The Light in the Piazza

• World Premiere (2003)
  Seattle, WA
• Goodman Theatre Production (2004)
  Chicago, IL
• Original Broadway Production (2005)
  New York, NY
• National Tour (2006)
• Regional Revival (2008)
  Weston, VT
• UK Premiere (2009)
  Leicester, UK
• Arena Stage Production (2010)
  Arlington, VA
• Los Angeles Opera Production (2019)
  Los Angeles, CA
• Lyric Opera of Chicago Production (2019)
  Chicago, IL

Click on the title for info on the song.

Original score

• Statues and Stories
• The Beauty Is
• Il Mondo Era Vuoto
• Passeggiata
• The Joy You Feel
• Dividing Day
• Hysteria
• Say It Somehow
• Aiutami
• The Light in the Piazza
• Octet
• Tirade
  • aka Clara's Tirade [original title]
• Let's Walk
• Love to Me
• Fable

Cut from show

• Opening

Based on the 1960 novella by Elizabeth Spencer

The Light in the Piazza takes place in Italy in the summer of 1953. Margaret Johnson, the wife of an American businessman, is touring the Tuscan countryside with her daughter, Clara. While sightseeing, Clara — a beautiful, rather childlike young woman — loses her hat in a sudden gust. The hat lands at the feet of Fabrizio Naccarelli, a handsome, young Florentine, who returns it to Clara. This brief episode sparks an immediate and intense romance between Clara and Fabrizio. Margaret, extremely protective of her daughter, attempts to keep Clara and Fabrizio apart. As The Light in the Piazza unfolds, a secret is revealed: in addition to the cultural differences between the young lovers, Clara is not quite all that she appears. Unable to suppress the truth about her daughter, Margaret is forced to reconsider not only Clara's future, but her own hopes as well. (Adapted from the synopsis on the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization site.)

Workshopped at the Sundance Theatre Workshop in Utah. Date and credits unknown.