THEATRE + COMEDY

Main Street Theater presents The Light in the Piazza. Music and Lyrics by Adam Guettel Book by Craig Lucas

Directed by Ron Jones. Musical Direction by Glenn Sharp.  Main Street Theater - Chelsea Market 4617 Montrose Blvd.

Previews January 3, 4 and 7, 2009

Performances January 8 - 25, 2009

About The Light in the Piazza
Margaret Johnson and her daughter Clara are on a tour through Italy in the summer of 1953. Clara meets and falls in love with handsome young Fabrizio Naccarelli. Clara's mother opposes the affair for reasons that only gradually become known to the audience, but ultimately she must put her trust in the miracle of young love even as she faces the truth about her own marriage.

A sensitive adaptation of Elizabeth Spencer’s novella, The Light in the Piazza won numerous awards in its 2005 Broadway run, including the Tony, and was deemed “the most intensely romantic score since West Side Story.” (Stephen Holden, New York Times)

About the Librettist Craig Lucas
Craig Lucas has had – and continues to have – a wide-ranging career in both theater and film, as writer, actor, and director. He has written numerous stage-plays including his most popular, Prelude to a Kiss and Reckless, both of which were made into major-motion pictures for which he wrote the screenplays.

His awards range far and wide as well. He has won the OBIE, the New York Film Critics Circle Award, the Excellence in Literature Award (American Academy of Arts and Letters), the PEN/Laura Pels Mid-Career Achievement Award, and the Outer Critics Circle Award, just to name a few. He has been nominated for the Tony (for The Light in the Piazza) and the Pulitzer (for Prelude to a Kiss and The Dying Gaul) as well.

His latest play, Prayer for My Enemy, is currently having its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in New York.

About Composer and Lyricist Adam Guettel
Adam Guettel was born in New York City, the son of Mary Rodgers, musical composer and children’s book author, and the grandson of Richard Rodgers, Pulitzer-Prize winning musical composer. In June of 2005 he won the Tony award for Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre and the Tony for Best Orchestrations – both for The Light in the Piazza.

Other works of Guettel’s include Floyd Collins, Love’s Fire, and Saturn Returns.
About the Production
Ron Jones returns to Main Street to direct The Light in the Piazza after directing the hugely popular Intimate Apparel in 2006. Glenn Sharp (Caroline, or Change) is the Musical Director. Charles Swan is Assistant Director and Choreographer.

Susan Shofner, last seen in Urinetown, stars as Margaret, with Haley Dyes (The Secret Garden) as her daughter Clara, and Houston’s own Bob Boudreaux appears as her husband, Clara’s father. Ross Chitwood makes his MST debut as Fabrizio, Clara’s Italian love, and David Grant (Suburb) plays his father.

The rest of the cast includes Luisa Amaral-Smith, Jamie Geiger, Christina Stroup, Steve Bullitt, Liz Cascio, Richard Nelson Gonzalez, Nicole Marosis, Mia Migliaccio, and Charles Swan.

The design team includes Liz Freese (set and properties design), John Smetak (lighting design), and Macy Perrone (costume design). Eva De La Cruz is the production stage manager.

This play contains mature themes and sexual content and may not be appropriate for younger audiences. Children under the age of 5 are not allowed in the theater.

Pictured:  L-R are Ross Chitwood as Fabrizio and Haley Dyes as Clara.  Photo by www.RicOrnelProductions.com.