Passion - WOW.- Page 4

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 6:34pm

Gaveston, that's a good point. I guess that's why I, pretentiously or not, feel that people who have such a knee jerk HATE filled reaction are somehow taking it personally and it makes them uncomfortable. I've seen plenty of theatre I have really, really not liked, but I've never felt that the creators were insulting me as an audience member. Sure, maybe I've felt they were inept at what they were doing, but to take something so personally that you have to meet it with derision just seems to be, well, taking it awfully personally.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 7:28pm

Eric, I'll admit to getting angry at work that seems lazy, where the creators have simply neglected to make thoughtful choices.

But He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named notwithstanding, Sondheim and Lapine's work has stood the test of time. They know what they are doing. Anyone is entitled to dislike their work (as I've said, I'm really not a fan of much of SUNDAY), but it isn't lazy and it isn't thoughtless.

That being said, I do remember my chagrin at the first preview of MERRILY. It wasn't lazy or thoughtless either, but Prince and Sondheim had raised the bar so high, I expected my life to be profoundly changed somehow by each of their shows. MERRILY didn't do that (at least in its original form) and I do remember my disappointment.

Perhaps the PASSION haters were feeling something similar.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 7:41pm

But did you feel they had failed, or did you feel they were personally insulting and full of disdain for your audience (and A8 isn't the only one I've heard have such a viscerally negative reaction to Passion)?

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 10:22pm

^^^No, I thought they had overreached and piled too many "concepts" on top of one another. (And my opinion was confirmed by opening, when Prince had stripped away much of the excess baggage.)

The show still didn't work, IMO, but it wasn't condescending to its audience and I certainly wasn't offended by it. And of course, there was that breathtaking score!

I'm just allowing that there is a thin line between love and hate, and hell hath no fury like a Sondheim fan scorned, as the sayings go.

***

Bottom line: Sondheim has given me so many thousands of hours of pleasure in the theater and in front of my CD player that when PASSION came along, I felt he had earned the right to such an uncompromising work. And having made that decision, I found myself enthralled by the sheer audacity of the piece. And then I fell head-over-heels in love with the score.

Updated On: 6/8/12 at 10:22 PM

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 10:30pm

"How interesting that those of us who love the show seem to have no problem understanding why others do not. Yet those who dislike the show demand that all of us share their disdain."

This amazes me, too. I totally get the reasoning behind the dislike of Passion, but those same people seem to think those that love it have some kind of mental defect. Baffling...

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 12:05am

"How interesting that those of us who love the show seem to have no problem understanding why others do not. "

How interesting that you call condescension "understanding."

"Yet those who dislike the show demand that all of us share their disdain."

You've got it backwards. You're projecting.

"This amazes me, too. I totally get the reasoning behind the dislike of Passion, but those same people seem to think those that love it have some kind of mental defect. Baffling..."

You've got it backwards. You're projecting.

And you don't have to "understand" anything. No one needs explain or justify their reactions to you or anyone else, nor seek your or anyone else's permission, approval, or "understanding."

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 12:07am

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 12:16am

"I guess that's why I, pretentiously or not, feel that people who have such a knee jerk HATE filled reaction are somehow taking it personally and it makes them uncomfortable"


Why is a negative reaction any more "knee jerk" than a positive one?



Updated On: 6/10/12 at 12:16 AM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 12:30am

I should have said strong instead of knee jerk. Apologies.

[capnkidd]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 12:31am

After Eight, you have already felt the need to edit some of your nastier comments. I'd quit before you dig your hole deeper.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 12:45am

(For the record I think a positive reaction often is absolutely knee jerk. And yes, my reaction to Passion was, umm, knee jerk, to overuse the term. I found it emotionally somewhat overwhelming but in a powerful and ultimately positive way--so that colours my view on why such a strong opinion--positive or negative, and this show doesn't seem to get any other sort of opinion--*is* personal. So of course I was projecting my own experience, I never claimed not to have been, and gave full disclosure).

I am probably digging myself a hole as well...

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 2:50pm

It's that old condescension once again.

You've got it backwards. You're projecting.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 3:54pm

^^^But surely we have to admit that After Eight calling other posters condescending, pretentious, arrogant and/or presumptuous is pretty funny!

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 4:11pm

One might call it projecting.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 4:30pm

To get back to the original discussion, people do seem to generally have really strong reactions to this piece. My first exposure to it was watching a taped version of the PBS concert with Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, and Michael Cerveris. I was probably about 15, and I distinctly remember watching it, sitting in silence for about 45 minutes, and then watching it again. It was really difficult for me to wrap my mind around, but I loved it. It's such a beautiful score, and I'm in the camp that thought LuPone was a great Fosca. I do think it is a bizarre story though, and it's something a lot of people have trouble grasping, I think because it touches on so many parts of the human psyche that a lot of people would rather avoid confronting.

I think Passion embodies a lot of things that great theater or art should be...it's scary and difficult and dangerous and exciting and thought-provoking and people have very strong reactions to it because of all those things. I don't think it's ever going to be a show that's universally loved or even liked, but that's part of what makes it a special piece of theater.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 9:18pm

^^^Beautifully put and I couldn't agree more, perfectlymarvelous! Please consider this post the equivalent of a "Like" button.