CDs: Italian Holidays
Based on a lovely short story by Elizabeth Spencer that was made into an enjoyable '60s film, Lincoln Center Theater's The Light in the Piazza did quite well in recent awards competitions, earning more Tonys than any of last season's other shows. What the show didn't manage to do was to take a single best-musical prize, and that was perhaps to be expected, as The Light in the Piazza tells an emotionally delicate story and possesses the most complex score of any Broadway musical in recent years.
Composer-lyricist Adam Guettel could easily find work as the writer of contemporary American operas. His songs often lack conventional structure and hummable melodies, and his music can shift in unexpected ways. In The Light in the Piazza, "The Joy You Feel," the song for Franca Sarah Uriarte Berry, soon to be the sister-in-law of young bride-to-be Clara Kelli O'Hara, is pure modern opera. And a number called "Octet" similarly qualifies.
Indeed, the score for The Light in the Piazza may be best enjoyed by those with an interest in full-blown opera. One of its attractions is no less than four soprano principals. While the show is almost half dialogue, it's entirely possible that Piazza will be picked up for production by opera companies. It may also be the case that Guettel's work is unlikely ever to find a wide audience in the theatre, although it's a good sign that Piazza has been extended at the Vivian Beaumont to January 1.
As one who was not a fan of Guettel's previous musical-theatre works, Floyd Collins and Saturn Returns/Myths and Hymns, I am happy to report that I find Piazza the season's most intriguing musical, and its score consistently handsome and accomplished. For the most part, Guettel's lush music and poetic lyrics beautifully embody Spencer's people and themes, and sustain just the right heady atmosphere for this tale of an American mother and daughter travelling in 1950s Florence.
For all of the score's difficulty, it's possible to extract a number of items that qualify as readily accessible. The mother-daughter opener, "Statues and Stories," immediately sweeps us into the sights and sounds of an alien culture. Mentally impaired daughter Clara has fine arias in "The Beauty Is" and the title number. Young romantic hero Fabrizio Matthew Morrison has the attractive waltz "Passeggiata," the near-closing aria "Love to Me," and shares with Clara the love duet "Say It Somehow," that concludes the first act.
But perhaps most rewarding are the numbers Guettel has fashioned for mother Margaret Victoria Clark, torn between protecting her fragile daughter and learning to let go. In addition to a duet with Fabrizio's father Mark Harelik called "Let's Walk," Margaret has a pair of superb arias in "Dividing Day" her realization of the shortcomings of her own marriage and, best of all, the thrilling closing, "Fable."
The cast is faultless. One of our most gifted musical-theatre performers, Victoria Clark has for too long gone unsung. So as one who cheered her work in Titanic and found her to be the best thing in the 1995 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, I am delighted with Clark's Piazza triumph. Also vocally ravishing is O'Hara's enchanted Clara. And there are grand contributions by Morrison, Harelik, Berry, and Patti Cohenour. Playing Fabrizio's mother, the latter's breaking of the fourth wall in the number "Aiutami" is, I believe, one of the show's missteps.
The recording includes a longer version of the overture than the one heard at the Vivian Beaumont. And, in addition to an augmented orchestra of twenty-five playing the rich Guettel/Ted Sperling/Bruce Coughlin orchestrations, Nonesuch has given Piazza its customarily grand treatment, even if one may be surprised that the slipcase and booklet cover do not feature the Lincoln Center Theater show logo. Frank Rich has contributed an enthusiastic essay of appreciation, and the lyrics helpfully translate the score's passages "Il Mondo Era Vuoto" that were written in Italian.
Of course, Piazza loses something on disc, without its exquisite physical production and without Craig Lucas's book, in which characters like Fabrizio's father get more development than they do in the score. Clara's songless father is present only in the dialogue. But the recording quite properly focuses on Guettel's songs, and they reward repeat listenings.
VACANZE ROMANE GDM
The 1953 Paramount film hit Roman Holiday concerns a princess, heiress to the throne of a mythical kingdom, who wearies of the duties of state and escapes into Rome to enjoy an incognito holiday. Audrey Hepburn won an Oscar as the princess, while Gregory Peck played the reporter who got more than a story. Directed by William Wyler and with a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, Ian McLellen Hunter, and John Dighton, the film was shot in black-and-white on location in Rome.
St. Louis' Municipal Opera, or the MUNY, has staged the world premieres of several musicals based on movies, including White Christmas, Three Coins in the Fountain, and a recent Breakfast at Tiffany's. In 2001, the Muny presented the world premiere of Roman Holiday, with a book by Paul Blake based on the screenplay, and songs by Cole Porter. It starred Jeff McCarthy, Catherine Brunell, Jim Walton, Karen Morrow, and Priscilla Lopez, and included seventeen Porter songs. For the record, they were "Wouldn't It Be Fun?," "Experiment," "Why Shouldn't I?," "How's Your Romance," "At Long Last Love," "Let's Be Buddies," "Ridin' High," "That Black and White Baby of Mine," "Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love," "Night and Day," "A Picture of Me Without You," "Use Your Imagination," "Begin the Beguine," "Easy to Love," "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye," "I Sleep Easier Now," and "Just One of Those Things."
Just as the MUNY's White Christmas was last year picked up for further production, its Roman Holiday was picked up for a 2004 production at Rome's Teatro il Sistina, performed in Italian under the title Vacanze Romane. Blake's libretto was retained, but only five Porter numbers "Wouldn't It Be Fun?," "Why Shouldn't I?," "Begin the Beguine," "Easy to Love," "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" remained. More than a dozen new songs were added, with lyrics by Jaja Fiastri and music by Armando Trovajoli, composer of the most celebrated Italian musical, Rugantino, as well as the Marcello Mastroianni/Valentino vehicle, Ciao, Rudy. Co-produced by Clear Channel Entertainment, Vacanze Romane was directed by Pietro Garinei, of the team often dubbed Italy's Rodgers and Hammerstein, Garinei and Giovannini.
The live cast recording of Vacanze Romane was made on February 16, 2004, and the CD reveals that a number of the new songs "È Amore Quando," "La Mia Favola," "Io con Lei," "I Romani," "Roma Mia" are quite catchy and attractive.
With so many pleasing new songs, one wonders why it was necessary to retain the Porter numbers, particularly as they don't really fit with the rest of the score, which has more of a pop sound. In any case, Massimo Ghini and Serena Autieri sound good as the reporter and the princess, and this is one of the better foreign-language cast albums of late.