• Advertise
  • Request Review
  • Write for Us
  • Privacy
  • Login

Theatre Bubble

The UK Theatre Network

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Features
  • Spotlight
  • Opinions
  • Interviews
  • Guides
  • Ed Fringe

The Light in the Piazza at the Southbank Centre

June 24, 2019 by Antonia Windsor Leave a Comment

Review of: The Light in the Piazza
Musical:
Antonia Windsor
Price:
£20-£150

Reviewed by: Antonia Windsor
Rating:
4
On June 24, 2019
Last modified:June 24, 2019

Summary:

A charming summery musical set in Florence in the 1950s with Dove Cameron making her West End debut

More Details

The Light in the Piazza is a charming musical heralding the start of summer at the Southbank Centre. Set in Florence in the 1950s the story follows an American mother Margaret, played by the incredible singer Renée Fleming, and her ingenue daughter Clara, played by Dove Cameron. Both women are making their West End debuts and seem to be loving every minute.

Dove Cameron and Rob Houchen in The Light in the Piazza at the Southbank Centre. Photo: Dewynters

Dove Cameron and Rob Houchen in The Light in the Piazza at the Southbank Centre. Photo: Dewynters

The show starts with Margaret and Clara sightseeing in a sunny piazza. A retro vespa passes to reinforce the  the 1950s setting, which is largely created by the historical exactitude of Brigitte Reiffenstuel’s exquisite costumes. A gust of wind blows Clara’s hat off and it lands in the hands of a young Italian boy, Fabrizio, played with great earnestness by Rob Houchen. It is love at first sight for the pair. But the women must navigate the tight-knit Italian family, headed up by Alex Jennings who is completely captivating in his role of Fabrizio’s father. Also providing welcome light-relief are Liam Tamne as Fabrizio’s tearaway brother and Cleinde Schoenmaker as his fiery wife. The stage lights up when they are on it and Tamne’s short burst of dance didn’t go on long enough!

The musical score, which mixes light opera with flashes of Broadway and pop, is deftly played by the 40-strong orchestra of Opera North, filling the large auditorium of the Royal Festival Hall with Adam Guettel’s uplifting composition. Guettel won two Tony’s for the musical when it opened on Broadway in 2005: Best Original Score and Best Composition.

The book, by Craig Lucas, is at times a little overly wordy, with long passages read from a guidebook quite hard to follow.

The story is made interesting by the revelation that Clara has learning difficulties as a result of an accident, which her mother tries to hide from her prospective new family; although we never really see Clara as anything other than an impressionable young woman, leading the audience to question whether she really is as damaged as her parents believe.

The singing is excellent throughout, although no song is catchy enough to be humming it on the train home.

 

The Light in the Piazza runs at the Southbank Centre until July 5th. Tickets are available here.

Avatar

Author: Antonia Windsor

Filed Under: Review Tagged With: Musical, Theatre, west end

Join the discussion Cancel reply

NEWS / Living Record Festival of digital arts announces programme

Living Record Festival is a month-long Digital Arts Festival curating and presenting over 40 original pieces from a range of [Read More]

INTERVIEW / Open Bar on A ChristMESS CAROL

Tell us about Open Bar Theatre and also how you came about and how the name came about. OBT: Open Bar [Read More]

NEWS / Ayomide Adegun awarded The Luke Westlake Scholarship 2020

22 year old South Londoner Ayomide Adegun is currently in his 2nd year of the BA Acting course at Royal [Read More]

NEWS / Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels announced

A new play repurposed for online viewing from the creative team behind Scrounger, and the first of the Finborough Theatre’s [Read More]

NEWS / Crimes Against Christmas becomes an audio advent calendar

Typically at this time of year theatre company New Old Friends would have just finished an Autumn tour and be [Read More]

Top Posts & Pages

  • 10 Tips to Help You Prepare for Your Reality TV Auditions
  • 5 Stage Elements to Consider for a Rousing Theatrical Production
  • Writing the Perfect Press Release
  • Katy Owen: Auditioning for Oxford School of Drama
  • Too High, Too Far, Too Soon- Tristan Bates Theatre
  • Yasmin Paige on Actually
  • Katy Owen: How to Apply to Drama Schools*
  • Interview with Victor Oshin, playing Othello with ETT
  • Living Record Festival of digital arts announces programme
  • A Streetcar Named Desire- A cry of pain- Young Vic
  • Avatar

    Antonia Windsor
    Author

  • June 24th, 2019
  • comment iconNo Comments
  • FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail

    Newsletter

    Enjoyed what you've read? Get even more great content directly to your inbox - Completely Free

    About Theatre Bubble

    Theatre Bubble is the news, review and blogging site created by Blue Pie Media and run by a dedicated team of outstanding editors and writers: we're always looking for new contributors - to find out more click here.

    Contact Us

    News: news@theatrebubble.com
    Reviews: reviews@theatrebubble.com
    Website: webmaster@theatrebubble.com

    Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2021 · Blue Pie Media

    Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

    Email sent!