Comments on: The Light in the Piazza

By: Joel

Joel — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 03:26:29 +0000

I wish you would listen to the Broadway cast CD and you would see that the theme song and Fable are very memorable songs in this show. The poor sound and the lack of intimacy in the Opera House destroyed the beauty of the show. I saw the show 4 times in NYC and listen to the cast CD every week because the score is memorable. You wouldn’t have known that sitting in the big pit-oops-the Kennedy Center Opera House. Click on the green arrow above this article and listen to cast members talk about the Kennedy Center space. Your statement that "unless the music is fabulous and makes it into the mainstream" is unfair and historically incorrect. All of Stephen Sondheim’s musicals were never in the mainstream and are classics-Sweeney Todd, Follies, Into The Woods, Merrily We Roll Along and the list goes on and on. What you consider to be mainstream is not what I or other theatre goers may consider mainstream. The reason so many jukebox musicals have failed-and they had "mainstream" music in their shows-were the horribles books they had. Jersey Boys is the only jukebox musical to win the Tony for Best Musical because it has a great score plus a great book or story. It’s the music and the book of a musical working together than makes a successful musical. West Side Story, Gypsy, La Mancha and Les Miz all worked because they all had great music and a great book. These shows were hardly "mainstream" when they first opened on Broadway. Joel

By: Barbara 2

Barbara 2 — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 06:15:45 +0000

I saw the Ken Center show and sat in the Balcony and had loads of problems hearing the lines and songs…so I got a headset at intermission. Why don’t they fix the acoustics? Is this the same for every show there? While the show was enjoyable, I did not find it to be great… and I came to a profound conclusion. Unless the music is fabulous and makes it into the mainstream, it really isn’t a great show. I just recently saw something on TV about some great lyricists, and didn’t realize where some of the great musical numbers came from. In contrast, Piazza had no numbers that were particularly memorable. Ditto for She loves me (except the title song). In contrast, I could see West Side Story, Man of LaMancha and many others again and again. (Except for 1-2 numbers I was not wild about Cats or Evita, although they were well staged and had a great story.)

By: Barbara 2

Barbara 2 — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 06:15:17 +0000

By: cheryl

cheryl — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:46:17 +0000

I saw both the productions at the Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center. I loved the show at the Lincoln Center but unfortunately did not find the Kennedy Center production nearly as satisfying. For me there were two factors that made the Lincoln Center production particularly special. First of all the that show was done in 3/4 stage with the actors being able to enter and exit the stage not only from stage right and left but also from a couple of points in front of the stage. For me the Lincoln Center production made exquisitely use of this flexible staging. Secondly the theater that this production was performed in, while being the larger of the 2 theaters used for plays at the Lincoln Center, was still a very manageable size for this very intimate show. In contrast the production at the Kennedy Center was done in the humongous Opera House. First of all the magic of the set was relatively wasted…but perhaps if you hadn’t seen the potential the set had in the proper venue you wouldn’t know what you missed. Secondly, because of the size of the Opera House all of the people appeared very very diminutive- and I was sitting in row S of the orchestra so I can only imagine what the experience must have been for folks in the balconies and the rear of the orchestra. Thirdly, per usual I found the sound in the Opera House to be problematic. All this said I don’t think that the Kennedy Center production was bad its just that for me it wasn’t nearly as magical as the production at the Lincoln Center.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 14:59:27 +0000

Michael – you really didn’t need to spend $100+ to see the KenCen version of Piazza. I was in the Orchestra Row S, Seat 28, and paid $25.00 ($27.48 with service charges). I also saw the original cast production in NYC at Lincoln Center and the PBS live broadcast from Lincoln Center. The KenCen production was excellent, in my opinion, sets, costumes, orchestra all first class. I too see a lot of local theater and because of this I need to find the best seats at the best prices I can find. Best prices can result from joining Ushers, Footlights, Goldstarevents, TicketPlace, etc. Barbara

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 13:18:46 +0000

Wow…I’m never first at ANYTHING! First I’d like to say this is a pleasant musical with many good points, particularly the dazzling sets and delightful music. That said, I will continue on a negative note–I left this production at Lincoln Center feeling that I had made the wrong choice for my one very expensive NYC theatre night over a weekend visit. Furthermore, I have absolutely no desire to spend another $100?? to see the production a third time in DC. I say third time because I did watch the PBS broadcast. This is a strange paradox because I did like the show. However, I have become so used to great local theatre in DC that for me to pay megabucks, the production must be really special. Light in the Piazza was not.