Renée Fleming stars in Lyric Opera’s The Light in the Piazza.
Renée Fleming
"The appeal is pure romance,” says opera superstar Renée Fleming of the Adam Guettel musical The Light in the Piazza. Part of a world tour, the show comes to Lyric Opera Dec. 14 to 29 for a thrilling limited engagement and brings with it a lush, rhapsodic story set in 1950s Florence. It’s a homecoming of sorts for Fleming, who has been a Lyric Opera creative consultant since 2010 and is an advisor for the Ryan Opera Center. Her role of Margaret Johnson is no stretch either. “You can hear the connections to opera, which is really the parent of American musical theater,” she says, adding that “there is so much about Margaret that I understand and can find in myself: the challenges that every mother faces and agonizing over whether you are making the right choices.”
The star-studded cast is rounded out with Alex Jennings (Net ix’s The Crown), Solea Pfeiffer (Hamilton) and newcomer Rob Houchen—who Fleming jokes is “breaking hearts every night.” As for what Fleming is looking forward to most about being back in Chicago? “In a way, I feel like Margaret does about Florence in the show,” she says. “I love the openness and the light in Chicago, the views of the lake and the amazing architecture. It is truly a cultural capital.” Tickets $49-$219, 20 N. Wacker Drive
Photography by: PHOTO COURTESY OF DEWYNTERS LONDON
