http://www.mooneyontheatre.com/2010/02/the-light-in-the-piazza-acting-up-stage-company/ Megan Mooney writes, thinks, and informs about Theatre Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:41:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://www.mooneyontheatre.com/2010/02/the-light-in-the-piazza-acting-up-stage-company/comment-page-1/#comment-7897 adam Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:44:20 +0000 http://www.mooneyontheatre.com/?p=2347#comment-7897 ... the show opens with an instrumental number, and the first thing we hear is a sustained soprano note, maybe alluding, structurally and aurally, to opera as a source/ so that might be -- and this just speculation of course -- why this show doesn't resemble a modern musical ... the setting -- italy -- also might be an allusion to opera. ... the most striking resemblance to opera though, is the depiction of the female protagonist; strong female characters in opera are often depicted as "crazy" and uncontrollable ... using opera to frame story expectations, which seems to be the main sticking point you had with the show, instead of the modern american musical, i think this show does a pretty good job of adhering to old conventions while using relatively contemporary material ... all that said, if, just on its own merits, it's not enjoyable, none of the re-analysis and interpretation matters i guess … the show opens with an instrumental number, and the first thing we hear is a sustained soprano note, maybe alluding, structurally and aurally, to opera as a source/ so that might be — and this just speculation of course — why this show doesn’t resemble a modern musical … the setting — italy — also might be an allusion to opera. … the most striking resemblance to opera though, is the depiction of the female protagonist; strong female characters in opera are often depicted as “crazy” and uncontrollable … using opera to frame story expectations, which seems to be the main sticking point you had with the show, instead of the modern american musical, i think this show does a pretty good job of adhering to old conventions while using relatively contemporary material … all that said, if, just on its own merits, it’s not enjoyable, none of the re-analysis and interpretation matters i guess

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