'The Light in the Piazza'
Opening: A young American falls in love with an Italian man in this musical, which won six Tony Awards in 2005. Jessica Fredrickson, who played Kim in Chanhassen's "Bye Bye Birdie," shifts over to Theater Latté Da to play another young innocent, Clara, who is accompanied to Florence, Italy, by her mother, Margaret (Kathleen Humphrey). Clara swoons over the dashing Fabrizio (Aleks Knezevich), which sets off something of a crisis for mom. Craig Lucas wrote the book, with the score and lyrics by Adam Guettel. Peter Rothstein directs, and Denise Prosek returns after a short hiatus to music-direct for Latté Da. (Previews 7:30 p.m. Thu.-Fri. Opens 7:30 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. next Sun. $24-$49. Ends April 7. Ordway Center McKnight stage, 5th and Washington Sts., St. Paul, 651-224-4222 or www.ordway.org.)
Graydon Royce