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 Metropolitan Ensemble Theater's (MET) 5^th season final play (or in this case, musical), The Light in the Piazza, opened last Thursday to a reportedly packed house - as was the Friday night performance that this reviewer attended.

Adapted from Elizabeth Spencer's 1960 novella of the same name, MET artistic director Karen Paisley takes center stage as Margaret Johnson, a 1950s mother thrust into "protective mode" when her simple and naïve daughter falls in love with a local boy while vacationing in Italy. Izzie Baldwin plays the daughter, Clara, and Sam Wright plays the local boy, Fabrizio Naccarelli. Rounding out the main cast is Fabrizio's family - father Signor Naccarelli played by Robert Gibby Brand; mother Signora Naccarelli played by Sarah Kleeman; brother Giuseppe played by Michael Dragen; and sister-in-law Franca played by Natalie Liccardello. Real life husband John Robert Paisley has two small scenes as Margaret's husband, Roy. The play takes place in the summer of 1953, mostly in Florence, with a few scenes in Rome. John Staniunas directed.

From here forward, this review is essentially about babies and bath water and my attempt not to throw out the latter at the expense of the former, because for me what this production boiled down to was a valiant attempt by MET to overcome a mediocre work. This statement alone would apparently put me in the minority, given the accolades the play and its writer/composer (Adam Guettel, a protégé of Stephen Sondheim, no less) received on Broadway, including two Tony Awards.

During its Broadway years, however, there were some notable criticisms with which I wholeheartedly agree, Village Voice noting "considerable shortcomings" and The New York Times citing it as "encouragingly ambitious and discouragingly unfulfilled..." Personally, I found most of the music to be rather contrived and formulaic, and some of the writing (the first Octet in Act II, Scene 3, for example) to be downright sloppy. If analyzed purely as a "classical" operatic work, rather than as a traditional Broadway work - a fair analysis, as the former is clearly what Guettel was going for - I would give the music a "D" and the libretto, generously, a "C+". There is a small degree of salvation in a few nicely-crafted songs and, specific to the MET's endeavor, in particular due in large part to the artistic and vocal chemistry between Baldwin's Clara and Wright's Fabrizio - especially in Wright's Il Mondo Era Vuoto, the duets Passeggiata and Say It Somehow, and Baldwin's The Light in the Piazza.

The play's plot line is, admittedly, rather intriguing and unique. Clara, we learn only towards the very end, is 26, but (we learn this much earlier) her mental end emotional development was traumatically muted at age 12 when she was kicked in the head by a birthday party pony that her parents rented. The result is a simple and very child-like woman - literally a girl in a woman's body. Baldwin does a nice job of balancing those two dynamics, often navigating back-and-forth within a single scene. What she reveals is an adult woman with a maturity and intellectual level advanced enough to know that "something's not right" within the context of a girl who still reacts and responds much like one would expect of, as they call them these days, a "pre-teen."

Wright's Fabrizio is equally naïve but in a far more natural way (thankfully, no adolescent equine trauma for him). Again we learn only towards the end that he is barely 20, without much experience with women - of any age - and his love-struck fascination upon first laying eyes on Clara is portrayed with endearing warmth and sincerity. Having seen (and liked) Wright in "Seascape" I was again impressed with his dramatic range and his excellent tenor.

Karen Paisley held her own as Margaret Johnson - my only real criticism being a selfish one:  of all the roles she chose to step into this season I'd have picked a different one ("Nancy" in Seascape comes to mind), as I'm not sure this one was best suited to her. Her vocal work was strong in spots (particularly in Dividing Day), but a tad pitchy in others. Here again, I didn't come away with the sense that the musical genre is her best suit.

Set Design (Delores Ringer) reflected MET's typical and tasteful sparseness, with a good use of the space. Moveable "marble" columns were used for mood/scene changes; three "indoor" scenes included the Naccarelli's tie shop, home, and the Johnson's hotel room. Sound Design (Donna Miller) was pretty good, overall, although I found the singers over-mic'd at times. Costumes (Atif Rome) were beautiful.

In its totality the work has a nice theme and, especially when viewed from a 21^st century sensibility, makes a touching statement about the limitations - but, more importantly, the capabilities - of the cognitively disabled. Clara is slow, but not stupid (she quickly learns Italian in order to better communicate with Fabrizio); naïve, but not gullible (she steadfastly challenges her mother's attempts to thwart the romance due to her "problem"); child-like, but maturely insightful (she correctly points out, to her mother's horrified astonishment, that her husband - Roy - doesn't love her...and probably never did).

I think what makes this particular presentation enjoyable enough to recommend is, first and foremost, MET's impeccable (and well-deserved) reputation, and - as I've said many times about other productions - casting, in particular that of Baldwin and Wright. The light in the piazza, it turns out, is Clara - illuminating the realities of romance and true love, and making a bold statement for all those who may be similarly underestimated - in any society, in any era - due to physical or mental shortcomings.

And to that, I will always say...Brava...

 REVIEW:
Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre      
The Light in the Piazza
Music & Lyrics by Adam Guettel
Book by Craig Lucas
Directed by John Staniunas
Runs May 20 - June 6 (Reviewed Friday, May 21)
MetSpace
3614 Main Street, Kansas City, MO  64111
For tickets call 816-569-3226 or online at www.metkc.org


Cover Photo: Karen Paisley as Margaret Johnson and Izzie Baldwin as daughter, Clara. Photo by Bob Paisley

By Christopher Guerin

Traditional and New Classical music, and Theatre Contributor (Past writer)
Christopher Guerin holds degrees in Music Education, Music Business, and Music Theory & Composition, the latter from the University of Massachusetts (Lowell) College of Music where he co-founded the college's Composers' Guild, and, in 1985, won the Artin Arslanian Composition Award. During college, he also obtained some musical theatre experience as a member of pit orchestras for Threepenny Opera and My Fair Lady. Since 1989, Christopher has been in the very non-artistic corporate sector, where his creative energies have been put to more mundane endeavors 

Christopher credits his musical motivations to his late father, who was concertmaster of the Springfield (MA) Community (pre-cursor to the city's current Symphony) Orchestra and performed popular music on radio in the 1930s. Christopher began his classical training in 1972 at age 10, began teaching at 16 (continuing to take private students throughout college), and traveled extensively with a youth orchestra - including to New Zealand in 1980. After college, and until 1989, Christopher focused on the business end of music as a successful sales manager for one of New England's largest music chains.

Over the past 20 years, Christopher's expertise has focused on medicine as a life risk underwriting officer for a large Midwest insurance group. His past duties included responsibility for risk underwriting in Pacific Rim markets where he traveled extensively to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand and Burma. Time permitting, he has continued to compose intermittently throughout this period. Christopher is married to Paula, a fellow musician he met during college, and together they have "composed" their magnum opera in three very creative children - an architecture student (go K-State!), an aspiring classical pianist, and a budding writer/journalist. He and his wife relocated from Massachusetts to the Kansas City area in 1997.