of many charming touches. Not to be overlooked, Rob Berman conducted an assured reading in the pit with members of the Saint Louis Symphony creating a shimmering and atmospheric soundscape. Conducting a musical theatre piece is a whole different animal, and Maestro Berman wielded his baton as if to the manner born, maintaining a perfect pace and effectively dovetailing each segue from book scene to song.
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis has made a forceful case that this work has great promise as an addition to the operatic repertoire, and if the vociferous approval from the SRO audience is any indication, I believe The Light in the Piazza may have “arrived.”
James Sohre
The Light in the Piazza
Music and Lyrics by Adam Guettel
Book by Craig Lucas
Cast and Production Staff:
Clara Johnson: Katrina Galka; Margaret Johnson: Kate Baldwin; Fabrizio Naccarelli: Roy Hage; Tour Guide: Jason Garcia-Kakuk; Giuseppe Naccarelli: Joel Clemens; Signor Naccarelli: Paulo Szot; Priest/Flower Vendor: Kevin Douglas Jasaitis; Franca Naccarelli: Kelly Guerra; Signora Naccarelli: Debby Lennon; Roy Johnson: Michael James Reed; Maid: Rosario Armas, Julia Maria Johnson; Man on Bike: Cole Bellamy; Woman with Giuseppe: Cristina Escobedo; Waiter: Edmond Rodriguez; Other Ensemble: Anthony Voiers, Audrianna Hughes, Emily Kondrat.
Conductor: Rob Berman; Director: Crystal Manich; Set Designer: Cameron Anderson; Costume Designer: Ulises Alcala; Lighting Designer: Eric Southern; Wig and Makeup Designers: Krystal Balleza, Will Vicari; Choreographer: Seán Curran; Chorus Master: Andrew Whitfield.
Top image: (L to R) Clara (Katrina Galka) and her mother Margaret (Kate Baldwin) explore a city made of “statues and stories.”
All photos © Eric Woolsey