Celia Rees Anna Morrison Popular Books

Celia Rees Anna Morrison Biography & Facts

The Light in the Piazza is a musical with music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, and a book by Craig Lucas. Based on the 1960 novella by Elizabeth Spencer, the show is set in the 1950s and tells the story of Margaret Johnson, a wealthy Southern woman, and Clara, her daughter, who is developmentally disabled due to a childhood accident. The two spend a summer together in Florence, Italy. When Clara falls in love with a young Italian man, Fabrizio, Margaret is forced to reconsider not only Clara's future, but her own deep-seated hopes and regrets as well. The score breaks from the 21st century tradition of pop music on Broadway by moving into the territory of Neoromantic classical music and opera, with unexpected harmonic shifts and extended melodic structures, and is more heavily orchestrated than most Broadway scores. Many of the lyrics are in Italian or broken English, as many of the characters are fluent only in Italian. Productions Original production The Light in the Piazza was developed as a musical at the Intiman Playhouse in Seattle in June 2003 and then at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in early 2004. Victoria Clark starred as Margaret Johnson, Celia Keenan-Bolger played Clara Johnson, and Steven Pasquale played Fabrizio Naccarelli. Kelli O'Hara also played Franca Naccarelli. When the show transferred to Broadway, Pasquale stepped away due to a conflict with the television series Rescue Me. In addition, O'Hara assumed the role of Clara. Broadway production and national tour After 36 previews, the Broadway production opened on April 18, 2005, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in Lincoln Center, where it ran for 504 performances and closed on July 2, 2006. The musical was directed by Bartlett Sher, choreographed by Jonathan Butterell, with lighting by Christopher Akerlind, set by Michael Yeargan and costumes by Catherine Zuber. The cast featured Clark, O'Hara, Matthew Morrison, Michael Berresse and Sarah Uriarte Berry. Chris Sarandon joined the cast as Signor Naccarelli later in the run, Aaron Lazar was a replacement in the role of Fabrizio and Katie Rose Clarke was a replacement in the role of Clara. On June 15, 2006, shortly before its closing night, the show was broadcast on the PBS television series Live from Lincoln Center, and drew more than two million viewers. The cast consisted of Victoria Clark (Margaret), Katie Rose Clarke (Clara), Aaron Lazar (Fabrizio), Chris Sarandon (Signor Naccarelli), Patti Cohenour (Signora Naccarelli), Michael Berresse (Giuseppe), Sarah Uriarte Berry (Franca), and Beau Gravitte (Roy). A United States national tour starring Christine Andreas as Margaret, Elena Shaddow as Clara, and David Burnham as Fabrizio started at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, California, in August 2006 and ended in Chicago on July 22, 2007. Other productions A Japanese production of the musical was produced in December 2007, having a limited engagement of about a month. It starred Kaho Shimada as Margaret Johnson. An Australian concert version had a one-night presentation at the Lyric Theatre, Star City in Sydney on August 17, 2008. The cast consisted of members of the Australian company of The Phantom of the Opera, with Jackie Rees as Margaret, Kathleen Moore as Clara and James Pratt as Fabrizio. The production was directed by John O'May. In the summer of 2008, Guettel reconfigured the musical as a smaller chamber piece for the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company in Vermont, where Sarah Uriarte Berry reprised her role as Franca. The show had its opera house premiere in October 2008 at Piedmont Opera in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It starred Jill Gardner as Margaret and Sarah Jane McMahon as Clara, directed by Dorothy Danner and conducted by James Allbritten. The first Los Angeles area local premiere was seen at the Covina Center for the Performing Arts in 2009. It starred Christopher Callen as Margaret, Brooke Tansley as Clara, and Craig D' Amico as Fabrizio (all Broadway veterans) under the direction of Brady Schwind. The Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra in Alberta presented the musical at the Genevieve E. Yates Memorial Centre October 19–21, 2009, which was the Canadian première. Directed by Fran Rude and musical direction by Ken Rogers this production starred Diane Llewelyn-Jones as Margaret, Nicole Higginson as Clara and Steven Morton as Fabrizio. The Berkeley Street Theatre in Toronto saw the Canadian première by Acting Up Stage running in February 2010. The Arena Stage (Washington, DC) production ran from March 5, 2010 through April 11, 2010, with Hollis Resnik as Margaret. The European premiere was directed by Paul Kerryson at the Curve theatre, Leicester, UK, in May 2009, starring Lucy Schaufer as Margaret and Caroline Sheen as Clara, with design by George Souglides, musical direction by Julian Kelly, lighting design by Giuseppe di Iorio, sound design by Paul Groothuis. A highly acclaimed production at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theater in Chicago opened on March 11, 2012, starring Kelli Harrington as Margaret and Rachel Klippel as Clara. Harrington's performance won the Jeff Award for Best Actress. The run was extended through June. The 2013 Shaw Festival production ran in rep at the Court House Theatre in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, Canada. Previews began July 4, 2013 with the official opening July 26, 2013; the show closed on October 13. The musical was directed by Jay Turvey and starred Patty Jamieson as Margaret Johnson. Front Porch Theatricals (Pittsburgh) staged a performance in August 2015. It received rave reviews from both local and national critics with BroadwayWorld hailing the overall production and Josh Grosso in the role of Fabrizio. The cast included Becki Toth as Margaret and Lindsay Bayer as Clara. It was directed by Stephen Santa. On April 4, 2016, the entire original Broadway cast reunited for a benefit concert version of the musical at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, where it originally played. The work was presented by Life Like Company at the Arts Centre Melbourne from October 28, 2016 to November 6, 2016, directed by Theresa Borg and starring Chelsea Plumley (Margaret Johnson), Genevieve Kingsford (Clara Johnson) and Jonathan Hickey (Fabrizio Naccarelli). The musical was produced in London at Royal Festival Hall from June 14, 2019 to July 6, starring Renée Fleming as Margaret Johnson and Dove Cameron as Clara. Daniel Evans directed. This production then moved to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles in October, the Lyric Opera of Chicago in December with Solea Pfeiffer taking over as Clara. A semi-staged Encores! production ran at New York City Center from June 21–25, 2023. It starred Ruthie Ann Miles as Margaret, Shereen Ahmed as Franca, Andréa Burns as Signora Naccarelli, Rodd Cyrus as Giuseppe, James D. Gish as Fabrizio, Ivan Hernandez as Signor Naccarelli and Anna Zavelson as Clara. Directed by Chay Yew, it "reexamined the musical ... from an Asian American perspective. Synopsis Act 1 In the early morning of their fi.... Discover the Celia Rees Anna Morrison popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Celia Rees Anna Morrison books.