Peach State Summer Theatre’s “The Light in the Piazza” is a different experience for musical theatre.

It has a large ensemble of characters but there is never a huge production number. Set in Italy, some of the dialogue and songs are performed in Italian. Some of “Piazza’s” moments feel more like opera than Broadway musical. The score’s instrumentation is composed to run counter to the vocal melodies. Sprinkled with broad humor, “Piazza” flirts with tragedy. Set in the 1950s but created in the early 2000s, “Piazza” takes an old-school musical sensibility and twists it for the 21st century.

Some audiences may wander out of Sawyer Theatre scratching their heads, uncertain what to make of “The Light in the Piazza.”

But others will leave enchanted, enriched and emotionally moved by this intricate love story, the production designers’ sets, costumes, sound, lighting, etc., and the principal cast’s magnificent performances.

“Piazza” is a show that comes with many non-conforming parts, like someone placed different colored pieces of glass in a box then shook it. Musical, opera, Italian, English, comedy, tragedy … various shards that should not create a cohesive Broadway musical, but Director Randy Wheeler takes these disparate pieces and creates something as beautiful and delicate as stained glass. Something that when the light hits it just right creates dazzling moments. PSST!’s “A Light in the Piazza” has several of these moments.

The story is about Margaret and Clara Johnson, an American mother and daughter, who travel to Italy where the elder woman hopes to recapture the romance of her honeymoon with her husband. Her husband, however, is absent from this trip, but even with him still in the States, he is emotionally no closer than when Margaret is home.

Clara meets a young Italian named Fabrizio and they fall in love at first sight. Margaret tries thwarting this romance because Clara has a secret. Margaret tries sharing this secret with Fabrizio’s family, but the language barrier and the dilemma of her daughter’s situation keeps Margaret from fully disclosing Clara’s situation.

As the cast sings spiraling arias, the orchestration pulls in a reverse direction, creating an intentional discord between the singers and the live orchestra ably led by musical director Paul J. Guilbeau — the discord of love and romance amidst secrets, lies and a parent’s uncertainty of doing what’s best for herself or her daughter.

David Lee Johnson, Robert Teasdale, Sarah Michele, and Rose Cutuli Wray fuel the Naccarellis, Fabrizio’s Italian family, with equal measures of passion, humor and sheer talent. Each is allowed several opportunities to shine and they take full advantage of each instance.

Megan Wheeler and Kelly Methven play Clara and Fabrizio. From the awe-struck moment when Clara and Fabrizio look into each other’s eyes, Wheeler and Methven have an electric on-stage chemistry. They light up each other’s faces and will light the faces of many audience members through this chemistry and their powerful voices. Wheeler brings an experienced and trained voice to a character of child-like simplicity; she creates textures for Clara’s developing character by soaring up and down the vocal scales. Methven has a powerful voice that produces some of the production’s more operatic moments; Methven is a versatile performer — a stand-out in all three of PSST!’s 2012 shows.

But this musical belongs to Jacque Wheeler. As Margaret, she provides the glue that holds all of “Piazza’s” pieces together. Margaret is a new powerhouse female character for the American stage, and Jacque Wheeler puts everything into this role: humor, drama, singing, a full-package finesse she has brought to so many other roles through the years.

Throughout the show, audiences will be amazed by “Piazza’s” atmosphere. Scenic designer Tom Hansen transforms the Sawyer Theatre stage into the timelessness of Florence. Genny Wynn paints these gorgeous sets with rich lighting. Esther Iverson’s costumes create the breezy formality of an era when people dressed for dinner and to sight-see. Anna Warda Alex’s sound remains crisp and clear throughout the performance.

“The Light in the Piazza” will not be a musical for everyone, but it is a show for audiences wanting to see something new in American musicals. From the platform of the traditional Broadway musical, “Piazza” dares to spring in unforeseen directions and reveal hidden depths.

This review is based on the Wednesday, June 27, performance.

Peach State Summer Theatre’s “The Light in the Piazza” continues 7:30 p.m., June 29; 3 p.m., July 1; 7:30 p.m., July 6; 3 p.m., July 8; 7:30 p.m., July 11, 13; 3 p.m. July 15, Sawyer Theatre, VSU Fine Arts Building, corner of Oak and Brookwood. Reservations, more information: Call (229) 259-7770; or visit the website www.valdosta.edu/psst

The Valdosta Daily Times is PSST!’s corporate sponsor.