Friday, Sep 24, 2010
Westminster Music Theater will present the Tony Award winning musical The Light in the Piazza October 22 through 24 in The Playhouse on the Westminster Choir College campus in Princeton.
by Anne Sears
Westminster Music Theater will present the Tony Award winning musical The Light in the Piazza October 22 through 24 in The Playhouse on the Westminster Choir College campus in Princeton.
Performances will be Friday, October 22 and Saturday, October 23 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 24 at 3 p.m.
A haunting, lyrical, and romantic journey featuring a Tony Award winning score, The Light in the Piazza tells the story of Margaret Johnson and her daughter Clara on a trip to Florence, Italy, in the spring of 1953. Clara is immediately swept away by a handsome young Italian suitor. Margaret must then choose between her daughter’s happiness and revealing a shattering secret about Clara’s past. The Light in the Piazza is a book written by Craig Lucas with music and lyrics by Adam Guettel.
The cast is composed of students at Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts. Graduates of Westminster’s music theater program have gone on to careers on and off-Broadway. Russell Fischer, who graduated in 2008, is now appearing on Broadway in the role of Joe Pesci in the hit Jersey Boys. Matt Taylor, who graduated in 2009, is appearing as Rum Tum Tugger in the national touring company of Cats.
Rosemary Andress directs the production and Louis F. Goldberg is music director. Andress has directed at several regional sites, but works primarily in New York. She is a Lincoln Center Directors Lab Member, a David Merrick Theater Award recipient, and a Usual Suspect with New York Theatre Workshop. She attended the Andrew W. Mellon graduate directing program at the Juilliard School. Goldberg is a pianist, performer, and conductor who has conducted over 300 musical productions and has toured the United States and Europe. He has been the Musical Director for productions at the Cleveland Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse In The Park, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, and Syracuse Stage.
Admission for this performance is $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors. For tickets call 609-921-2663 or go to www.rider.edu/arts.