The Light in the Piazza: 2005 Tony Award Winner for 6 Awards, including Best Original Score (Music) [Sheet music]

Adam Guettel (Composer)

Book Description

Series: Music | Publication Date: November 1, 2005

The New York Times calls this Tony Award-winning Adam Guettel musical "the most intensely romantic score of any Broadway musical since West Side Story." 10 songs are included in this collection, plus a bio of Adam Guettel, 5 pages of color photos, and more. Includes: The Beauty Is * Dividing Day * Fable * Il Mondo Era Vuoto * Let's Walk * The Light in the Piazza * Love to Me * Passeggiata * Say It Somehow * Statues and Stories * plus a performance edition of The Light in the Piazza.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Craig Lucas recently won the 2004 OBIE Award for Best Play for his work "Small Tragedy". He is the author of numerous plays including "Reckless" and "A Prelude to A Kiss", both of which were Broadway successes and made into films. Composer and lyricist, Adam Guettel is best know for Floyd Collins (published by TCG in The New American Musical), which has been widely produced and available on Nonesuch Records.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Sheet music: 96 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 142340386X
• ISBN-13: 978-1423403869
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 7.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wrong book!, December 19, 2005

By 

Daniel F. Pinkerton "danpink" (Minneapolis) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Light in the Piazza (Paperback)

Ignore the stars, which I had to put in. This is a public service announcement, not a real review.

There are two books of The Light in the Piazza by Lucas and Guettel. One is the book and lyrics, the other the piano songbook. Amazon has mistakenly put customer reviews of the piano songbook on the webpage of both books.

Therefore, WARNING! All the reviews for the TCG edition of the BOOK AND LYRICS to The Light in the Piazza are actually reviews of the songbook with THE MUSIC AND LYRICS ONLY. Don't order the book published by TCG if you want the piano songbook; don't order the edition published by Leonard if you want to read Craig Lucas's fine script.

Get it together, Amazon!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, December 28, 2005

By 

Veammn (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Light in the Piazza: 2005 Tony Award Winner for 6 Awards, including Best Original Score (Music) (Sheet music)

This is truly one of the most Brilliant scores to come out of Broadway in the past 10 years. The Vocal selection book includes all the necessary numbers, and we will most likely be hearing them at audition after audition.

In response to previous reviews: The book includes two versions of the song: "The Light in the Piazza." It includes a Vocal Selection version in the key of C, with the vocal line in the piano reduction, and a "Performance edition" in the back in the key of D with the original piano accompaniment from the score. The editors clearly knew that there would be a high demand for the title song in recitals and elsewhere, so they included two versions.

Vocal selections traditionally include a piano reduction of the score that includes the vocal melody, and chord symbols above the staff. What's curious about this book is that while it includes a traditional reduction, no chord symbols are included. Singers who are looking for the original piano accompaniment of songs should seek out what's called a Vocal or Piano/Conductor Score. The difference, however, is minimal. In the hands of a capable pianist, either Scores or Selections will work just fine. In addition, Vocal Selections are usually more helpful than Vocal Scores when seeking music for auditions as the simplified piano parts are easier for pianists to sight-read.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Glorious Light, November 26, 2005

By 

B. W. Tran "Musical Prodigy" (Jackson, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Light in the Piazza: 2005 Tony Award Winner for 6 Awards, including Best Original Score (Music) (Sheet music)

Adam Guettel's latest masterwork, The Light in the Piazza, has graced the Broadway stage since April 2005. Now, we can all enjoy the love songs that have made audiences swoon in our homes and our local stages. These vocal selections were wonderfully chosen from a gorgeous score. Ten of the best pieces from the Tony Winning Best Original Score made the cut including:

The Beauty Is
Fable
Love to Me
The Light in the Piazza

As a very balanced selection, this book includes challenging songs for both experienced men and women to perform. The songs remain in their original difficult keys, like the composer intended. Not only is the score vocally taxing, the music will not be easy for beginning pianists. However, many subtle nuances including the beautiful harp-like arpeggios are maintained for a very full sound on the piano.

Songs like Fable benefited from this fleshed-out adaptation because of its many intricate harmonic under workings. Like most Hal Leonard publications, the music is very clean and easy to read, but it also moves the vocal line into the accompaniment. This is both a pro and con. For singers who wanted only an accompaniment, this is not it. Yet, for pianists who yearned for a solo performance piece or singers who don't mind a light vocal line, this book is fantastic.

The book finishes with a Performance Edition of the title song. With these added flourishes, this song sounds as enchanting as it does at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. It would have been nice, though, if all the songs in this book received the same treatment as this song.

Even with that minor quibble, these Vocal Selections are an absolute joy to have and perform. From The Beauty Is's bouncing vitality to the simple harmonies of Love to Me, this book includes the best of Guettel's award winning work. The book also includes Notes on the show, Guettel's biography, and several pages of full-color pictures that detail the talented Original Broadway Cast. Go see it on Broadway, buy the Cast Recording, and then purchase this book. Adam Guettel in the Light for American musical theatre and he shines in The Light in the Piazza.