Strong Steps In For Callen in Covina's 'PIAZZA' 1/31

The Covina Center for the Performing Arts is pleased to welcome Victoria Strong to the role of Margaret Johnson in The Light In The Piazza, beginning on Saturday, January 31, 2009 and continuing until the end of the scheduled run on February 15, 2009.

Callen is leaving the production to join a major international tour of Menopause the Musical, the dates unfortunately conflict with the Piazza run, she will be leaving Piazza in the more than capable hands of Ms. Strong.

Christopher Callen will play her final performance on Friday, January 30, 2009.

Ms.Strong most recently starred as Golde in Fiddler on The Roof for the South Bay Civic Light Opera. Perhaps best known for her portrayal of Mother in the national tour of Ragtime, her extensive list of credits includes Anna in The King and I, Emma in Jekyll & Hyde, Desiree in A Little Night Music, Betty Blake in Will Rogers' Follies, Sarah in Guys & Dolls, Maria / Mother Abbess in The Sound Of Music, Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, Lily in The Secret Garden, Christine in Phantom of the Opera (Kopit / Yeston); Eliza in My Fair Lady, Nettie in Carousel, Irene Malloy in Hello Dolly; Margo in The Desert Song, Grace Farrell in Annie, Milly in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, Nancy in Oliver, Anne Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, and Margaret in The Hasty Heart.

The Covina Center for the Performing Arts proudly presents a brand new production of this Tony award winning musical. The Light In The Piazza takes place in Italy in the summer of 1953. Margaret Johnson, the wife of an American businessman, is touring the Tuscan countryside with her daughter, Clara. While sightseeing, Clara - a beautiful, surprisingly childish young woman - loses her hat in a sudden gust of wind. As if guided by an unseen hand, the hat lands at the feet of Fabrizio Naccarelli, a handsome Florentine, who returns it to Clara. This brief episode, charged with coincidence and fate, sparks an immediate and intense romance between Clara and Fabrizio. Margaret, extremely protective of her daughter, attempts to keep Clara and Fabrizio apart. As the story unfolds, a secret is revealed. In addition to the cultural differences between the young lovers, Clara is not all that she appears to be. Unable to suppress the truth about her daughter, Margaret is forced to reconsider not only Clara's future, but her own.

Performances of The Light In The Piazza will continue through February 15, 2009, on Thursday-Saturday at 8 pm and Sundays at 2pm. To purchase tickets please call (626) 331-8133 or visit www.covinacenter.com . All tickets are $34.