20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “Dividing Day”

I don’t know if it is original to Adam Guettel, but there is something very satisfying about the phrase Dividing Day as used in The Light in the Piazza. It’s a simple use of words that captures the essence of the song in a poetic manner—the dividing of one into two.

And “Diving Day” is filled with many rich uses of language to express Margaret’s emotions, such as seeing “the winter in your eyes.” There’s also a brilliant use of rhyme at work, particularly in the pairing of bowed and “no more love allowed,” a shocking statement about a long-lasting marriage.

Guettel also gives us two stark ideas with contrasting images, both of which give weight to the concept of the song—“Were you lying next to me / Hiding what you couldn’t say” and “Was my cheek upon your chest / An ocean away.”

The dual strength of the song is in how the lyrics and melody fit the character of Margaret. The arrangement on the OBCR betrays Margaret’s lack of confidence in her marriage, the discord of her emotions plucking in the background. The lyrics and the melody convey a solemn admittance of emotion—not a grand power ballad of loss, but a simple, emotional expression of a fact mutually agreed upon but not formed into words until that moment, thoughts escaping in simple, painful lyrical phrases.

The idea of “Dividing Day” is as interesting as how it is expressed. The reality is that the American concept of marriage hasn’t altogether been successful, and when you see someone madly in love on their wedding day and getting in a bitter divorce ten years later, the concept of a diving day is quite fascinating. Not to return to my days of teaching or anything, but it would be interesting to juxtaposition the very American “Diving Day” with “Do You Love Me?” from Fiddler on the Roof, which is very non-American in nature, dealing with love in a different definition.

“Dividing Day” is just one song in a rich and lush musical score that is both complex and lovely. It’s hard not to listen to The Light in the Piazza and not have hope for the future of the Broadway musical. Now if only Guettel would write more like it on a regular basis!

the Broadway Mouth
May 15, 2008

Amazing Broadway Performer: Christine Andreas

It was so exciting that Christine Andreas toured with The Light in the Piazza. While I have only heard Andreas on the OBCR of The Scarlet Pimpernel, I am fully aware that she has done some pretty significant roles on Broadway since the 1970s. I love her voice on The Scarlet Pimpernel, a sort of blending of the beautiful belt of the 80s and 90s with the soprano vibrato of the 50s and 60s. The effect is very beautiful and radiates the agony Marguerite experiences throughout the entire show.

For The Light in the Piazza, she embodied Margaret Johnson, the genteel Southern lady dependant upon her husband, now struggling with make some very difficult decisions on her own. For all the struggles that that character faces, Andreas made them so real and made the audience feel her pain in making them. She also had the look of genteel Southern beauty and wealth, and she spoke the character with a light Southern accent that seemed so natural. More importantly, that beautiful soprano wrapped around all those lush Adam Guettel melodies effortlessly and so incredibly beautifully.

For many people in the theatre the day I was there, to them she was probably a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice singing some beautiful songs, but for me, after hearing her on The Scarlet Pimpernel so many times, it was a chance to see a Broadway star like we don’t often get to see on tour. It was exciting, and I’m so thankful she toured.

Website: http://www.christineandreas.com/

Video Clip: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7602000068764340849

the Broadway Mouth
August 31, 2007