Tour Dates Announced for Light in the Piazza with Christine Andreas

By Andrew Gans
and Kenneth Jones
June 19, 2006

Tour dates have been announced for the upcoming national tour of The Light in the Piazza, which will star two-time Tony nominee Christine Andreas in the lead role of Margaret Johnson.

According to Andreas' official website, the tour dates for the Adam Guettel-Craig Lucas musical follow.

Aug. 1-27 at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, CA
Sept. 5-17 at the Procter & Gamble Hall at the Aronoff Center for the Arts in Cincinnati, OH
Sept. 19-24 at the Bob Car PAC at the Orlando Centroplex in Orlando, FL
Sept. 26-Oct. 1 at the Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Miami PAC in Miami, FL
Oct. 3-8 at the Carol Morsani Hall at the Tampa Bay PAC in Tampa, FL
Oct. 10-15 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA
Oct. 31-Dec. 10 at the Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center in Los Angeles, CA
Dec. 19-Jan. 7, 2007 at the Opera House at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Jan. 9-14 at the Civic Center in Des Moines, IA
Jan. 16-28 at the Palace Theatre at the Playhouse Square Center in Cleveland, OH
Jan. 30-Feb. 11 at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, MO
Feb. 13-18 at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium in Raleigh, NC
Feb. 20-25 at the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts in Pittsburgh, PA
Feb. 27-March 4 at the Hershey Theatre in Hershey PA
March 6-11 at the Boyd Theatre in Philadelphia, PA
March 13-18 at the Palace Theatre in Columbus, OH
March 20-25 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN
April 10-15 at the Keller Auditorium in Portland, OR
April 17-29 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, WA
May 1-13 at the Segerstrom Hall at the Orange County PAC in Costa Mesa, CA
May 15-20 at the Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ
May 29-June 9 at the Colonial Theatre in Boston, MA
June 13-24 at the Community Center Theatre in Sacramento, CA

The lush, romantic, soulful musical has a book by Craig Lucas, based on the novella by Elizabeth Spencer, and music and lyrics by Adam Guettel (he won the 2005 Tony for Best Score and shared the Best Orchestrations Tony). Bartlett Sher directs, and the original design team will re-imagine the scenic elements for proscenium houses on the tour (the Beaumont is a modified thrust space with acres of depth, a luxury rare on the road).

Full casting for the tour has not been officially announced, but some members of the current company are expected to appear in the national tour. Elena Shaddow, seen on Broadway in The Woman in White, will play the role of Clara, according to the actress' website.

The Light in the Piazza tells the 1950s-set story of a North Carolina mother, Margaret, on holiday in Italy with her sensitive daughter, Clara. Margaret searches her heart when Clara falls in love with an Italian boy, Fabrizio, in Florence. Themes of parental responsibility, letting go, holding on, the nature of marital love and the joy of true love percolate like espresso in the rarefied romantic musical.

The Broadway production of Piazza — starring Tony Award winner Victoria Clark — will end its run at the Beaumont July 2.