Welcome back to another brand new post finally!! I've been so bad on here recently but if i'm honest i've not really had any inspiration/ motivation until now. On Sunday 30th June, I went to see a musical i'd only come across recently called The Light in the Piazza and I wanted to do a little review and share my thoughts whilst the show is still fresh in my mind. I won't ramble too much in a long intro so i'll just get on with the review and hope you enjoy!
The Light in the Piazza is set in 1950's Florence, Italy. To begin with, it does seem as though it is just your typical 'rom-com' type show. It has a stunning, romantic score behind it with the most talented cast perfectly performing through each song in it's own right. It follows the story of a boy and girl meeting and falling in love but, as with any love story, it does not run smoothly with misunderstandings and obstacles standing the way of the two being together.
Dove Cameron plays Clara, a young girl on holiday with her mother Margaret Johnson played by Renee Fleming. Mrs Johnson makes hints that Clara is not like other girls her age and we later learn this was due to an accident Clara had aged 12 leading her to have learning difficulties and a more child-like innocence. The interactions between Clara and Fabrizio, played by Rob Houchen make for beautiful scenes as their love grows and the language barrier never being a problem which is explored through song.
Songs:
As I previously mentioned, The Light in the Piazza has a truly stunning score with the opening number "Statues and Stories" setting the joyful scene with some well timed comedic notes.
Clara's first solo song "The Beauty Is" is potentially one of my favourite songs from the score. It reflects Clara's optimism and innocence and is so beautifully sung by Dove who truly has a beautiful and almost angelic like voice.
Next up, "Il Mondo Era Vuoto" - this is sung by Rob and done so perfectly in Italian. This is the audiences first opportunity to hear his powerful tenor range and done brilliantly, in my opinion, Rob can sing pretty much anything and everything.
Renee does an outstanding job as Clara's mother and has some brilliantly done one liners. Her voice ranges from powerful tones, to more soft and gentle tones to coincide with the scenes perfectly.
Passegiatta is another of my favourite songs. It's beautifully written with Fabrizio asking Clara to walk the streets of Florence with him. With lyrics saying "come with me, walk with me in the place that I know" and "walk with me in the place that I live from a child" it's hard not to fall in love with the wonderful simplicity of the lyrics during this song.
Rob, Liam Tamne who plays Guiseppe - Fabrizio's brother and Alex Jennings who plays Signor Naccerelli, the boys father, make up a clever, light-hearted humerous trio especially during "Aiutami" in act 2 in which we see an Italian family argument with Fabrizio unsure what to do, this song also features the ever amazing Celinde Schoenmaker as Franca, Guiseppe's wife.
Another personal favourite song is "Say it Somehow" which is sung by Dove and Rob (Clara and Fabrizio) and is their way of telling each other to express their feelings in a way they'd both understand. It perfectly captures the love between the characters and highlights just how well Dove and Rob's voices compliment one another with some beautiful harmonies merging together effortlessly.
"The Light in the Piazza" shows off Dove's angelic vocals once again as she fills the audience with another beautiful song with "Love To Me" being a love song sung by Rob after Clara has expressed to Fabrizio there's something wrong with her and she isn't quite "normal", however he proves this doesn't phase him during this song as he only sees her positive qualities.
There are plenty of other songs which I haven't mentioned during this as i've picked out a few to give you an idea on the song/music style and if you haven't already, i'd highly recommend checking out the soundtrack and I guarantee you'll fall in love with it just as much as I have.
In conclusion, The Light in the Piazza is an incredible piece of theatre with the most beautiful score and I honestly can't express enough through words just how good it is. It's not a show i'd come across until recently, but I am so pleased it came about and came to London as short a run as it may have been. It had the most wonderfully, talented cast shining throughout from start-finish and as a lover of going to the theatre, there's one thing I absolutely love seeing and that's the cast enjoying themselves and the show they are doing and that certainly has shown within this cast. Going on the audience reaction from the show I saw and the responses i've seen on social media, i'm sure this won't be the last we see of The Light in the Piazza and i'll patiently await the day it hopefully returns to London and i'd highly recommend anyone checking it out if and when the day comes.
Thank you for reading, i've really enjoyed writing this post and i'd definitely love to do more of this in the future. I hope you enjoyed and hopefully i'll be back soon with another post!
Beki x
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