I was one of the fortunate people who got to see the> show (THE LIGHT ON THE PIAZZA)in New York, and
> again last night. After seeing the NYC production I
> told people the show was "stunningly beautiful", and the performances, especially Victoria Clark and Kelli O'Hara, were incredible.
>
> My wife did not see the New York production, and
> didn't understand what I saw in the show. She was mostly bored, and felt that Margaret was completely lost. On the way out of the theatre I heard others who wanted to know why this show won the Tony Award for best musical, because it certainly wasn't very good. (It didn't, but it was nominated for that honor --Victoria Clark did win the Tony for Best
> Actress in a Musical.)
>
> Mr. Berko's review was accurate, because the beauty of the show was mostly
> lost in last night's performance. I fear much of that was because of the
> understudy not having the range to portray a role as complicated as
> Margaret. I can say that I love the song "Dividing Day", because of its
> complicated message of love somewhere lost, and I barely recognized it last
> night.
>
> The show requires the woman playing Margaret to have incredible range, both
> in acting and in singing. Perhaps the woman scheduled to play her has that
> range, but Ms. Brockman certainly does not. I wouldn't say that you should
> avoid the show, because it's a wonderful show, but last night was certainly
> not representative of that.
>
> Allen White
