CRITIC’S PICK: "A meet-cute on an Italian excursion sends a mother and daughter on parallel journeys of self-discovery in an Encores! staging of the 2005 musical."
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“As typical, City Center does right by the score, with conductor Rob Berman presenting Guettel, Ted Sperling, and Bruce Coughlin’s lush and romantic orchestrations in all their wonderous glory...The sonic experience of hearing that score live is truly one of a kind, especially combined with the glorious vocal harmonies, and it is a real pleasure to live in this musical world again for the first time in 18 years.”
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“More than anything, it is Guettel's captivating music that is so rewarding in this production...Here we not only have the superb singing voices of the cast members, but the happy reunion of Rob Berman, back as guest music director on hand to conduct the orchestra. It rarely gets any better than this!”
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“In the past, ‘Piazza’ had left me a little cold. But with Zavelson’s open-hearted delivery of Clara’s sunny solo, I was hooked...It’s not just the tonal shift but also the lyrical echo that makes the writing so rich.”
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New York City Center Encores!’s new production of the musical, directed by Chay Yew, stars another Tony Award winner, the sensational Ruthie Ann Miles, as the determined Margaret Johnson with beautiful-voiced Anna Zavelson as a believably three-dimensional Clara. The Encores! production is more down-to-earth than either the film or the original Lincoln Center production and more satisfying as a human drama. There’s no stinting on humor, but the characters’ formerly trivial problems now seem more worthy of our attention.
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“A blindingly bright spot in the theatrical firmament, ‘The Light on the Piazza’ sheds its glow on grateful audiences, who cheer, whoop—and, yes, cry—to express their gratitude. Be one of them if you can.”
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