The Light in the Piazza

July 2 - July 28, 2022

This breathtaking Tony Award-winning musical explores the life-changing thrill of first love.

The Light in the Piazza

A holiday, a secret, amore

Strong-willed Southern housewife Margaret Johnson and her charming daughter Clara vacation in Italy, summer of 1956. Margaret hopes the magic and memories of Florence will sweep her off her feet, but it’s Clara and earnest inamorato Fabrizio who fall in love at first sight. Torn from their guidebooks, mother and daughter must brave blossoming love, buried secrets and a startling cultural clash to uncover the hopeful new chapters they didn’t know they’d been searching for.

With a Tony-winning score by Adam Guettel and a Tony-nominated book by Craig Lucas, The Light in the Piazza premiered on Broadway in 2005.

The Light in the Piazza Extras:

Free Pre-performance Talks: 45 minutes prior to everhttps://centralcityopera.org/project/talkbacks/y 2022 main stage performance, with the exception of July 26. Seating is limited — arrive early.
Post-performance talk back on July 10th - Learn more >
View the digital version of the 2022 Festival Program

Contact our Box Office for more information at 303-292-6700 or boxoffice@centralcityopera.org.

Performing Artists & Creative Team

Rebecca Caine

Born in Toronto, Rebecca Caine’s career has been divided between opera and musical theatre. She made her West End debut as Laurey in Oklahoma!, sang Eliza in My Fair Lady on national tour, and after making her debut at Glyndebourne in L’incoronazione di Poppea, created the role of Cosette in Les Misérables for the RSC. Since then her many theatre credits include Christine in Phantom of the Opera in London and Toronto; Salad Days (Riverside Studios); The Sound of Music (national tour); The Mikado and Harold and Maude (Charing Cross Theatre); Flowers for Mrs Harris (Sheffield Theatres); Preludes (Southwark Playhouse).

Opera includes leading roles in Lulu, Cunning Little Vixen, Seven Deadly Sins, The Pearlfishers, Figaro’s Wedding, Cosi Fan Tutte, Magic Flute, Carmen, The Barber of Seville, Il Re Pastore, Rigoletto, Fidelio, Julietta. She has worked with the English National Opera, Glyndebourne, Scottish Opera, Opera North, Glimmerglass, Canadian Opera Company, Nice, Antwerp, National Theatre of Prague, Opera Northern Ireland, Atlanta, Ottawa, Spoleto, Ravenna, Chicago Opera Theatre. Most recently- Abomination A DUP Opera for The Belfast Ensemble.

She regularly appears in cabaret and concerts internationally, and broadcasts on BBC Radios 2 and 3. Trained at Guildhall School of Music.

Margaret Johnson:The Light in the Piazza (2022)

Voice Type:Soprano

Diana Newman
Central City Opera Debut

Recently: Papagena, Die Zauberflöte, The Metropolitan Opera; Woglinde, Das Rheingold, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Woodbird, Siegfried, Lyric Opera of Chicago; First Lady, Die Zauberflöte, Dallas Opera

Clara Johnson:The Light in the Piazza (2022)
Voice Type:Soprano

Ricardo Garcia
Central City Opera Debut

Recently: Romeo, Roméo et Juliette, Houston Grand Opera; First Commissioner, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Houston Grand Opera; Papi/Jasper, The Snowy Day (World Premiere), Houston Grand Opera

Fabrizio Naccarelli:The Light in the Piazza (2022)
Voice Type:Tenor

Jonathan Hays
Central City Opera: (partial listing) King Melchior, Amahl and the Night Visitors, 2022; Donald, Billy Budd, 2019; Reverend Gruffydd, How Green Was My Valley, 2014; Taddeo, L’italiana in Algeri, 2003; Papageno, Die Zauberflöte, 2002

Recently: Talbot, Maria Stuarda, Piedmont Opera; Voltaire, Candide, Syracuse Opera; Relics of Memory (recording), Albany Records

Signor Naccarelli:The Light in the Piazza (2022)
Voice Type:Baritone

Jennifer DeDominici
Central City Opera: (Partial Listing) Carrie Pipperidge, Carousel, 2021; Soloist, CCO Al Fresco, 2020; Encore: A Musical Revue, 2019 and 2018

Recently: Soloist, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Denver Philharmonic Orchestra; Mother, Ragtime, Piedmont Opera; Francesca, (Henry Award, Outstanding Actress), The Bridges of Madison County, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center

Franca Naccarelli:The Light in the Piazza (2022)
Voice Type:Mezzo-Soprano

Curt Olds
Central City Opera: (partial listing) Director/Curator/Soloist, Encore: A Musical Revue, 2018 & 2019; Frank, Show Boat, 2013; Will Parker,Oklahoma!, 2012; Past Bonfils-Stanton Studio and Apprentice Artist

Recently: The Emcee, Cabaret, Atlanta Opera; Major-General Stanley, Pirates of Penzance, Atlanta Opera; Pangloss, Candide, Arizona Opera; Monsieur Andre, The Phantom of the Opera, World Tour

Roy Johnson:The Light in the Piazza (2022)
Frosch:Die Fledermaus (2022)
Gad Beck:Two Remain (2022)
Voice Type:Baritone

Judeth Shay Comstock
Central City Opera: (Partial Listing) Mrs. Mullin, Carousel, 2021; Bronwen, How Green Was My Valley (World Premiere), 2014; Papagena, The Magic Flute with Colorado Symphony, 2002

Recently: Virginia, Hands on a Hardbody, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center; Mother, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Chamber Orchestra of the Springs; Muriel, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center

