The Boston Globe
- Recommended
"...Martinez delivers a wonderfully subtle performance, equally convincing in communicating Clara’s condition and general innocence via bright, birdlike movements and expressions —Clara is somewhat reminiscent of Laura Wingfield in “The Glass Menagerie” — then transitioning to an explosive key for a riveting meltdown scene."
Joyce's Choices
- Highly Recommended
"...Get a ticket fast- these will not last. The Huntington has wrapped up its season by sending us off to Italy with its most elegant production yet- a stunning, full-throated, openhearted, operatic sweep of a musical, visually and vocally sumptuous! I was completely enveloped by THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA."
Stage and Cinema
- Highly Recommended
"...“You can almost hear what everyone’s feeling”—an aside delivered to the audience midway through the show—neatly sums up what is most striking about The Light in the Piazza, playing at the Huntington Theatre. The idea that emotions can transcend language is at the heart of this beautiful, heartbreaking, and heartwarming musical. As characters alternate between Italian and English at any given moment, either we the audience, the characters, or both may not understand the words being spoken or sung, and yet their meaning comes through crystal clear in the intense feeling of it all."
The Arts Fuse
- Highly Recommended
"...The cast is excellent and, for the most part, up to the challenge of singing this demanding score. Martinez, as Clara, has a real powerhouse of a voice, which is all the more striking coming from such a diminutive person. In that regard, she brings to mind Ariana Grande (there is even some resemblance between the two). Joshua Grosso (Fabrizio) has a sweet tenor voice well-suited to the penultimate song in the score, "Love to Me," a love song which somehow he is able to sing in English. One might want to complain about the implausibility of his sudden fluency in a language he did not know a few days before. But this is musical theatre, after all. Is there anything more implausible than people suddenly breaking into song in the middle of their day?"
New England Theater Mirror
- Highly Recommended
"...The production, beautifully directed by Greco, is glorious. Andrew Boyce’s sets are breathtaking and well served by Christopher Akerlind’s lighting design. Alex Jaeger’s costumes are in keeping with the time period, 1953 Italy. The lush score is operatic, and the cast rises to the occasion, thrillingly. Grosso has a gorgeous voice; his rendition of “Il Mondo Era Vuoto” is a standout. Robles, as the unhappy Franca, does a wonderful job with “The Joy You Feel”, and Martinez’s magnificent soprano is well served, particularly with The Light in the Piazza. "
The New England Theatre Geek
- Recommended
"...Altogether, this production is not unlike the paintings that Margaret admires so deeply – a feat of beauty captured inside a proscenium arch rather than a picture frame. The Light in the Piazza is a little strange, and The Huntington’s production a tad uneven, but all-in-all, it’s as moving as the city that inspired it."
METR Mag
- Highly Recommended
"...Part orchestral, part operatic, but completely unique in its joie de vivre, the musical's score by Adam Guettel is a perfectly sumptuous blend, a throwback to musicals of yesteryear, providing a dramatic and lavishly romantic mood for the musical's 1950s Italy setting."
On Boston Stages
- Highly Recommended
"...The voices are simply sublime in a lush, romantic score that will test them at every turn; Guettel's work is classical and operatic, and timid voices need not apply. Martinez's soaring soprano sets the standard for all to follow; happily, Grosso and Skinner are right there with her. Grosso, an alum of last season's "Gatsby" at ART, oozes charm with his eager-to-please broken English, and Martinez responds in kind, giving their ardor the ring of truth."
