Intiman's artistic director Bartlett Sher takes the helm for the Windy City run slated for Jan. 10-Feb. 15, 2004. Lucas had directed the Seattle run.

Steven Pasquale (A Man of No Importance) and Kelli O'Hara (My Life with Albertine), who performed in Seattle, will not appear in the musical again due to scheduling conflicts. Pasquale is set to begin shooting a new FX firefighter drama "Rescue Me" starring Denis Leary. A spokesperson for O'Hara said the actress may rejoin the cast for possible future stagings.

The Light in the Piazza is a love story between a young American woman and a young Italian man. When the young woman's mother learns of the affair, she opposes it for seemingly unknown reasons. Based on the 1960 novella by Elizabeth Spencer, the musical is set in Florence and Rome in the summer of 1953.

The world premiere of The Light in the Piazza, featuring music and lyrics by Guettel (Floyd Collins) and book by Lucas (The Dying Gaul, Prelude to a Kiss), played May 31-July 19 at the Intiman. The staging was presented in association with Goodman Theatre.

Guettel told Playbill On-Line (June, 2003) that he had the impulse to do a love story for a long time and finally found the inspiration in the Elizabeth Spencer novella of the same title. "The great thing about the original novella, which is so craftily done, is she withholds a lot of stuff and... the most present feeling of the storytelling is what she doesn't say, which is a challenge [to adapt]."

Tickets to The Light in the Piazza at the Goodman, 170 N. Dearborn in Chicago, IL, can be purchased by calling (312) 443-3800 or online at www.goodman-theatre.org.