The Light in the Piazza is a
musical with a book by
Craig Lucas and music and lyrics by
Adam Guettel. Based on a novella by
Elizabeth Spencer, the story is set in the 1950s and revolves around Margaret Johnson, a wealthy
Southern woman and her developmentally stalled daughter, Clara, who spend a summer together in Italy. When Clara falls in love with a young Italian man, Margaret is forced to reconsider not only Clara's future, but her own deep seated hopes and regrets as well.