A Note from the Director

Hi everyone!

I'm incredibly excited to share The Light in the Piazza with all of you at beginning Thursday. As the proud director of this production I can tell you that the show is absolutely beautiful, the music is gorgeous (written by the grandson of Richard Rodgers of Rodgers and Hammerstein, and winning the Tony Award for Best Original Score), and the cast that The Encore has assembled is top notch!

The Light in the Piazza takes place in Italy in the summer of 1953. Margaret Johnson (Broadway's Barbara Scanlon), the wife of an American businessman, is touring the Tuscan countryside with her daughter, Clara (Chicago's Stephanie Souza). While sightseeing, Clara — a beautiful, surprisingly childish young woman — loses her hat in a sudden gust. As if guided by an unseen hand, the hat lands at the feet of Fabrizio Naccarelli (University of Michigan student Brian L. Giebler), a handsome Florentine, who returns it to Clara. This brief episode, charged with coincidence and fate, sparks an immediate and intense romance between Clara and Fabrizio while Margaret, extremely protective of her daughter, attempts to keep Clara and Fabrizio apart.

As The Light in the Piazza unfolds, a secret is revealed: in addition to the cultural differences between the young lovers, Clara is not quite all that she appears. Unable to suppress the truth about her daughter, Margaret is forced to reconsider not only Clara's future, but her own hopes as well.

Because I'm like a kid on Christmas morning and just can't wait to show all of you this show, check out the short preview video I've put together for you!

Enjoy, and see you at The Light in the Piazza at The Encore!

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