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.”

Tags

Light In The Piazza

data-content-type="article"

by Jessa Cunningham, dramaturg Before you come to visit us at the Zuckerman farm, we figured it would be a good idea if you got to know a little bit about the cast. Over the next few posts, members of the cast will answer a few questions so you can get better acquainted! Kennedy Brandon (Baby Spider, Fair Goer) Who is your favorite character in the show? Why? Wilbur because he is the silliest. What is your favorite line from the show? "What are your names? May I have your names please?" What was your favorite book growing up? Hop on Pop by Dr. Suess Who was/is your childhood best friend? Lydia What did you two do together? We Like to play in the snow together! What are you most excited about with Charlotte's Web? Wearing a cute costume and being onstage. Favorite animal? Puppy If you lived on a farm, what do you think you'd like the most about it? Riding horses Carter Brandon (Fair goer) Who is your favorite character in the show? Why? Wilbur because he has great facial expressions. What is your favorite line from the show? "I bet he's the finest pig we've seen today!" What was your favorite book growing up? Piggie and Gerald Series by Mo Willems Who was/is your childhood best friend? Coleton What did you two do together? We have lots of fun jumping on the trampoline and riding bikes! What are you most excited about with Charlotte's Web? Getting to dress up in costumes. Favorite animal? Elephant If you lived on a farm, what do you think you'd like the most about it? Getting to know about different animals. Mason Brandon (Fair goer) Who is your favorite character in the show? Why? Wilbur. I really like his personality-- he's funny. What is your favorite line from the show? "It's either freedom, or the frying pan!" What was your favorite book growing up? Dinosaurs Love Underpants by Claire Freedman Who was/is your childhood best friend? Issac, Gage, Kail, and Bear What did you two do together? We play video games together. What are you most excited about with Charlotte's Web? Getting to perform in it. Favorite animal? Monkey If you lived on a farm, what do you think you'd like the most about it? Lots of open spaces. Jane Miller (Fair goer and Baby Spider) Who is your favorite character in the show? Why? Charlotte is my favorite because she is very confident. What is your favorite line from the show? "They are fattening you up so they can kill you." What was your favorite book growing up? Go Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman Who was/is your childhood best friend? Grace is one of my best friends. What do you two do together? One day we sold half slices of toasts door to door and we made $33.00! What are you most excited about with Charlotte's Web? I am most excited to be onstage and perform. Favorite animal? A dolphin If you lived on a farm, what do you think you'd like the most about it? If I lived on a farm I would love to have my own horse and ride her every day. Connor Dahle (Baby Wilbur) Who is your favorite character in the show? Baby Wilbur What is your favorite line from the show? The sheep telling Wilbur he is going to die. What was your favorite book growing up? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling What are you most excited about with Charlotte's Web? The costumes Favorite animal? Dog If you lived on a farm, what do you think you'd like the most about it? Playing and seeing the animals. Rachael Beck (Reporter) Who is your favorite character in the show?Why? Charlotte is my favorite character because of her selfless intelligence. What is your favorite line from the show? "It seems to me we have no ordinary spider." Who was/is your childhood best friend? Books were my best friends growing up. What are you most excited about with Charlotte's Web? I'm excited to help tell this story that I love so much to others. We have such a great cast and crew helping spin this beautiful web. Favorite animal? Otters Edie Hall (Photographer) Who is your favorite character in the show? Why? My favorite character by far is the Gander. He has such confidence and humor, especially when he is offering words of encouragement to Wilbur or the Goose. What is your favorite line from the show? My favorite line in the show is "Looks like a prize winner to me" because that's my line. What was your favorite book growing up? When I was growing up my favorite books to read were the Junie B. Jones collection. Who was/is your childhood best friend? My childhood best friend was probably my brother because we shared the same humor. Also, he was easy to manipulate. What are you most excited about with Charlotte's Web? For Charlotte's Web I am most excited about just performing in general. Favorite animal? My favorite animal is a lion. They're relentless and mighty. If you lived on a farm, what do you think you'd like the most about it? If I lived on a farm, the most enjoyable aspect would be chillin' with baby chickens. Stay tuned for more cast members over the next few posts!

overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=

data-content-type="article"

by Jessa Cunningham, dramaturg A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to interview Meg Flinders, our fabulous Charlotte, at one of her training sessions. She has been working hard at learning the aerial silks for the show, so we chatted about this unique experience and how it relates to the show! Me: What is this training experience like? Meg: Well, you obviously have to start with the basics. But we move pretty fast, so I just learn something new every time I come in and a lot of it is progression based so it just keeps building on top of each other. I also have to do a lot of outside work on my own to do strength training because this takes a lot of strength because you get tired really fast. Most of it is learning by doing which is actually great because it’s not something you can really do by reading about it. So you just have to go for it and figure it out and hope it works. Me: What kind of daily things are you doing? Meg: So a lot of it is arm strength, so I do planks, side planks, push-ups and pulls ups and pull downs, triceps dips and holding a handstand against a wall. Those are the biggest ones I do. Then I do a lot of leg lifts and sit ups and ab work that doesn’t really have to be specific. When you’re up in the air you have to be able to both hold yourself up and be able to lift your legs up into a V or in front of you so it is a lot of core work and arm strength so I do any work that’ll help strengthen those muscles. Me: Do you feel like this is helping you understand Charlotte more? Meg: Yeah, in a way it is. And actually it’s interesting because in the play a lot of people forget about Charlotte and the work she puts into it. They focus on the word and how it exemplifies Wilbur. They think the word is beautiful and the web is beautiful and they connect it to Wilbur and think it’s great. But they forget how much Charlotte is working night after night. It’s just interesting because I am not quite at the professional level yet, but watching some of these other people who can do a lot more and have routines already--it looks gorgeous and effortless. But then I try some of the basic moves and it’s so hard. So it’s just interesting to connect that, because by the end of the play Charlotte is really tired and worn out so I can do method acting in that way. Me: What’s the hardest move you have to do? Meg: Sometimes just the basic moves. Like being able to get the silks in the right spot so you don’t fall out. Or sometimes it’s just the transition, or just rotating through that are in so many different moves. But I think the one I just worked on, which is called the Flamingo (and I know it’ll get a lot more complicated!), is hard because it’s just like remembering which direction to rotate, which leg hooks where, and whether it’s[the silk] supposed to go on the outside or through the middle. So honestly that what’s the hardest. It takes a lot of thought before it becomes natural. But you can’t really stop in the middle of a move to figure it out otherwise you lose your momentum or it just won’t happen. Me: What are you most excited about with the aerial silks? Meg: I am excited to feel comfortable with it! I am excited for when it gets to the point where we can do choreography and when that choreography can help enhance the character and the show. Because I think it is going to be such a different experience to not be a spider walking on the ground, but to be in the air. I think it is going to affect the character a lot, which I am really excited about. It’s going to help me make a lot of discoveries as well as just being really exciting to learn a new skill and have that experience of working hard to get good at it, because that’s always so rewarding. I’m just really excited to see how it plays into the show and the character. Me: What’s your favorite move to do? Meg: Oh boy! When I can get it, the hip keys are really fun! It’s just like you’re whacking your legs and all of a sudden you’re on your side and the silks are holding you up and you’re not holding on. So that’s exciting just because of that feeling of finally getting it and it’s secure. That’s great. So hip keys are fun! I like doing the split rollup—right now all of my favorite moves are the easy ones because those are the ones I can do! But those are my favorite ones at the moment!

Meet the Cast - Becca Petersen as Clara Johnson

Related Articles

Salutations! Meet the Cast Part 1

The Creation of a Classic

The Web: Charlotte's World Part 2