Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl in the end; it’s that kind of story, set mainly in Florence, Italy, but composer Adam Guettel sought to evoke the flavor of the early 1950s in his music and to give it a buoyant, yet sometimes yearning, operatic glow.
While “The Light in the Piazza” is a story about young love, it’s also a mother’s story about entrusting one’s fragile child to an uncertain world. Margaret Johnson (Mary Gordon Murray), an American from North Carolina, has taken her daughter, Clara (Michaelia Leigh), to Florence and Rome for the summer. Unexpectedly, Margaret will find herself gazing back through the years and wondering if her life played out as she’d hoped it might. After all, her marriage began right here, in the golden sunshine of Florence, nearly three decades earlier.
While sightseeing with her mother, Clara meets Fabrizio (Anthony Carillo), and when love is destined it seems that nothing can keep the young people apart. We are soon immersed in Fabrizio’s family – his stately father Signor Naccarelli (Randall Dodge), his mother (Robin Ann Page), his brother Giuseppe (Perry Ojeda), and the latter’s jaded wife (Melina Kalomas). When we’re with them, we get to hear a lot of Italian, spoken and sung.
The story isn’t an edgy one, or at least for the most part, so why should the sets be? On stage, the somewhat abstract architectural components are granted a fluid mobility by the way in which they are effortlessly whisked into various configurations to suggest an array of arched buildings. Designed by Christopher Beyries, they further the dreamy aspect of the story. In so far as it’s possible, hard lines have been softened and we’re left with a sense of gliding through the city along with the actors – all of whom are convincing in their roles.
This production by the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities succeeds well enough, but while that glow in the square can be magical – and director Dan Mojica gets everyone to the right place at the right time – the glimmer that hopes to bathe the audience isn’t quite so radiant. From the center of the orchestra section the music slightly overpowers the vocals, which isn’t to say that Justin Gray and his musicians don’t put their talents to good use. It might also be that although the songs, the arias, are well written, they are not particularly memorable.
In other respects – and maybe what’s lacking is simply more color, brilliant and dazzling – what remains a touching, graceful musical doesn’t leave a lasting impression. For all of its achievements, that extra little sparkle is missing.
The Light in the Piazza is onstage through May 8 in the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Redondo Beach. Performances, Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday evening at 7 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets, $45 to $70. Call (310) 372-4477 or go to civiclightopera.com. ER
