Passion DVD — Page 2

LuPone played Fosca? You know, I'm sorry, everybody can beat me for it but there are just some roles she shouldn't touch. I'm a big Bernadette Peters fan, I think she should play every single great women role ever written for the stage musical or non-musical and even I understand that she wouldn't be a good Fosca. Murphy is the definite Fosca, her performance on the DVD is brilliant, I mean she takes you in and you are on her side, and you just sympathize with this woman. I know I shouldn't judge LuPone if I haven't seen her, and I don't want to appear like one of those close-minded people that don't give others a chance, but LuPone as Fosca???? Come on. Maria Friedman, now that's another story...

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Omg Ray, please don't get me talking about Maria Friedman. She was.....downright laughable. Over the top, robotic,and not in the least compelling. Did not like her at all.

Passion is my absolute favorite musical, and the DVD is divine - but yeah, I am bothered by the same exact parts the original poster is bothered by. Actually, it's only the kissing scene that got botched up, in my opinion - in the score, it is the most beautiful, delicate moment, but on the DVD..it's kinda awkward. And yes, as much as I love him, that's due to Jere Shea's way of kissing. Which is too bad, because it's supposed to be this cathartic moment, and it is when you just listen to it - but not when you watch it.

On the other hand, I do like the nightmare scene. I don't think it was compromised too much by that effect - it looked good. If anything, it's the cutting of that scene that made it a bit jarring.

Oh and yes, Donna Murphy as Fosca is, simply put, perfection.

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Ray- exactly! She IS Fosca. Both "I Read" and "I Wish I Could Forget You" never fail to make me cry, they are so beautiful...So filled with raw emotion. You really feel for this woman and her pain and love. Breathtaking.

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Updated On: 10/10/05 at 04:19 AM

MEF, I must admit, I am basing my opinion upon the cast recording only. It is really, really bad... I'm glad she was better live, though - I kinda figured she had to have been, but still, the cast recording does not present her in the best light. I literally laughed out loud at times when I should have been moved...Too bad, indeed. I wonder what happened during the recording, maybe she was misdirected or something. I've read so many good things about her as a performer, and I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, even though she did not impress me in this recording.

Oh and thanks.

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The one thing I REALLY enjoyed about the LuPone concert was this weird playing-up of the differences in age between LuPone and McDonald. I felt like Fosca being so much older than Giorgio/Clara informed her desperation in a way that was not seen on the OBCDVD. Even though, as has probably been discussed before, LuPone's age is not textually appropriate. Fosca's only supposed to be, what, 28?

At any rate, props to Audra McDonald. I felt like her acting performance was so much brighter than Mazzie's. It just registered more strongly, she was Clara, a real person, not just the other woman. I really do adore Marin Mazzie and think she gives a fantastic perf on the DVD, but Audra just took it from her. Perhaps that also had something to do with the slight cutting for the concert, which really brought the few-and-far-between dialogue scenes into greater focus.

Does anyone else notice these things?
1994: Audra wins Tony over Mazzie, who was then playing Clara
1998: Audra wins Tony for Ragtime, which costars Mazzie, who is only nommed
2000: Both lose to Heather Headley, proclaimed then (not now) the new Audra in many ways
Now: Audra's playing the role whose originator lost the Tony to her

I hope, after all this, they're still friends...

Wow, gwalke4, that age difference and the subsequent change of Fosca's desparation is the thing I didn't like in the LuPone concert! To each his own, though.

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Lupone was fantastic as Fosca - a totally different take on a well-written character. My only problem with the concert (other than the totally miscast Cerveris) is that Lupone looked too "healthy" to be Fosca - but otherwise - her performance was as brilliant as usual - and I wouldn't have expected anything less.

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No, Fosca never was beautiful. The flashback just shows how Fosca thought she was beautiful because her parents thought she was. Fosca does say:

"I thought that I was beautiful, until I reached the age where being beautiful becomes the most important thing a woman can be."

What I don't get is whether Fosca was always suffering from a fatal disease or just dying from the grief of a horrible life and self-deprcation(mainly cuz of ludovic?). They never really made that clear. Anybody know?

Hehe, that's because Murphy is gorgeous and Sondheim said that no matter how ugly they tried to make her look, she'd look plain and not ugly. I guess it was easier to make an uglier version LuPone... sorry, had to say it, everyone's soo going to kill me for it.

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HEY! Patti has an excuse, she was somewhat older than donna murphy when doing that role plus it ten years ahead of the original production. I think Patti Lupone is beautiful at 54 but have you guys seen her when she was younger? She must have caused car crashes, she was so beautiful. Just look on her website.

Also I think they could have done plenty o things to make donna murphy look uglier. Like put dark circles under her eyes, make her paler, make her lips thinner, anything like that.

Updated On: 10/12/05 at 03:55 PM

Since discussion of Murphy, LuPone, and Friedman have come about, did anyone see Judy Kuhn's interpretation at the Kennedy Center?

I didn't know Judy Kuhn had tackled this role, I don't like the way she performs but I do see her in this role unlike LuPone. How was she?

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I only saw pictures of Judy Kuhn, but she looked the closest to Fosca yet in those...there's one picture in which she looks almost like the woman in Passione D'Amour...something she did with her eyes...

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