#1
Posted: 7/30/10 at 2:34am
Elena Roger, David Thaxton and Scarlett Strallen, who are the three leads in Jamie Lloyd's radicalised version of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical Passion.
The show starts rehearsals next month and begins performances at the Donmar in Covent garden on September 10. Lloyd told me he has worked intensively with Sondheim and lapine on making the central trio of characters the heart of the show.
'I want to create an intense, hot-house atmosphere where all the emotions are at bursting point,' he said.
Thaxton plays a young officer who is married to Strallen. But Fosca (played by Roger) becomes obsessed by him and loves him beyond reason.
Lloyd explained that Roger and Strallen are the only women in the production.
'The men in the show, all of whom are playing soldiers, will play all the other roles, including the female ones.
'It'll make it more of an intimate chamber piece. I think past productions have been marvellous but overblown, and I want to strip it right down and give it the atmosphere of a psychological thriller.'
He explained that Sondheim has cut some of the score, and trimmed and changed lyrics, while lapine has reshaped the book.
'I email and call them and then we chat about and discuss the pros and cons of each change,' lloyd told me. 'Sondheim's such a nuts-and-bolts man and he's intrigued by everything - the casting, the sets and the whole process of it.'
He said the piece would be ten to 15 minutes shorter than the original london production, which starred Maria Friedman and Michael Ball, and will not have an interval.
The show starts rehearsals next month and begins performances at the Donmar in Covent garden on September 10. Lloyd told me he has worked intensively with Sondheim and lapine on making the central trio of characters the heart of the show.
'I want to create an intense, hot-house atmosphere where all the emotions are at bursting point,' he said.
Thaxton plays a young officer who is married to Strallen. But Fosca (played by Roger) becomes obsessed by him and loves him beyond reason.
Lloyd explained that Roger and Strallen are the only women in the production.
'The men in the show, all of whom are playing soldiers, will play all the other roles, including the female ones.
'It'll make it more of an intimate chamber piece. I think past productions have been marvellous but overblown, and I want to strip it right down and give it the atmosphere of a psychological thriller.'
He explained that Sondheim has cut some of the score, and trimmed and changed lyrics, while lapine has reshaped the book.
'I email and call them and then we chat about and discuss the pros and cons of each change,' lloyd told me. 'Sondheim's such a nuts-and-bolts man and he's intrigued by everything - the casting, the sets and the whole process of it.'
He said the piece would be ten to 15 minutes shorter than the original london production, which starred Maria Friedman and Michael Ball, and will not have an interval.
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