Mothers are always protective of their daughters when handsome suitors start appearing, but for one American mother on vacation in Florence with her beautiful yet fragile daughter, there’s good reason for being especially cautious. So begins TheatreWorks’ latest production, The Light in the Piazza (Aug 25-Sept 19), a Tony Award-winning musical based on the eponymous 1960 novella by Elizabeth Spencer.

With a lush, beautifully orchestrated score, this sweeping and poignant love story follows Margaret Johnson, who is traveling through a Florentine piazza with Clara, her exuberant and naïve daughter. When Clara’s hat flies off her head, a handsome young Italian man, Fabrizio, catches it; he returns it to her and they are instantly smitten with each other. While Fabrizio courts Clara, Margaret tries to express her deep reservations about the budding romance because there’s something about Clara that no one else knows. The romance becomes complicated by dark family secrets and deception, and a growing conflict between responsibility and maternal love and a young woman’s physical and emotional awakening.  Will love truly conquer all?

With a book by Craig Lucas and music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, The Light in the Piazza is a touching meditation on the conflict between true love and happiness and risk, and one mother’s yearning to give her daughter the future she deserves. Its musical score, which is more heavily orchestrated than the average Broadway score, draws from classical music and opera, and has been described by the Chicago Tribune as “the most beautiful score written for the American musical theater in 20 years;” the New York Times also recently ranked it as one of the most important musicals of the decade.

When: Aug 15-Sept 19
Where: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View
Showtimes: Tues-Wed, 7:30pm; Thurs-Fri, 8pm; Sat, 2 & 8pm; Sun, 2 & 7pm.
More info: 650/463-1960; www.theatreworks.org