Show Synopsis:
Margaret Johnson and her daughter Clara are revisiting the sites of Clara's parents' honeymoon in Italy from America when Clara meets an Italian boy named Fabrizio. Margaret begins to reflect on how her own marriage has gone sour while she watches their love blossom, but then tries to prevent their engagement. She hides Clara's mental impairment from Fabrizio's family, who does not detect it because of the language barrier, but eventually concedes to them getting engaged because she believes Italy has made Clara more mature. Her husband opposes the engagement, and Margaret realizes that they have grown apart permanently. Fabrizio's father has to be persuaded to let his son marry a woman six year older than him, but Fabrizio and Clara become married in the end. Margaret realizes that she has believed a lot of things that are untrue about love, but Clara and Fabrizio should have a chance to be married to each other.

Character:
Clara Johnson, a beautiful young American woman; naive and trusting, much like a child.

Song Context:
Clara is looking at statues and trying to keep her mind on the history and art that her mother has been promoting to her, but she marvels instead at how different Italy is from her life in America, and she cannot help her mind from wandering to Fabrizio.

Fun Facts:
1) This musical is based on the 1960 novella by Elizabeth Spencer of the same name. 
2) Composer Adam Guettel made his Broadway debut with The Light in the Piazza and won a Tony Award for its score and orchestrations. 
3) Kelli O?Hara was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the role of Clara on Broadway after playing the role of Franca out of town.