Originally Published: 2010-02-07

Jeff Lillico & Jacquelyn French in The Light In The Piazza. Photographer: Joanna McDermott.

Love is a crazy thing. Sometimes extraordinarily sweet, other times painfully bitter. Love in all its many forms is at the core of The Light in the Piazza. The story focuses on Clara, a 26-year-old American woman with the mental and emotional capacity of a 12-year-old. In the spring of 1953, Clara travels with her mother to Florence, Italy for a vacation. And it’s there that Clara meets and falls in love with a young Italian man named Fabrizio.
The encounter happens magically and mysteriously in keeping with the allure that only Florence could provide — while mother and daughter take a tour of the city square (the piazza of the show’s title), a breeze carries Clara’s hat off her head and across the square where Fabrizio somehow manages to catch it. When he returns it to its rightful owner, it’s, well, magic.
Clara doesn’t speak Italian; Fabrizio barely speaks English. Clara was raised in America; Fabrizio has never stepped outside of Italy. And while they come from two different worlds, they find a connection despite their differences.
In one scene, Fabrizio (Jeff Lillico) is desperately struggling to find the words to explain to Clara what he feels for her. He becomes frustrated and tongue-tied. Clara (Jacquelyn French) assures him, “I always understand.”
Later on, Clara asks him to marry her. Fabrizio (strongly entrenched in the mores and values of ’50s Italy) tells her that it’s his duty as the man to ask her for her hand in marriage. He does so, and needless to say, Clara accepts, much to the delight of the audience.
French’s and Lillico’s voices blend seamlessly together during their songs, and their onscreen chemistry is apparent.
French takes on her role with gusto, delivering a performance that reveals a young woman who is sweet and tender, and then surprisingly strong and determined.
This is evident when her newfound love with Fabrizio causes her mother to try to hold her daughter back, worried that she will not be able to lead a normal life.

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