Andreas, Shaddow, and Burnham Head Cast of The Light in the Piazza‘s North American Tour

Christine Andreas, Elena Shaddow, and David Burnham head the cast of the upcoming, 50-week North American tour of the Adam Guettel-Craig Lucas musical The Light in the Piazza, which will begin in August in San Francisco.

Andreas will play Margaret Johnson; Shaddow will play her daughter, Clara; and Burnham will play Clara’s suitor, Fabrizio Naccarelli. Also featured in the cast are Laura Griffith as Franca Naccarelli, Jonathan Hammond as Giuseppe Naccarelli, David Ledingham as Signor Naccarelli, and the husband and wife team of Brian and Diane Sutherland as Roy Johnson and Signora Naccarelli.

The ensemble is comprised of Craig Bennett, Wendi Bergamini, Jane Brockman, Sean Hayden, Leslie Henstock, Prudence Wright Holmes, John Charles Kelly, Evangelia Kingsley, Michel Moinot, and Adam Overett. Following its premiere in San Francisco, the production will visit more than 25 cities throughout North America, including Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Boston. (For a full tour schedule, visit www.piazzaontour.com.)

Andreas has starred on Broadway in The Scarlet Pimpernel and in revivals of My Fair Lady, Oklahoma!, and On Your Toes. Burnham, who understudied the role of Fabrizo on Broadway and played it many times during the show’s run, has appeared in national tours of Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, as well as in numerous regional productions. Shaddow is currently playing Magnolia Hawks in Show Boat at London’s Royal Albert Hall; her Broadway credits include The Woman in White, Fiddler on the Roof, Nine, Sweet Smell of Success, and Les Misérables.

Based on the novella of the same title by Elizabeth Spencer, The Light in the Piazza is set in Florence and Rome in the summer of 1953. It tells the story of a mother and daughter traveling through Italy, the daughter’s romance with a handsome young Florentine, and the mother’s efforts to keep the two apart. Following productions in Seattle and Chicago, the musical opened at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater in April 2005 to great critical acclaim. It will close at the Beaumont on July 2, having had its limited run extended several times. Directed by Bartlett Sher, Piazza won six 2005 Tony Awards, five Drama Desk Awards, and two Outer Critics Circle Awards. The New York production was recently telecast nationwide on PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center, and the Broadway cast recording is available on Nonesuch Records.

Presented by NETworks, the Piazza tour reunites the award-winning creative team from Broadway, including Sher and Tony Award winners Michael Yeargan (sets), Catherine Zuber (costumes), and Christopher Akerlind (lighting). The show has sound design by ACME Sound Partners, music direction by Kimberly Grigsby, musical staging by Jonathan Butterell, and Tony Award-winning orchestrations by Ted Sperling, Adam Guettel and Bruce Coughlin.