Italy invades Mid-Michigan this month, complete with beautiful Italian men, romance, and passion. Riverwalk Theatre's The Light in the Piazza will be the Michigan premiere, and Director Jane Falion said she is pretty sure it is the Midwest premiere as well.

Piazza ran on Broadway for almost two years before closing in 2006. Falion saw it at Lincoln Center before it closed.

"I was swept away by the grandeur of it," she said.

The show is based on a novella written by Elizabeth Spencer. An American tourist, Clare, falls in love with a young Italian, Fabrizio Naccarelli. After Clare's new relationship is discovered by her mother, she immediately opposes it.

"It's a wonderful, romantic and passionate show," Falion said.

Last year, she visited Italy, taking in the culture and details of the cities.

"I soaked up the atmosphere with the idea to transfer it to the stage," she said.

Falion wants to bring the audience to Italy with the characters in the show. The open set resembles a piazza, or town square area with cobblestone. Lighting and set pieces begins on the stage and expands to incorporate the entire space.

"It's that real intimate sense of community; I wanted the audience to feel it...The space is a wonderful space for the actors to play off of. They're a finger's length away from the first row," Falion said.

Aside from the set resembling Italy, the costumes will be accurate of the times as well. In the 1950s, women and men's fashions were at their peaks, according to Falion. She described her vision for the costumes as, "‘Mad Men' meets Italy."

Although as much thought goes in to the artistic side as the technical side of the production, Adam Guettel's unique music style requires the actors to have training in musical theatre, opera and classica

l styles of music.

"It's classical in nature, some lyrics are operatic and require singers who are extraordinary," Falion said.

The cast is composed of local actors, including some Michigan State University opera students.

In addition to the heightened level of singing, the actors also have to have language experience because of the several scenes spoken in Italian.

"I'm working with such strong actors who make good acting choices," Falion said.