Meet the Cast - Becca Petersen as Clara Johnson

By Kristen Leinbach, Dramaturg

When asked about writing The Light in the Piazza and about the relationships of the characters, Craig Lucas said the following

“Clara apprehends the world differently than her mother. [Margaret] goes through Italy with a guidebook. But the girl sees experiences, she sees the light in the piazza. She literally experiences the light as representative of her deepest feelings…That’s why the score has moments where words no longer suffice or are no longer important. It’s the feeling and light. Those things carry us. Human beings are just a conduit for love. I think Clara sees that. Love comes before her and after her.”

I asked Becca Petersen, portraying Clara Johnson, to share a little about her life as well as her experience getting to really know Clara.

“I am Becca Petersen from Carmel, Indiana. I am a senior studying Music Dance Theatre. I will be graduating in April with plans of moving to New York City! At BYU I have performed in PETER PAN as well as two years in the Young Ambassadors traveling to Southern Africa and China. These past two summers I have performed professionally at The Muny and Music Theatre of Wichita. Aside from musical theatre I love to go thrift shopping, take naps, eat out, and spend time with my friends and family.

Clara Johnson has always been one of my dream roles and I could not be more excited and grateful to have the opportunity to play her.

The Light in the Piazza follows Clara and her mother, Margaret, as they travel through Italy. Clara is a very youthful girl who lives life exactly in the moment. She is bright-eyed as she sees and experiences this new place for the first time. The plot is centered around relationships: Clara’s relationship with her mother and her new budding relationship with a Florentine boy, Fabrizio. I feel that I connect with Clara on many levels. I love to travel, explore, and see new places. Because of previous travel opportunities I have had I understand what it is like experiencing different cultures and having to figure out how you fit in. In the show many of the characters, including Clara, go through big life transitions. Currently I can relate as I am getting ready to graduate, preparing to move to NY, having family members and close friends get married, and trying to understand love and relationships of my own. All of these experiences can be scary but can also be incredible if we let ourselves learn, grow, and live in them. We must allow ourselves to find the happiness and joy in all things we experience. In essence, that is what Clara does. Clara finds what makes her happy.”

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by Ting Chun Chang, dramaturg One of the traditions in the BYU theatre department is to have a post show discussion with the audience, actors, and members of the production team after every Thursday night performance. To finish up our coverage on Mary Poppins, I want to share some of the great questions and answers that were discussed. Q: This production looks very professional. Is it a student design team? A: It is half and half. The cast are students; some are more experienced. For the designing team, we have several options: 1) We have professional faculty members with student assistants, 2) We have the students who co-design with other student designers, 3) And of course, we have student designers who design alone. These students have a faculty adviser to guide them when they need a piece of advice. Q: How do the statues stay the same pose so long? A: Through the rehearsal process, they tried many different poses, eventually choosing the ones where they could comfortably freeze for long time. Q: Is it hard to sing and dance at the same time? A: Yes, it is a challenge for the cast. However, the cast receive training on daily basis, which includes working on their stamina and breath support. Our music director, Gayle coaches them with the music. Q: Why did the toy scene look a little bit scary? A: I had a conversation with the cast about that scene. Our discovery is that it is the last time that Mary tries to teach children how to respect and appreciate others, but apparently, Michael and Jane didn’t want to change their attitude. Mary feels a bit frustrated and she chooses to leave for a little bit afterward. *Originally, this number was called “Temper, Temper.” When it opened on Broadway back in 2006, there was a young audience member who came see the show and was very frightened. This young audience member even crawled into her mother’s lap. The production team took note of this and other reactions and reworked the song to be less scary, resulting in a new song “Playing The Game” replacing “Temper, Temper.” Q: How long do you prepare for this production? What was the process? A: The first production meeting was at April 2016. The director, George Nelson, talked about his concept and feelings about the story with the design team. Then the whole team discussed the characters together, and, over the next few months, started presenting their design concept. Over the summer, the work was continually under development. We started the rehearsal process in late August. Q: What is the answer on page 17 of the study guide? A: It was the Utah courthouse. Handley finds it interesting to uses some of the images around Utah to build the scenery. I think it makes this production unique.

Meet the Cast - Becca Petersen as Clara Johnson

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