Lovely musical on love and risk

'Reader, I married him." Is there a fantasy dearer to the female heart than Charlotte Brontë's long-suffering governess finally marrying the lord of the manor?

Yes, there is.

Margaret Johnson (the superb Sherri L. Edelen) is traveling in Florence with her daughter, Clara (Whitney Bashor). While they are enjoying Tuscan sights, handsome, dark Fabrizio (Matthew Scott) sees the beautiful, blond Clara, and they fall in love. La Primavera meets the David.

But her worried mother is torn between Clara's obvious happiness and her secret knowledge that her daughter is brain-damaged, not quite an adult. Bashor finds just the right odd hand gestures to convey this developmental issue and can express guileless joy. (One might wish her singing voice were a little less sharp.) Ultimately, both mother and daughter will discover independence and will sing their discoveries: "Fable" and the love duet, "Say It Somehow," as well as the title song are especially good.

Michael Fagin's minimal set is smooth simplicity itself, and the lighting, by R. Lee Kennedy, is luminous and golden - after all, consider the show's title. (And it is not for nothing that Clara means "light" or "clear" and "bright.") Under Joe Calarco's direction, the many scenes slide forward seamlessly, and although much of the dialogue and lyrics are in Italian, somehow we get it.

At the beginning of Act 2, Margaret sings, "Risk is everything. Without risk there is no drama. . . ." There is plenty of risk in The Light in the Piazza - emotional and musical and theatrical - and plenty of drama.

Philadelphia Theatre Co. at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, Broad and Lombard. Through Dec. 6. Tickets $51-$69. Information: 215-985-0420 or www.PhiladelphiaTheatreCompanyEndText