The Light in the Piazza to premiere at London’s Southbank Centre next year
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Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels
(Updated on Jan 4, 2019)
The Light in the Piazza is making its way to the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre in London next summer and is set to star famed opera singer and soprano Renée Fleming.
A sudden gust of fate sends Clara's hat flying before landing at the feet of her handsome love interest, Fabrizio Naccarelli. Dubbed "The Hat of the Piazza," it serves as the iconography for the show.
The Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas musical, The Light in the Piazza, will receive its London premiere next June at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre. The show is to be directed by Daniel Evans, Artistic Director for the Chichester Festival Theatre and will star both Dove Cameron of Disney’s Descendants and renowned opera star Renée Fleming, who is currently portraying Nettie Fowler in Carousel on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre, which earned her a Tony Award nomination. The UK production will boast a live 40-piece symphony orchestra.
The Light in the Piazza is set in the romantic city of Florence and follows mother and daughter Margaret and Clara Johnson on their Italian holiday getaway. But when Clara falls head over heels for a local Fiorentino named Fabrizio, she realises that she can’t keep her biggest secret from him forever. And as their budding romance starts getting serious, Margaret comes to terms with the fact that her daughter is all grown up and she must fight to give her daughter the happiness she deserves.
Following its 2003 Seattle premiere, The Light in the Piazza opened on Broadway in 2005 to rave reviews and won a Tony Award for Best Original Score. Based on Elizabeth Spencer’s 1960 novella and featuring a blend of opera and classical music, The Light in the Piazza was unlike any other Broadway show at the time of its run.
Renée Fleming is a world-renowned American soprano capable of performing in Italian, German, Czech, French and Russian, aside from English. She has lent her voice worldwide to such operas as Le nozze di Figaro and La traviata and performed at the Last Night of the Proms in London back in 2010.
Dove Cameron is perhaps best-known for starring in the Disney Channel’s Liv and Maddie as well as in the musical fantasy Descendants films. Her stage credits include an off-Broadway production of Clueless: The Musical and the role of Sophie Sheridan in the Hollywood stage production of Mamma Mia!.
The Light in the Piazza opens on 14 June 2019 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre and is booking until 5 July 2019. Official opening is scheduled for 18 June 2019. Don’t miss this UK premiere of The Light in the Piazza next summer starring one of the world’s most renowned opera singers Renée Fleming!
Purchase your tickets to The Light in the Piazza at Southbank Centre, London.