Anybody watching "Passion"?- Page 4

[The Goat]

Posted: 4/1/05 at 12:52pm

One addition to Melissa Errico Fan's bio of Cerveris. He has a sister as well as a brother: Marisa Cerveris, who is a dancer and choreographer, and who lives in Bethlehem PA. I was at the "Live from Lincoln Center" Thursday night performance and the staging and performances all seemed very good live. I also taped it and will see what they look like in the television version. When I saw the "Candide" with Chenowith and LuPone live, I liked it, but when I saw it on TV, for some reason, I loved it--maybe it's the pacing that editing gave it, or the variety of shots that made the TV version more exciting. Wonder if this will be the case with "Passion"--I wonder if "very good" will turn into "excellent" when I watch the tape. In the Green Room after the show, I did hear LuPone, MacDonald, and Cerveris all say that they found the TV cameras somewhat distracting, and they kept wondering if they should play to the TV cameras/audience or to the audience in the theatre. Oh, one more thing, Sondheim snuck into his box seat as the lights were dimming, and, when he left after the show, the entire (small) mezzanine section spotted him and gave him a round of applause.

[umgeoboy]

Posted: 4/1/05 at 1:03pm

The Goat where were you/he sitting? I was in a box in the mezz but on the sides towards the stage.

I found the show wonderful live, but I found patti's singing/diction weak which detracted from the show. Michael I absolutely loved in the role. And Audra, well she sure knows how to play sad and melancholy. But it would have been a bit more meaningful if she was a bit happier in the first half the show to see how her character developed. I truly loved her performance and this is an issue I always have with her. She can do sad wonderfully but happy never seems truly happy when its coming from her.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 4/1/05 at 1:12pm

Michael!!! Love him. Yes, his sister was his date to the Tony Awards last year. So cute!

Again I ask... where is the stage door? anyone?

Is it 8 pm yet?!

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 4/1/05 at 2:11pm

I found Lonny Price's production near perfection. Minimalist staging always impresses me. (GRAND HOTEL is still one of my favourite shows of the past 20 years.) I do not agree with the theory that all three performers were playing different shows. They were playing three different characters in the same show and that is the contrast that PASSION needs. I liked Patti best in her smallest moments but on re-watching the video, I think she made the right choices as to the times she let her belt voice come into play. Audra was so amazing that I found myself anticipating her every apperance. (If John Yap or anyone else ever considers a new studio recording of PASSION, Audra would be a must as Clara.) A few dialogue scenes were eliminated or shortened and this, for me, made the show flow that much better.

Apparently there will NOT be a DVD release, but I suppose in the long run the original Broadway cast DVD is all we really need. Still it was a treat to hear the score sung and played so beautifully. Next stop - a New York city Opera production?

[The Goat]

Posted: 4/1/05 at 3:52pm

Umgeoboy: I was sitting in the center of the first row of the mezzanine. There were about 3 rows of mezzanine behind the center row of boxes (and a few more mezzanine rows on the sides of the center mezzanine rows). Sondheim and Lapine were in a box a little off dead center in that row of mezzanine boxes which were in front of the center rows of mezzanine seats. Which side boxes were you on Umgeoboy, the ones past the camera on a crane, or the ones across from those? I should have clarified in my message, that all the folks in the few center mezzanine rows spotted Sondheim AND Lapine going out (S. and L. sat where they did, I would imagine, because they were interviewed outside the mezzanine doors before the show as part of the "Live from Lincoln Center" broadcast.

[umgeoboy]

Posted: 4/1/05 at 3:59pm

The Goat: very cool. If you are facing the stage I was on the left pretty much up against the stage. They were supposedly partial view seats, but I'm not sure why? We did not miss anything, and were extremely close to the stage which was cool. We actually got them very last minute so we were very excited.

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 4/1/05 at 4:52pm

Isherwood's review:

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/theater/reviews/01pass.html?

I agree pretty much completely.

[hannahshule]

Posted: 4/1/05 at 4:56pm

Quick question about this program...

It looks like the mouth-movement and the sound aren't exactly syncronized. Is this prerecorded? Or am I seeing things. It's kind of distracting.

[silverspringsrr]

Posted: 4/1/05 at 5:14pm

Did you by ANY chance tape this show, you handsome devil, you? I am desperate to get a copy of it, since I forgot to set my VCR!
Thanks so much for any help...

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 4/1/05 at 5:37pm

Just. Few. More. Hours. Going. Nuts. Can't. Wait.

[morosco]

Posted: 4/1/05 at 5:47pm

I was surprised that Sondheim didn't take a bow at the end.