The Light in the Piazza for Adelaide Fringe
A soaring tale of love, passion and forgiveness hits Adelaide Fringe 2016, as prolific Adelaide musical theatre company Davine Interventionz stages The Light in the Piazza for Adelaide Fringe 2016. Lesley Reed reports.
Adelaide producer David Gauci is performing in the Adelaide Fringe in his celebrated cabaret show It Was Worth the Weight. Not content to be involved with only one production, the tireless creative genius behind Davine Interventionz is also producing another Fringe musical, the delightful The Light in the Piazza, which to quote David, “is as delicious as a musical gets. It proves that love truly can conquer all”.
The Light in the Piazza may seem an unusual choice for Davine Interventionz; it’s a departure from the 21st century pop-musicals the company is known for, for example 2014 Adelaide Fringe hit Xanadu – The Musical. The Light in the Piazza, in contrast, embraces Guettel’s neo-romantic musical composition, unexpected harmonic shifts, and extended melodic structures.
Winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Original Score, The Light in the Piazza whisks audiences away to 1950’s Italy to experience a soaring tale of passion, forgiveness, and love.
Margaret Johnson, a mother escaping a crumbling marriage, travels to Tuscany with her daughter Clara. When a handsome young Florentine captures Clara's heart, Margaret must decide if she'll risk revealing truths that could threaten her daughter's happiness. A mother’s need to protect her daughter comes into conflict with her desire to set her free into true love and a happy life.
The Light in the Piazza encompasses more than a girl falling in love with a boy, though. It is a story of a mother’s love for her daughter, a girl’s love affair with Italy and two families learning to love each other despite their differences.
The Adelaide Fringe production will be directed for Davine Interventionz by Hayley Horton (well-known in Adelaide as director of [title of show], You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, Little Women and other successes) and will be on stage from February 24 to March 5, 2016. Davine’s founder David Gauci will focus on set and costume design for the musical. Musical direction is by Peter Johns (Next to Normal, [title of show], Songs for a New World, Into the Woods and more), who recently collaborated with David Gauci on the critically acclaimed The Story Of My Life.
Some characters in The Light in the Piazza speak almost exclusively in Italian, harmonizing with American Southern English, creating what is the only fully bilingual musical in the American canon. The two languages mix and meld to create a rich sonic landscape. Audiences can expect to be whisked away into “La Dolce Vita,” or the Sweet Life, the Italian sensibility that encourages long sunset strolls, decadent food and wine, and of course, falling in love.
The score features songs such as “Let’s Walk,” “The Beauty Is” and the heartbreaking “Dividing Day.”
The principal cast includes Kirstin Stefanoff in the role of Clara, and Lindsay Prodea in the role of Fabrizio, along with Andy Trimmings (Giuseppe), Lisa Simmonetti (Franca) and Tim Blackshaw (Roy).
Katie Packer returns to the Adelaide stage in the pivotal role of Margaret. Completing the lead cast is popular Adelaide operatic tenor, David Visentin in the role of Signor Nacerelli and soprano Irene Sutton as Signora Nacerelli.
The New York Times hailed The Light in the Piazza as “the most intensely romantic score of any musical since West Side Story”. In the creative hands of Davine Interventionz it is surely a show Fringe audiences will flock to.
WHEN: 24-26 February, 2-5 March, 7.30 pm. 27 February, 2pm.
WHERE: Star Theatre One, 145 Sir Donald Bradman Drive, Hilton.
TICKETS: A $36, C $33, Family $113.
BOOKINGS: www.adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix
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