A Florence setting helps a mother and daughter be their truest selves in ‘The Light in the Piazza'

Boston Globe

07-05-2025

On a lunch break from rehearsals,
'It's an internal tug of war between her own knowledge, practicality, and reason, and wanting to ferociously protect Clara from any potential hurt. But then her heart is saying, 'Look at her. She's a completely different human and blossoming into her truest self.' And so how can Margaret deny that?,' Greco explains. 'So it's a heart versus reason struggle, and [Margaret] is caught trying to navigate that. And this is where she realizes that suddenly Fabrizio has replaced her as Clara's lifeline.'
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This rare revival of the musical was on the top of Greco's wish list when she took over as artistic director at the Huntington in 2022. She first saw 'The Light in the Piazza,' featuring music and lyrics by Adam Guettel and a book by Boston University alum
'[The show] is trying to get at some of the most complicated, deep pings and pangs going on inside of each of us.'
'Piazza' is the first musical Greco has ever directed, having focused on new play development for much of her career. When she arrived at the Huntington, she thought, 'What are the things I haven't done that scare the [expletive] out of me? I wanted to do a big ass musical, and this one spoke to me as a great piece of drama. And I am shaking in my boots every day. I've been directing for a long time, but this is a whole other beast.'
From left, director Loretta Greco and assistant director Alexandra Dietrich during rehearsal for "The Light in the Piazza" at the Huntington Theatre.
Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
The scene when Margaret senses Clara's growing feelings for Fabrizio unfolds, over tea, inside the home of Fabrizio's elegant Italian parents, Signor (William Michals) and Signora Naccarelli (Rebecca Pitcher), who are joined by their eldest son, the wayward Giuseppe (Alexander Ross), and his stylish, hot-blooded wife, Franca (Rebekah Rae Robles). The family, who own a clothing shop, are charmed by Clara and enthusiastic about the match, but unaware of Clara's disability.
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'It's like meet-the-parents night. Margaret wants to share enough of the secret about Clara so that she can end this charade,' Greco says. 'But she sees how happy and natural Clara and Fabrizio are together. So she doesn't quite know how to do that.'
When Clara and Fabrizio first get stars in their eyes, a skeptical Margaret discourages the romance. She's always agreed with her husband, Roy, back home in North Carolina, to shield their daughter from pain and heartache, because her cognitive abilities and emotional regulation were hampered by a brain injury she suffered when she was 12. But she's privately yearned for Clara to have an independent and full life.
As Clara and Margaret get swept up in Florence's intoxicating swirl of art, history, and romance, Clara begins to discover herself and find independence, while Margaret's perspective shifts.
'There's a toggling that Margaret does. She's watching her deepest, most passionate hopes for Clara come to fruition.
But
her sole identity has been tied to being Clara's caretaker, mother, helpmate, best friend, and companion.'
Indeed, the mother-daughter story resonates for Greco in particular, as the parent of a now young-adult daughter. 'It is the plight of every mother — when your daughter starts to step into their womanhood and find their autonomy — to suddenly see your role and purpose and impact be replaced with friends, lovers, and others.'
Skinner, who has starred in musicals like 'Side Show' and 'Suffs' on Broadway, has forged a deeply personal connection with Margaret. 'I think of my grandmother constantly. I really know this person and what she's grown up with, the sort of protocol of decorum that she's learned how to go through life with.'
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Margaret begins to grapple with the state of her own withered marriage while watching young love flourish. 'I think there's something about seeing them together that I'm sure makes her reflect on her own life,' Skinner says.
Greco says they've been looking at Clara's different way of looking at the world as a 'superpower.' 'What's refreshing is that Clara says exactly what she's feeling and thinking in real time. She has no cynicism, is full of questions, and has an appetite that is voracious.'
When she meets Fabrizio for the first time, he's drawn to 'her wonder, her curiosity, her appetite for life, and that's part of what excites and inspires him.'
The setting in Florence, considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, is key to Clara's sexual and emotional awakening. 'She's feeling for the first time that she belongs somewhere,' Martinez says. 'All the puzzle pieces are coming together and the gears are shifting. She's blossoming into the woman that neither she nor her mother nor the doctors ever knew she could be.'
For inspiration, Greco and scenic designer Andrew Boyce looked at Florentine architecture and Renaissance artwork and sculpture, but it's not a literal interpretation. 'It goes for those big, evocative feelings and big strokes of visceral impact,' Greco says.
At the center of the stage is a revolving turntable, which Greco says 'seeds' the theme of 'life's fluidity … of Florence swirling around [the characters] … and the passeggiata, the ritual of Italians to walk in a circle at sunset in the parks and the piazzas.'
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Ultimately, Greco hopes the musical reminds audiences to embrace risk-taking and not fear uncertainty. 'We can't grow if we aren't taking risks in life,' she says. 'Reason has to flow through the heart for us to be our most balanced, truest selves, and I think that the world could use a lot more recalibration in terms of our hearts.'
'We really see Margaret grow and change,' she concludes. 'She's a woman of a certain age who has to figure out a way to let her heart win and set her most prized possession free. It's a killer!'
THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA
Presented by the Huntington. At Huntington Theatre, May 8-June 15. Tickets from $29. 617-266-0800,