Tuesday, September 27, 2011

I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.
Oscar Wilde


Guest Blog: Rebecca Anne Stewart, 14
Review of The Night at the Piazza, performance, Sept 27, 2011

Samantha Hill & Rebecca Stewart

Like my mother, I have never been a true fan of musicals. It could be because the first musical I saw was the ever so raved about Mama Mia! where even Meryl Streep and Colin Firth could not save the movie. Something about The Light In The Piazza made me change my mind about musicals. It was so realistic in the sense that I could put myself in the position of Clara, portrayed by the delicate Elfin-like Samantha Hill. Samantha perfectly demonstrated the maturing of Clara, turning from a sweet, innocent mummy's girl to a girl who realized the importance of freedom and finding her voice.

What really stole the show was the performance by Katey Wright, who played Clara's neurotic and over-protective mother. Her performance was relatable because I too have problems with over protective family members. Though Miss Wright's character was over protective, you could see that she was a mother who only wanted what's best for her daughter and struggled with problems between her and her husband. The last song (Fable) Miss Wright sang made my eyes well up with tears. She sang about letting her daughter go and trusting she would make the right decisions. I think that night at that moment I saw the future, and what I could expect. Like reading a book I was lost in the moment not waking up until the long thundering claps broke throughout the theatre.

Her grandfather's (69) review of  The Light in the Piazza  which runs until October 9.