Signora Naccarelli:The Light in the Piazza (2022)
Voice Type:Soprano

Isaiah Feken
Hometown: Tulsa, OK

Recently: Papageno (Cover), Die Zauberflote, Des Moines Metropolitan Opera; First Sargent, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Opera Colorado; Il Conte, Le nozze di Figaro, Voci nel Montfeltro Festival

2022:Apprentice Artist
Voice Type:Baritone
Giuseppe Naccarelli:The Light in the Piazza (2022)

Andrew Payne
Hometown: Waynesboro, PA

Recently: Marchese d’Obigny, La traviata, Toledo Opera; Guglielmo, Così fan tutte, Toledo Opera Resident Artist Ensemble; Frank, Die Fledermaus, Northwestern University Opera Theater

2022:Apprentice Artist
Voice Type:Baritone
Tour Guide:The Light in the Piazza (2022)

Justin Kroll
Hometown: Waco, TX

Recently: Beadle Bamford, Sweeney Todd, University of Wisconsin-Madison Opera; Arturo, Lucia di Lammermoor, Madison Opera; Marc Blitzstein, I Wish It So: A Marc Blitzstein Pastiche Opera, University of Wisconsin-Madison Opera

2022:Apprentice Artist
Voice Type:Tenor
Priest:The Light in the Piazza (2022)

Regina Ceragioli
Hometown: Flossmoor, IL

Recently: Leila (cover), Les pêcheurs de Perles, Santa Fe Opera; Rusalka (scene), Rusalka, Santa Fe Opera; Offstage Voice, Jenufa, Santa Fe Opera

2022:Apprentice Artist
Voice Type:Soprano
Maid:The Light in the Piazza (2022)

Jenna Clark
Hometown: Denver, CO

Recently: L’enfant, L’enfant et les sortilèges, Boulder Opera Company; Armelinde, Cendrillon (Viardot), Loveland Opera Theater; Annio, La Clemenza di Tito, Opera Steamboat Artist Institute

2022:Apprentice Artist
Voice Type:Mezzo-Soprano
Maid:The Light in the Piazza (2022)

Ken Cazan
Central City Opera: (Partial Listing) Carousel, 2021; Billy Budd, 2019; Acis and Galatea and The Face on the Barroom Floor, 2018

Recently: Professor of Opera/Resident Stage Director, USC Thornton School of Music; Director, Curlew River/Orefo ed Euridice, University of Southern California; Director, All the Truths We Cannot See: A Chernobyl Story (World and American premieres), Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, Finland/University of Southern California

Director:The Light in the Piazza (2022)

Adam Turner
Central City Opera: Conductor, Madama Butterfly, 2019; Conductor, Carmen, 2017; Conductor, Man of La Mancha, 2015; Associate Conductor, 2014, 2011-12

Recently: Artistic Director, Virginia Opera (since 2018, following four seasons as Principal Conductor & Artistic Advisor); Conductor, Il Trovatore, Toledo Opera; Conductor, Three Decembers, San Diego Opera

Conductor:The Light in the Piazza (2022)

Brandon Eldredge
Central City Opera: Associate Conductor/Chorus Master, Carousel and Rigoletto, 2021; Conductor, Dido and Aeneas, 2021

Recently: Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master, Le nozze di Figaro, Three Decembers, Das Rheingold, Virginia Opera; Co-Conductor, La Bohème, Virginia Opera; Associate Conductor, The Sound of Music, Virginia Arts Festival; Cover Conductor, Virginia Symphony Orchestra

Co-Conductor:Two Remain (2022)
Associate Conductor/Chorus Master:The Light in the Piazza (2022)
Associate Conductor/Chorus Master:Die Fledermaus (2022)

Arnulfo Maldonado
Central City Opera: Scenic Design, The Barber of Seville, 2013; Orpheus in the Underworld, 2010

Recently: Scenic Design, A Strange Loop, Lyceum Theater, Broadway; A Case for the Existence of God, Signature Theatre; Wish You Were Here, Playwrights Horizons

Scenic Designer:The Light in the Piazza (2022)

James P. McGough
Central City Opera Debut

Recently: Resident Wig/Makeup Designer, Virginia Opera, 1998 - 2022; Wig and Makeup Artist, Porgy and Bess, Eugene Onegin, Pia de Tolomei, Spoleto Festival USA (2017 - 2019); Wig and Makeup Designer, Turandot, Carmen, La Traviata, Atlanta Opera, 2017 - 2019

Resident Wig/Makeup Designer and Supervisor:2022 Festival

Edina Hiser
Central City Opera: Costume Design, Carousel and Rigoletto, 2021

Recently: Costume Designer, Reckoning, Wallis Annenberg Studio Ensemble; Associate Costume Designer, FOUND: A New Musical, IAMA Theatre Company; Costume Designer, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, USC Thornton School of Music; Costume Designer, 3 Paderewskis, Kosciuszko Foundation

Costume Designer:The Light in the Piazza (2022)

Important Update: Performance Cancellations for 7/19 - 7/24 »

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Performance Location

Central City Opera House
124 Eureka St.
Central City, CO 80427

Please review our 2022 Festival health and safety guidelines »

2022 Festival

Music & Lyrics

Adam Guettel

Book

Craig Lucas

Sung In

English

Run Time

2 hours, 20 minutes with one 20-minute intermission (approximate)

Production Sponsor

Pamela and Louis Bansbach

Produced by arrangement with Turner Entertainment Co., owner of the original motion picture “Light In The Piazza” based on the novel by Elisabeth Spencer.

The Light in the Piazza is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals. www.concordtheatricals.com.